At the end of every calendar year, the university releases “NC State: A Year in Review,” a video highlighting the achievements of the colleges on campus. Last year’s review, however, would be more aptly titled “NC State 2016: A Year in STEM,” as the video neglected to feature the university’s second largest college: the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, or CHASS.

Not only does the snub diminish the extensive research and initiatives completed by the faculty and students of the college, but it also helps perpetuate the notion that degrees in the humanities and social sciences are somehow worth less than degrees in the science or technology fields.

The humanities and social sciences focus on the study of human societies and cultures. Historically, the social sciences have paved the way for the scientific and technological advancements we see today. In fact, the earliest form of the scientific method was introduced by Francis Bacon, a natural philosopher.

The accompaniment of the social sciences and humanities to STEM remains just as important today. To disregard the humanities and social sciences is to ignore the many interdisciplinary aspects of the STEM departments. Most of the technology developed here at NC State aims to improve human life in some aspect, like the NEXT Research group, which creates wearable technology powered by the user’s body. This can inadvertently affect the way humans interact, something that cannot be predicted or understood by machine.

This is why we need CHASS.  

As communication and cultural boundaries change in this new technological age, it is increasingly important to find a way to integrate our new way of life with our basic societal and cultural norms. It is also necessary to explore how new technology can affect how humans interact with each other, both negatively and positively.

That being said, CHASS contributes to this institution in more ways than one. Along with hosting a number of events to increase cultural competency, CHASS regularly works across the table, with a number of colleges to open the doors between STEM and its largest unknown variable: humans.

In 2016, the linguistics department’s Language and Life Project explored the many languages and dialects of North Carolina while “promoting the diversity of speech, through education and other forms of media.” The department aimed to reach citizens through exhibits and workshops and even helped produce several films, including “First Language,”which documented the Cherokee Tribe’s battle to preserve their native tongue. In early 2016, the documentary brought home the mid-south Emmy for Best Cultural Documentary.

In Laboratory for Analytical Sciences, researchers work to improve the interpretation of electronic communications and data. The researchers stem from many different backgrounds and specialties. CHASS professors, with the help of some graduate students, work to facilitate communication between the experts from a variety of tech fields.

CHASS alumni also continue to reap the benefits of being a part of our programs. Therese Fowler graduated in 2005 with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. Fowler’s 2013 novel, “Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald,” helped inspire a new Amazon bio-series. The show will premiere in late January, with Fowler as a credited producer.

So, while research and initiatives implied that the humanities and social sciences do not yield many physical results, they are still a main proponent to this college and deserve to be treated as such. In “2016: Year in Review,” the technological and scientific research that takes place on campus was explained as “work done in a laboratory, that affects real people.” In that case, research in the humanities and social sciences can be defined as: “work done in the real world, to affect real people,” something equally as important if not more so.