The Place and Function of Sociology at Technical Faculties

In the first part of the paper, the author sketches the role which instruction in the social sciences should have at nonsocial science faculties, in general, and at technical faculties, in particular. The basic intention should be to point out the social features of certain activities. In the concrete case of technical faculties, this includes the effects of technology on society and vice versa, as well as specific problems which students completing these faculties will encounter (mainly those related to problems of organization). Confronting this conception with reality, the author concludes that the existing situation is far from that which corresponds to such requirements. Social science courses are largely conceived totally independent of concrete problems of professions which is also expressed in tendencies to create some sort of universal program which would apply to all faculties. An additional step in destroying the professional directness of these courses is in their interdisciplinary nature which in fact results in their deprofessionalization. So-conceived instruction has made it completely impossible to include teachers in research in an area which would be relevant for the profession in which they are included