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Courses in Science and Technology Studies (STS)

Lower Division Courses

1. Introduction to Science, Technology and Medicine Studies (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. History, philosophy, sociology, politics, and cultural studies of science, technology, and medicine. Emphasis on a broad range of perspectives. GE credit: SciEng or SocSci.—Carroll

20. Methods in Science, Technology and Medicine Studies (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: course 1 recommended. Methodological issues concerning the historical, philosophical, sociological, ethical, and political analysis of science, technology, and medicine. Detailed case studies to illustrate different methods of analysis. GE credit: SciEng or SocSci, Wrt.—Carroll

32. Drugs, Science and Culture (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Drugs, politics, science, society in a cultural perspective: emphasis on roles of science, government and the media in shifting attitudes toward alcohol, marijuana, Prozac and other pharmaceuticals; drug laws, war on drugs and global trade in sugar, opium, cocaine. (Same course as Anthropology 32)—III. (III.) Dumit

98. Directed Group Study (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor (P/NP grading only.)

99. Special Study for Undergraduates (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor (P/NP grading only.)

Upper Division Courses

109. Visualization in Science (4)

Lecture—3 hours; extensive writing or discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 1 or 20 or Anthropology 2. Anthropological approaches to scientific visualization techniques, informatics, simulations. Examination of different visualization techniques toward understanding the work involved in producing them, critical assessment of their power and limits, especially when visualizations are used socially to make claims. Offered in alternate years. (Same course as Anthropology 109.) GE credit: SocSci, Wrt.—II. Dumit

120. Religion, Magic and Science (4)

Lecture—3 hours; extensive writing. Religion, magic, and science from the middle ages to the present. Contrast between modern scientific methodology and religious and magical thinking. (Same course as Religious Studies 120.) Offered in alternate years. GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.—Coudert

130A. From Natural History to the History of Nature (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: History 135A recommended. Evolution and demise of natural history as a discipline from Aristotle to Linnaeus. Considers ancient views of nature and its Renaissance rediscovery; the emergence of biology, botany, geology, and zoology; the history of taxonomy and classification. GE credit: ArtHum or SciEng, Wrt.

130B. History of Modern Biology (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 130A recommended. Development of modern biology from pre-Darwinian roots to the present. Considers emergence of modern biological specialities and consolidation of biological theory around evolutionary ideas. History of allied fields such as genetics, paleontology, embryology, ecology, systematics and molecular biology. GE credit: ArtHum or SciEng, Wrt.

131. Darwin (4)

Lecture—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: upper division standing or consent of instructor. Students will explore the life and times of Charles Darwin and will trace the development of evolutionary thinking before and after the Origin of Species to appreciate its place in Victorian society and in the corpus of Darwin’s thought. GE credit: ArtHum or SciEng, Wrt.—Griesemer

150. Gender and Science (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. An interdisciplinary approach to the relations between gender and science. Topics include the biological and cultural construction of sexual difference, the role of women as practitioners of science, and feminist approaches to science. GE credit: SocSci, Div, Wrt.

161. Time: Mechanism and Measurement (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course 1. Cultural concepts of time; units and instruments of time measurement; historical differences in the social organization of time; and time measurement in twentieth-century science. GE credit: SocSci, Wrt.

163. History of Communication Technologies (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. History of communication technologies from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century. Questions of technology, knowledge, power and culture. Particular attention to questions about information and truth. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: SocSci.

164. Writing Science (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: course 1 or English 3, or equivalent. Texts and writing practices in the production of scientific knowledge. Surveys the literary structure of scientific arguments; history of scientific genres; rhetoric and semiotics in scientific culture; graphical systems in the experimental laboratory; narratives of science, including science fiction. (Same course as English 164.) GE Credit: Wrt.—I. Milburn

165. Built Environments (4)

Lecture—3 hours; extensive writing. Built environments, which are designed to support forms of life. Their role as carriers of cultural memory and in turning knowledge of nature into social assets. Historical constellations of knowledge, social order, and power. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: SocSci, Wrt.

173. Science Fiction (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite: course 3 or Science and Technology Studies 1, or equivalent. The literary modes and methods of science fiction. Representative texts, authors, and themes of the genre—e.g., time travel, alternative universes, and utopias. Relations of science fiction to science, philosophy, and culture. (Same course as English 173.) GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.

175. Laboratory Studies Lab (4)

Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: upper division standing or consent of instructor. Hands-on training in STS fieldwork, interviewing, archival research and data analysis. Review of laboratory studies literature, informed consent procedures, ethics, and care of the data. Individual and group projects possible.—III. (III.)

176. Sociology of Knowledge, Science, and Scientific Knowledge (4)

Lecture—3 hours; term paper or discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: upper division standing preferred. Social, cultural, and historical dimensions of knowledge, especially scientific knowledge. Problems, methods, and theory in sociology of scientific knowledge. Laboratory and historical case studies. Scientific and technical knowledge in institutional and organizational contexts. (Same course as Sociology 176.)—Carroll

180. Topics in History and Philosophy of Science (4)

Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: course in History and Philosophy of Science or other coursework relevant to topic. In depth treatment of selected topics in the history and philosophy of science. Possible topics include history of modern physics, history of molecular biology, science and society, science and power, scientific explanation, technology and culture, theory testing. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.

190. Seminar in Science, Technology and Medicine Studies (4)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: open to junior and senior Science and Technology Studies majors only. Intensive reading, discussion, research and writing by small groups in selected topics of science, technology, and medicine studies scholarship. Emphasis on individual research projects.

198. Directed Group Study (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)

199. Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (P/NP grading only.)

Graduate Courses

250. History and Philosophy of Science (4)

Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Interdisciplinary seminar in the history and philosophy of science. Focuses on issues such as historiography, methodology, and the conceptual foundations of science. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor.

298. Group Study (1-5)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (S/U grading only.)

299. Research (1-12)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. (S/U grading only.)

Professional Course

396. Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1-4)

Prerequisite: graduate standing. May be repeated for credit. (S/U grading only.)—I, II, III. (I, II, III.)