WHY HUMANITIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CURRICULUM?

INTRODUCTION

Why humanities in the construction management curriculum? This question has been asked by students, faculty, and administrators ever since construction management curriculums have been the subject of debates between "constructors" embedded in only the technical phase of education and "human beings" who are concerned with the whole self.

The challenges and opportunities facing the community of educators (technical and general) are twofold. We must prepare graduates in BOTH fields of study if our nation and people are to continue to progress and prosper. The following arguments are presented as food for thought for administrators, teachers, and students to digest before making curriculum decisions.

ROLE OF HUMANITIES

"Education is the power to think clearly, to act well in the world's work, and to appreciate life." The founder of Brigham Young University made that statement over one hundred and twenty years ago. The early leaders of this great nation based our democracy on such principles as allowing every citizen the right of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Each of these statements has three distinct ideologies. The role of the undergraduate degree in the universities of the United States is to assure that each student has the opportunity to experience and develop appreciation and expertise in all three. John Dewey, known for his contributions to the theory of education, stated, "the chief ideal of education is to protect, sustain, and direct growth."

The undergraduate construction management major must prepare these students in more than just design, practical methods, cost control, scheduling, estimating, research, practical applications, and other business management principles which will enable students to make significant contributions to society and provide a means of support for themselves and families. This phase of developing expertise in a major field must train a person to act well in the world's work, prepare people for lives of worth; develop ability to think clearly, and enable one to pursue happiness in the field of his choice. The major course of study fulfills the first two principles.

The third principle which education must satisfy, that of appreciating life, is ofttimes overshadowed or relegated to second place by those who get too caught up in the importance of the major course of study. A successful construction management curriculum must not only include, but also convey the importance and relevance to success, such courses in humanities. The curriculum must provide an education that will enable its graduate to live responsibly and joyfully, fulfilling his duty as an individual human being, and sharing his obligations as a democratic citizen. Far too often students and faculty alike have the attitude that the credits spent in the humanities courses such as history, literature, art, or music would be far more valuable if transferred over to additional major core classes. To win students to the realization that humanities courses are more than just a requirement "to be gotten out of the way", they need to see the course's relevance for their future beyond their transcripts and graduation requirements only. This must be communicated to them by faculty and administrators that are themselves convinced.

To illustrate why the humanities credits in a construction management curriculum should be emphasized by faculty and administrations, let's first define what the humanities are and then examine the benefits, skills, and understanding that students are expected to receive from such courses.

Humanities can be described as the best that has been said, thought, written, and otherwise expressed about the human experience and life. The humanities tell us how men and women of our own and other civilizations have wrestled with life's enduring and fundamental questions. Humanities can be categorized in four general experiences.

1. Literacy: Writing, reading, listening, speaking

Paul Rankin, Ohio State University, discovered in a communication survey that we spend 70% of our conscious waking day in communication. This is broken down into four component parts as follows: 9% in writing, 16% in reading, 30% in speaking, and 45% in listening. (2) Do we as administrators and faculty wonk on these communication skills effectively enough. I submit that there is a tremendous lack of emphasis for the need that is present.

The business community complains of difficulty in recruiting college graduates that can write and speak cleanly. It is not too much to expect that a construction management graduate has the ability to effectively communicate to others the technical and managerial skills he has mastered. The ability to write with clarity, directress, and simplicity, must be part of the graduate's tools. Reading is for finding out, analysis, and inquiry. When a person reads, he learns to write and speak better. How better way to learn a subject is there than to be able to write about it. If listening consumes 45% of our communication process, what if any emphasis is placed on listening education? As Curtis Hungerford of "information theory" fame stated, "Without persuasion there is no communication". ₍₃₎ The reverse of that must also apply. Where there is no communication there exists no persuasion. Without persuasion everyone merely warders around doing his own thing, never quite focusing in to working together with others to improve the quality of everyone's existence. Speaking is another aspect of literacy that tends to become more important as a graduate's careen progresses. A graduate with a bachelor's degree must be able to read, write, and speak at levels of distinction and with style. The ability to communicate effectively with others can determine one's success and happiness in life. It doesn't take long in a careen to recognize that the person in the top floor corner office (CEO on President) is not generally the sharpest person in the company in a technical sense. Many other attributes such as literacy come into play.

2. Inquiry and critical analysis

When a person chooses a proper life choice by his own analysis and thinking, rather than being socialized on merely led to believe by someone else, he remains in it for the long haul and is much more committed. To reason well and to recognize when reason and experience are not enough, and to develop the desire to satisfy oneself that a connect choice has been made must be developed and nurtured. Courses must be taken and studied that force a student to develop this intellectual process. Students possess capacities for logical thinking and critical analysis, but these capacities are not spontaneous. They grow out of wise instruction and use.

Where can students learn to think critically? By being exposed to the thoughts and consequences of great books and historical events, a student's ability to make his own life choices is greatly enhanced. Such questions as:

How should I live?

