Director:  José Perillán;

Steering Committee: Abigail Baird (Psychological Science), Elizabeth Howe Bradley (President), Leroy Cooper (Biology), Abigail Coplin (Sociology and Science, Technology and Society), David J. Esteban (Biology), Kenneth Livingston^b (Cognitive Science), José Perillán (Physics and Astronomy), Nancy Jo Pokrywka (Biology), Claire Sagan (Political Science), Jill S. Schneiderman (Earth Science), Catherine Tan (Sociology), Christopher White (Religion);

Participating Faculty: Alicia Atwood (Economics), Benjamin Ho (Economics), Jamie Kelly (Philosophy), Jennifer Kennell (Biology), Osman Nemli (Philosophy), Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa (Philosophy), Christie VanHorne (Science, Technology and Society).

^b On leave 2023/24, second semester

The multidisciplinary program in Science, Technology, and Society is designed to enable students to pursue three objectives: a) to understand the central role of science and technology in contemporary society; b) to examine how science and technology reflect their social, political, philosophical, economic and cultural contexts; and c) to explore the human, ethical and policy implications of current and emerging technologies.

Students interested in the program are urged to plan for declaration as early as possible in their college careers. First-year students and sophomores should talk with the director concerning courses to be taken in the first and sophomore years.

Programs

Major

• •  Science, Technology and Society Major

Courses

Science, Technology and Society: I. Introductory

• •  STS 106 - Philosophy & Contemporary Issues
• •  STS 110 - Interactions among Public Health, Political Instability and Environmental Degradation
• •  STS 131 - Genetic Engineering: Basic Principles and Ethical Questions
• •  STS 137 - Unpacking Climate Change (Un)Certainty
• •  STS 146 - The Culture and Chemistry of Cuisine
• •  STS 150 - EMT Training
• •  STS 151 - EMT Training
• •  STS 152 - Smallpox: The Biology and History of a Disease
• •  STS 160 - Uncertainty, Probability and Spirituality: Physics in Popular Culture
• •  STS 162 - Science Writing as Radical Amazement
• •  STS 172 - Microbial Wars
• •  STS 189 - Trances, Visions, Meditative States and Altered States of Consciousness

Science, Technology and Society: II. Intermediate

• •  STS 200 - Conceptualizing STS: Theories and Practice
• •  STS 220 - Health Economics
• •  STS 221 - Medieval Science and Technology
• •  STS 222 - Bioethics and Human Reproduction
• •  STS 226 - Philosophy of Science
• •  STS 236 - Digital Lives
• •  STS 240 - The International Social Life of Science and Technology
• •  STS 245 - Medicine, Health and Diseases in East Asia
• •  STS 247 - Albert Einstein
• •  STS 249 - Global Science and Empire 1800-Present
• •  STS 252 - Health Inequalities and Activism
• •  STS 255 - Medical Sociology
• •  STS 264 - Controversies in Science, Technology & Religion
• •  STS 267 - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
• •  STS 268 - Current and Emerging Issues in Public Health
• •  STS 273 - The New Economy
• •  STS 277 - Feminist Approaches to Science and Technology
• •  STS 278 - Environmental Political Thought
• •  STS 279 - Pandemic, Politics and Theory
• •  STS 281 - Cosmos: The history of a concept from Homer to Neil deGrasse Tyson
• •  STS 288 - Machines and Musicians: A Technocultural History from Metronomes to Moby
• •  STS 290 - Community-Engaged Learning
• •  STS 298 - Independent Work

Science, Technology and Society: III. Advanced

• •  STS 301 - Senior Seminar
• •  STS 303 - Senior Thesis
• •  STS 304 - Senior Thesis
• •  STS 305 - Senior Thesis
• •  STS 307 - Advanced Topics in Health Economics and Policy
• •  STS 323 - History of Geological Thought 2020
• •  STS 330 - Death and Birth
• •  STS 340 - Controversies in Context: Technoscientific Futures
• •  STS 347 - Asian Sociotechnical Imaginaries
• •  STS 350 - Comparative Studies in Religion
• •  STS 354 - Critical Issues in Women’s Health
• •  STS 355 - Rethinking the Invasive Species Challenge
• •  STS 360 - Issues in Bioethics
• •  STS 370 - Feminism and Environmentalism
• •  STS 371 - Gender, Science and Politics
• •  STS 374 - Epidemic: Global Responses to Disease Outbreak and Public Health Crises
• •  STS 376 - Ecological Catastrophe and Nietzsche’s Eternal Return
• •  STS 378 - Strategic Thinking in Global Health
• •  STS 382 - Social History of Public Health
• •  STS 384 - Seminar: Grand Challenges of Global Mental Health
• •  STS 385 - Race and Technology in Ancient Rome
• •  STS 393 - Special Topics in Biology
• •  STS 394 - Philosophy of Mental Illness
• •  STS 399 - Senior Independent Work