51³Ô¹ÏÍø

History of CLCC

Enlarging mental horizons: the history of humanities at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø

From its founding in 1907, for four decades the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College of Science and Technology provided little or no formal teaching in humanities subjects. Of course, students engaged in these subjects in informal contexts, such as in clubs and societies, and their own time, as had done at when at the Normal School of Science, but something was lacking. One later survey conducted of former students at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø between 1929 and 1963 concluded that they would have liked more opportunities to formally study humanities and languages.[i]

As in similar institutions, this changed after World War Two. Like the wider scientific community, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø emerged from the war emboldened by its potential for both elevation and destruction. 

In order to encourage 51³Ô¹ÏÍø students to think about these wider ethical and social issues, in 1947 51³Ô¹ÏÍø embarked upon a series of lectures named ‘Ends and Means’.

Introducing the lecture series, Roderic Hill, then Rector of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College, remarked that the lectures were "intended to stimulate the imagination and enlarge the mental horizon of staff and students working in fields of science and technology [other than their academic specialisms].

Scientific discoveries, whether regarded as intellectual progress or as contributions to the advance of technology, are destined for the enlightenment and benefit of man. The weavers of the pattern of pure and applied science are human beings. Education of scientists or engineers which overlooks the relevance of human relations is short of one indispensable ingredient." [iii]

The ‘Ends and Means’ lectures were followed by two initiatives. In one, a programme named ‘Touchstone’, launched in March 1950, participants gathered for weekends at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Silwood Park campus to discuss subjects such as ethics, philosophy, art and design, and psychology.  

A parallel development was the launch of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø ‘General Studies’ lecture series in 1952. For many years, the series attracted distinguished speakers from diverse walks of life. For example, in 1963 one speaker was , soon to be prime minister, who discussed the British political scene, and soon returned to 51³Ô¹ÏÍø to deliver one of his famous . [iv]

Over the years, this provision was also augmented by a number of related units, such as the history of science, industrial sociology, languages, management, and operational research. The electrical engineering department built up a particular specialism in this area, in 1963 employing Sinclair Goodlad, a sociologist, to teach regular classes in humanistic, social and economic studies. Goodlad later went on to write scholarly studies of higher education institutions and the integration of humanistic topics into science and engineering education.[v]

By the late 1960s, student interest in humanities topics had grown considerably. One survey of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø student attitudes indicated strong student support. Of a sample of 1,060 students (nearly 50% of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø undergraduates), 96% of respondents replied that they would like non-technical courses to be made available, and 73% wanted such courses to carry credit in their science or engineering degree. Within this sample, respondents sought courses in economics (50%), psychology (43%), philosophy of science (34%), industrial sociology (29%), communications (25%), literature (25%), German (24%), politics (22%), moral philosophy (20%), and history of science and technology (17%) [vi]. In 1973, existing provision was merged into the ‘Associated Studies Department’ and by the late 1970s some academic credit was being given to students undertaking these programmes. In 1978, the Department for Social and Economic Studies was founded, with  as its first head, and  in its first chair of Economics.[vii]

In 1980 the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College Humanities Department opened, with , a philosopher, as its first Head of Department. In the 1980s, the Humanities Department was based in the impressive college buildings at Prince's Gate (South Kensington).

Humanities courses available in the 1980s included a number of history of science and technology courses, modern literature and drama, philosophy and philosophy of science, politics, communication of scientific ideas, and science in society. Those provided by the Department of Social and Economic Studies included industrial sociology, macro-economic policy, technology and society, and accounting and finance.[viii]

51³Ô¹ÏÍø has also long-provided foreign language education for its students. By the 1980s, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s focus was teaching French, German and Spanish. As these contemporary images indicate, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s language classes have been, as they are now, a site of educational innovation.

This provision was augmented in the early 1990s by the creation of the Science Communication Group.

In an echo of Roderic Hill’s statements seven decades prior, the latest iteration of humanities at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø is the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Horizons programme, which launched in 2012. It is located in the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication (CLCC). The centre’s current director is Dr Ana Costa-Pereira.

As the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Horizons mission statement reveals, the wide-ranging programme ‘is designed to broaden your education, inspire your creativity and enhance your potential’[ix]. In some ways, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Horizons fulfills the wishes revealed by the 1969 student survey. Indeed, students’ desire for learning humanities alongside their regular studies, for degree or extra credit, is even more popular than it was then.

In 2020, the university launched I-Explore, integrating  the study of humanities, arts, business and more into the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø undergraduate degree. Managed by CLCC, I-Explore includes the Horizons,  BPES and STEMM streams of study. As we continue to implement 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s , the centre continues 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s long and rich history of intertwining of scientific and engineering education with humanities and related subjects.

For more on the history of humanities at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College, see Hannah Gay, The History of 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, 1907-2007: Higher Education and Research in Science, Technology and Medicine (51³Ô¹ÏÍø College Press, 2007), chapter 14. 

[i] EM Goodger and RPR Tilley, Career Survey of Past Students, 1929-1963 (51³Ô¹ÏÍø, 1970)