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  June 2005 SIMSMC
     Participants
     Module 1
     Module 2

  June 2004 SIMSMC
     Participants
     Module 1
     Module 2

  June 2003 SIMSMC
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     Module 2
     Comments

  June 2002 SIMSMC
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     Module 1
     Module 2
     Comments

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The pedagogic aims of each materials science & engineering/material culture module are:
  • to put people at the center of the materials polyhedron described by structure/properties/processing/and product;
  • to provide case studies exemplifying these relationships that college professors can use to present both the engineering science and the human sciences to their students.



Since evaluation of these complex relationships can be made only through in-depth appreciation of the engineering involved together with an equally sophisticated understanding of the social environment, the SIs will consider both the physical properties and cultural dimensions of materials.

The following modules are among those we expect to offer over the next several summers. Each module rests on a case study chosen:

  1. to treat a specific class of materials (e.g., metal, ceramic, polymer);
  2. to illustrate an aspect of the relations between the engineering of the material and social factors related to choice of material, of material properties, and of object design;
  3. to instruct SI participants in the fundamentals of the materials science and materials engineering involved as well as in the social circumstances surrounding the technological events.
Here are the planned modules:

The modules worked very well. They break the topic into pieces that make materials sense and let the teachers integrate information in highly innovative ways. The models are a major strength of this program and the approach it presents.


The lectures intrigued me and made me want to get up in the morning (which is saying something given that I am not a morning person!) to learn. They were quite in depth and clear and presented well. I thought that I would get lost on the engineering and phase diagrams, but the explanations allowed me to understand the material better than I ever could have imagined.


I thought the modules were strikingly effective, and the balance among history, archaeology, engineering, physics and chemistry was just about right. It was more exciting than bewildering to look at things from so many different angles within just a few hours of class time.


The lectures in the morning and labs in the afternoons made for an excellent combination and an effective way of presenting the materials. I am a visual person, so it helped to talk about the different mortars and metals and actually go into the lab and make cement and cold and hot work metals.


It is very clear to me that those individuals involved in SIMSMC are passionate about what they do, and want to do everything within their power to help the participants get to a point where this kind of teaching, learning, and research can be spread to other institutions.


As an anthropologist and archaeologist who has done little with chemistry or math, other than statistics, since my undergraduate years, I found these portions of the lectures challenging. However, I think they should stay as is. I would rather have to work to keep up than have the material simplified.


There was a lot of material to pack into each week, but the combination of the lectures, laboratories, and supplementary material was effective. Moreover, I gained a fairly good sense of how one week of material could translate into five weeks of curriculum for a university/college course.

comments by June 2002 SIMSMC participants