How do I fit into the social environment? What should I value? What is true greatness? How should society be organized? What are proper learning choices? What makes a good citizen? What is required to preserve our system of democracy?

can all be studied and answered for oneself through exposure to time-honored books and the study of history. In the words of John Steward Mills, "A person who knows only his side of a case knows little of that." (4) Students must have their horizons expanded and given the opportunity to experience what it means to become a good citizen in the social environment of life. I am confident that a student who knows how to think critically will make connect choices. They must be prepared for the moral and political sides of life. Without this inquisitive nature and ability, it is hand to conceive that students, who might find Newsweek on US News & World Report oven their heads, are capable of choosing between political candidates on issues that direct our society. Communication with one's own self and the ability to effect one's behavior and attitude are products of such study.

3. Art

An appreciation and experience in the languages of art, music, architecture, drama, and dance open up new worlds of human rewards. Many successful management careens are aided by a love for one on more of the performing arts. The Platonic position that the higher quality of life satisfies us more has its roots in these performing ants. As a young undergraduate engineering student twenty years ago, I balked and complained at the requirement of taking a music appreciation class about the music of Beethoven and Bach. After the initial "kicking against the pricks" had been overcome, I actually found myself enjoying the class and the music. It was amazing to me that when an attitude change on my part took place, my behavior and thought processes rapidly changed also. The concept that attitudes are "resistors" to our behavior u can easily be companied to the simple electrical circuit whose resistors inhibit the flow of electrons through a circuit. These attitude "resistors" have a great impact on our behavior flow.

As the years have gone by much of what I experienced in that class has come to mind. Many frustrations, discouragement, and a fullness of inner peace and worth can be found by developing a love and appreciation for some phase of these arts. Students must have this opportunity to be exposed to this area while in undergraduate school.

4. International and Multi-Cultural Experiences

The world of the 20th and 21st centuries is much different than previous centuries. Technological advancements and discoveries have drawn the world and its people much closer together. International engineering and management companies, as well as construction contracts for foreign firms and owners within the United States, are becoming commonplace. The fragility of the world in which we live and the diversity of the population of the United States adds urgency to the need for international and multi-cultural experiences in the educational system. Construction managers are and will in the future, be required to understand and wonk with many different types of people. America is changing and the world is shrinking. Curriculums need to allow students the opportunity to gain insight and understandings, learn the lives and aspirations of the not-so-distant foreign populace, and be able to harmoniously exist in this changing environment. Communication with people with different backgrounds and cultures is rapidly becoming commonplace.

FACULTY RESPONSIBILITY

The challenge of universities in the United States and faculties in management disciplines is to assure that our students leave an undergraduate program armed with a blend of specialized knowledge and trainings learned from the construction major, and also an ability to take their place in society with its challenges and rewards, learned through the humanities courses as well as through the example of the faculty they interact with. Construction management faculty needs to understand that they are responsible to teach not only course knowledge, but also principles that will make their students better human beings.

Not all humanity principles need be taught only in those classes. For example, English departments should not bean alone the responsibility for literacy. It is part of an university faculty's teaching responsibility to incorporate humanity principles in their courses whenever possible. Students can be expected to gain practice writing in a variety of disciplines. Historical reasoning and development of techniques can be studied in any subject. Opportunities to speak and express oneself in class are excellent teaching situations to be looked for. Through these programs of writing across the curriculum, both student and faculty members can gain insight and abilities that will prove invaluable throughout a careen. Even though students remain concerned about job placement, they also need to be concerned that their undergraduate education will not only prepare them for their careers, but also help them become intellectually more sophisticated, to grow in their capacity for empathy to others, to encounter people whose ideologies and way of life is different from theirs, and to develop emotionally. This is a great challenge for educational administration and faculty to assume this opportunity exists.

CONCLUSION

History enables us to know more than our ancestors because we are able to stand upon the shoulders of the generations who have gone before and start with a knowledge of what they learned. Society can only be progressive if we continue to build on the wisdom of the past and prepare wisely for the future. Higher education shares with other institutions--the schools, churches, media, and professions--a responsibility for how we as a people will meet and shape the future. On such a base, a sound professional engineering curriculum, experience, and careens can be built. The words written above the entrance to the library at Utah State University summarize the educational paradigm we should all keep foremost in our efforts."And with all thy getting, get understanding"

REFERENCES

1.Rorty, Richard, Education, Socialization, and Individuation, an address given at the 75th annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges, Jan 5, 1988.

2.Nichols, Ralph G., Listening, an address given to Department of Rhetoric, University of Minnesota.

3. Hungerford, Curtis R., notes of Educational Leadership 600 class, Fall semester 1989, Brigham Young University.

4. Zemsky, Robert, Structure and Coherence, Washington, D.C., Association of American Colleges, 1989.