General Elective Reflection

Jon Tucker Thomas

General education courses at Iowa State were useful for expanding my knowledge of the

world and how it operates. While not all Gen Ed courses are of equal importance, they are all

still vital for maintaining an honest and insightful education. My explanation of the following

four classes will show that they are all equally important as my engineering classes.

The time I spent learning during my Philosophy 235 class was valuable to me as an

engineer, as it taught me about ethical issues and how they relate to diversity. During the unit

about racism, I wrote an essay regarding the differences between two major civil rights groups

of the 60s and why they disagree. This experience taught me more about Martin Luther King Jr.

and Malcolm X than I ever thought I would know. While it’s obvious that engineers should

always be aware of racism and its effects, it’s also important to build upon this awareness. One

issue I’ve seen personally regarding race is that the diversity among my engineering peers needs

to be addressed. While it may be a side-effect of the diversity of Iowa as a whole, there is still an

obvious lack of non-white students within the electrical engineering program.

One class that was similar to Phil 235 was Sociology 235 (social problems and American

values). While this class was similar to the previous one, the learning environment was much

different. Philosophy 235 was mainly lecture-focused while the bulk of learning in Sociology 235

was done in group discussions. This was by far the most valuable experience for me when it

came to learning about different experiences. It was the most diverse class I had ever been in,

and because of that, I was able to see how poor the diversity in my engineering courses was
(especially when considering the presence of women). Sociology 235 was the best class for

simply learning about the values and opinions of the people around you. It improved my

listening skills as I was exposed to many differing points of views, something that cannot be said

for many engineering courses.

One class that wasn’t as important in the grand scheme of things but was still beneficial

to my learning was Hospitality Management 383. This course covered the history and

characteristics of many different wines and spirits. While this class didn’t teach me a lot about

society like my other Gen Eds, it did teach me how to properly entertain guests if they happen

to enjoy wine.

The final course I’ll discuss is Political Science 241. This class serves as a sort of

introduction to political science. Because of Pol S 241, I am able to compare different

government bodies to each other and identify how specific regimes came into power. This class

ties into engineering ethics because I can now understand how and why natural resources used

in electronics are a controversial subject. Many African nations are being exploited for said

resources (such as cobalt), and it’s up to engineers to understand this and try to be conscious of

how their career could potentially harm others. My final takeaway is that engineers need to be

aware of the topics mentioned in this reflection to maintain a stable world that progresses

technology in such a way that neither people nor the planet are harmed.