The liberal arts expose students to disciplines that are fundamental to one's awareness of human conduct and achievement. In engineering, especially, the mode of thought is technical rationality. Each succeeding age gives these and questions like them new importance. Our own era has witnessed the ascendancy of relativism into all dimensions of our lives. While the humanities and arts do not promise solutions to all these problems, they do prepare students to cope with them.
Liberal studies expose students to human and social forces that shape the world.
The study of history links past and present by fostering an awareness of how past actions and beliefs influence the present. Literature and art explore the inner lives and feelings of diverse groups of peoples. Philosophy and religion compel one to question one's own beliefs, to differentiate between conviction and prejudice. The liberal arts encourage students to think critically. They provide both the background and the methods of analysis necessary for informed, ethical discussion.