Course Catalogue

This course aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills of speechwriting and public speaking in its fullest form by teaching them about the various forms of speeches (i.e., business announcements, congressional testimonies, eulogies, political speeches, commencements, etc.) and how to construct them based on the subject, environment, context and audience. The course will require all students to study relevant topics analyses famous speeches in the first half of the semester. The latter half of the semester will require students to plan and write their own speech based on a non-controversial assigned topic and orate it in class. The midterm examination will test the theoretical knowledge of speechwriting and public speaking, while the final examination will test their ability to successfully construct and deliver a speech on their own.

This course explores the historical development of South Asia (especially Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan) from the 16^th century to the present day from regional and national points of view as opposed to colonial and neocolonial ones. This course includes the role of emerging regional states within the Mughal Empire (1526-1858), the British colonial expansion (1757-1947) and the national states after 1947 and 1971 in South Asia and examines processes of state formation in the context of the national question and class struggles. Thematic considerations of nationalism in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, class structure and economic growth with reference to the agrarian question, formation of a labor force, urbanization, and questions of ideologies and cultural formations  have been incorporated in historical outlines.

Engineers have a core responsibility to serve the society and work for the betterment of the world. Throughout their careers, they are faced with ethical issues many times at work, and the decisions they take may adversely affect society , or a part of the world. It is often difficult to understand the morally right course of action, and professional and ethical decision making requires more than having an enlightened sense of right and wrong. Engineers must be sensitive to ethical issues for the continuing professional development in their careers. It is, therefore, essential that modern day engineers have a clear understanding of how engineers should interact with society, and how engineering decisions impact society.

This course equips students with practical, academic, and technical writing skills such as essay, research reports, project plans/proposals, project reports, etc. The students develop skills in presentation of specialized information in an accessible way to a variety of different audiences who expect clarity, accuracy, critical analysis, and professionalism. As such, the course stresses the key skills that highlight a successful professional technical communicator; specifically, the focus on the process of writing (including the planning, drafting, and revising stages).