The course deals with the interface of civil engineering issues with humanities and social sciences, such as history and philosophy of technology, political influences, environmental and professional ethics, and technical communication.
# | Title | Description | Hours |
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1 | Co-evolution of technology, science and philosophy in world history | Evolution of construction of technical works, in connection with the formulation of scientific theories, from antiquity to the present day. Relationship of engineering projects and theories with location (geographic, cultural and social characteristics). Philosophical dimension (ethics, logic, metaphysics, aesthetics) of technological and scientific actions. | 2Χ3=6 |
2 | Historical and philosophical introduction to the scientific method | Ancient Greek philosophy and physics. Modern scientific revolution. Basic scientific assumptions, inference and drawing conclusions; falsifiability, deduction and induction. Probability and inductive logic, Bayesian reasoning. Making decisions on complex issues. | 2Χ3=6 |
3 | Politics and technology | Evolution of the relationship between politics and technology. Globalized economic competition (how it is determined by political action to exploit resources and rationalize their management using technology, but also to seek and adopt new technologies). Relationship between politics and major infrastructure projects (how the subways, highways, major hydraulic projects, etc., are major political choices that determine development). Politics and state-of-the-art technologies (how information technology, Internet, biotechnology, etc., influence developments, while social media, manipulated or not, are more effectively involved in triggering social reflexes). | 2Χ3=6 |
4 | Natural and built environment | Natural, built and social environment in the light of philosophical thought. Diachronic philosophical approaches: ecosystems issues in a natural, technological, social, economic, political, and aesthetic environment. | 2Χ3=6 |
5 | Engineering ethics | Engineering codes of conduct; guidance framework for decision-making using common ethical reasoning tests; combined technical-ethical analysis in case studies. | 2Χ3=6 |
6 | Technical writing and professional communication | Organizing a technical report (Title, Contents, Tables, Figures, Summary, Conclusions), striving for clarity and simplicity, conforming to or developing a style, avoiding common mistakes. | 2Χ3=6 |
Upon completion of the course, students are able to:
Teaching methods | Lectures and class discussion (units 1-5). Discussion and editing of excerpts of technical texts in class (unit 6). |
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Teaching media | Powerpoint presentations |
Assignments (projects, reports) | Presentation of each subject in the classroom by each group of students (units 1-5). Writing of a short text which is returned with corrections (unit 6) |
Student presentations | Yes |