Jacob Lyons

Tony Moore

CprE 494

20 October 2023

A Reflection of My General Education Courses

General education classes are often considered by engineering students to be “fluff” in their

degree programs to increase the number of courses needed to graduate. However, these courses are

much more important than these students realize. These classes are necessary because they help people

to think about engineering problems in a holistic way that shows each problem’s impact on society

rather than just its technical aspects. In my case, these classes emphasized the importance of

considering the perspectives of different cultures and of marginalized groups in order to utilize

engineering in a way that increases innovation and helps create a more just society.

One general education class that gave me a novel perspective on engineering innovation is WGS

210, or Gender and Sexuality in U.S. Pop Culture. This class went over the many ways in which people of

different genders and sexual orientations have been depicted in popular media. Sometimes these

depictions furthered existing marginalization, such as by leaning into stereotypes, and in other cases

these depictions were empowering. One of the main takeaways from this class is that representation in

the media has more impact on groups of people than one would initially expect, as society often forms

around popular culture. In relation to engineering, I have learned from this class that I need to be

cognizant of the implications that engineering problems and solutions have on different groups of

people, particularly those who are marginalized. Due to the importance of engineering to society, our

engineering work has more impact on people than we think, and we need to leverage engineering to

create a society that is equitable and fair for all, rather than furthering society’s existing issues.
 Two additional general education classes that have helped me to see more broadly in

engineering are Span 201 and Span 202, or Intermediate Spanish I and Intermediate Spanish II,

respectively. These courses were largely for learning the Spanish language. Learning additional

languages, such as Spanish, allows one to communicate as an engineer to a wider net of people. These

classes also taught much about the cultures of different Spanish-speaking countries, which highlighted to

me how diverse cultural perspectives and experiences can benefit engineering teams by reducing

groupthink and introducing a greater range of ideas for innovation.

In essence, while many dismiss the necessity of general education courses since they do not

directly apply to engineering, they are vital for enabling engineers to think beyond just the technical

aspects of engineering to see the broader implications engineering has on society.