In one of my mechanical engineering classes a few years ago, an extra credit homework problem was centered around carrying out the thermodynamic analysis of the firing of a gun. Yet fast forward to present day, and the recent shooting in Oregon was not mentioned in any of my STEM classes. Murmurings and conversations as students settled into their desks comprised of upcoming exams, interviews garnered at recent career fairs, etc. While the College of Engineering is not the James Madison College, students and professors in the disciplines should at least acknowledge current and international events.

While I understand a discourse on gun control would find more of a home in a class in Case Hall as opposed to the engineering building, it is important that the STEM community at least acknowledge world happenings. 

While many of the technological advancements produced by STEM students and professionals benefit humanity, the same technology and developments are used during wartime and military efforts. While some technical disciplines require multiple semesters worth of ethics courses, I think all who study STEM should at least acknowledge that what is produced by our fields impacts lives, for better or worse. Interestingly, the technical professor who assigned my class the gun problem was one of the few I have encountered who took valuable class time to do so. They would take time to relate technical concepts to current events, or what was happening in the world when the particular theory or principle was discovered.

Another facet of the equation is that the STEM classroom does not take place in a bubble. One can argue that politics and current events have no place in the STEM learning environment, but Ahmed Mohamed serves as an alarming example of how the STEM classroom is not immune to the politics of the day. 

Mohamed, a high school science wiz who in September brought a clock he designed to school to show his science teacher, was detained by authorities over allegations that the clock was a homemade bomb. A quick Google search of the event generates hundreds of articles highlighting the outcry from STEM professionals about how this incident would squash minority students’ passion, love and curiosity for STEM subjects. 

What was most alarming to me was the lack of acknowledgment regarding the incident from any of my STEM professors or classmates. There was not even a simple acknowledgement of the incident ever happening. The device he designed in question looks very similar to a lab assignment myself, and many of my fellow classmates, had to do in my electrical engineering class.

If anyone in STEM needs further convincing that our education does not operate in a bubble, immune from the realities of the world, the events of Virginia Tech come to mind. In 2007, an engineering student at Virginia Tech opened fire on his fellow students. What happened at Virginia Tech, and more recently with Mohamed, illustrates that in the STEM classroom a few moments should be carved out of learning of Newton’s Laws and Principals to, at the very least, acknowledge current events. 

After all, many of us aspire to be STEM professionals to help our fellow man, so we should not be ignoring them in the classroom.