Science, Technology and Society Courses

STS 101

This is an introductory course for an historical and philosophical view of how technology interacts with the world. As an introductory course, it will cover serious material that will form the basis of the STS courses that follow. The two case studies will take us into the dramatic world of medical innovation and interdisciplinary theories of chaos. THIS IS A RIGOROUS READING AND WRITING COURSE. There are three textbooks:

• An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies by Sergio Sismondo, Blackwell Publishing, 2010, ISBN 9781405187657 (~$40).
• The Discovery of Insulin by Michael Bliss, University of Chicago Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0226058993 (~$22).
• Chaos - Making a New Science by James Gleick, Penguin, 2008, ISBN 978-0143113454 (~$20).

STS 101 - Foundations of Science, Technology and Society (3-0-3)
This course introduces students to the multi-disciplinary study of science, technology and society. Through a combination of lectures by the STS teaching staff and external speakers, as well as classic and contemporary readings and case studies that exemplify the field's core content, students examine the social, aesthetic, environmental, economic and political constructs that contextualize the development and proliferation of mechanical and digital technologies with which we interact.

STS 316

This course will be project-based. Each student will choose their own area of the mass media to study and collect evidence throughout the semester. There will be several oral presentations required, a research plan, a first draft of a research paper and a final draft of a research paper. Textbooks for this course are:

• Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion by Anthony Pratkanis and Elliot Aronson, Holt Paperbacks, 2001, ISBN 978-1412906838 (~$20).
• Media Analysis Techniques by Arthur Asa Berger, Sage Publications, 2005, ISBN 978-0805074031 (~$60).
• Two books pertaining to the project you have chosen. The purchase of these two books is required and they must be approved by me.

STS 316 - Mass Communications, Technology and Culture (3-0-3)
Prerequisites: HSS 101, HSS 202 or their equivalents; two from HSS 211, HSS 212, Hist 213 or their equivalents. Uses the tools of the humanities and social sciences to study the interplay between technology and mass culture. Focuses on motion pictures, electronic music, and television as both technologies and as forms of art. Devotes special attention to the portrayal of science and technology in the media.