About Our Program

We are a dual-degree scholars program for students who are majoring in Engineering and Humanities at North Carolina State University. We plan social, academic, service, and outreach events every month for our members. The primary goal of our program is to develop interdisciplinary perspective and foster a community of empathic and humanistic engineers. Our alumni go on to be incredibly successful in industry, graduate school, and policy work.

 

Hear what our current members have to say about the program:

“Being a Ben Franklin scholar has greatly improved my time here at NC State. The STS302H class was a great way to connect with people and learn about the program as well as get acquainted with Dr. Bassett. The events helped me build friendships early on and also provide different educational opportunities that I have benefited from. This program also helped me navigate the logistics of pursuing a double major, and find support through people who are struggling in the same way!”

 

“The BFS program has been one of the best parts of my time at NC State! I have always been interested in a multiple fields of study, and it was difficult to narrow down my major choices when applying to college. I knew that I wanted to study engineering, but I could not let go of my deep interests in the humanities. I did not want to miss the opportunity to study history, sociology, and writing at a college level, and the Franklin program allowed me to do both!”

 

“BFS has helped me balance my course load and brought perspective to my engineering education. I have learned a lot about making interdisciplinary connections and my experiences in BFS help me understand complex factors that go into engineering better solutions.”

 

Check out these helpful links:

 

Benjamin Franklin Scholars Program Page

 

Director Dr. Ross Bassett’s homepage

 

Meet the Current Franklin Council

 

Buy a Franklin Scholars T-Shirt to support the program!