Science Studies
Courses
For course descriptions not found in the 2007-2008 General Catalog, please contact the department for more information.
Graduate
COGR
225A, HIGR 238, PHIL 209A, SOCG 255A. Introduction to Science Studies (4) Study
and discussion of classic work in history of science, sociology of science, and
philosophy of science, and of work that attempts to develop a unified science
studies approach. Required for all students in the Science Studies Program. Prerequisite:
enroll¨ment in Science Studies Program.
COGR
225B, HIGR 239, PHIL 209B, SOCG 255B. Seminar in Science Studies (4) Study
and discussion of selected topics in the science studies field. Required for
all students in the Science Studies Program. The topic varies from year to year,
and students may, therefore, repeat the course for credit. Prerequisite:
enrollment in Science Studies Program.
COGR
225C, HIGR 240, PHIL 209C, SOCG 255C. Colloquium in Science Studies (4) A
forum for the presentation and discussion of research in progress in science
studies, by graduate students, faculty, and visitors. Required for all students
in the Science Studies Program. Prerequisite: enrollment in the Science Studies
Program.
COGR
225D, HIGR 241, PHIL 209D, SOCG 255D. Advanced Approaches to Science Studies
(4) Contemporary themes and problems in Science Studies.
Focus on recent literature in the history, philosophy and sociology of science,
technology, and medicine. Required of all students in the Science Studies Program. Prerequisites:
completion of COGR 225A, HIGR 238, PHIL 209A, or SOCG 255A; enrollment in Science
Studies Program or instructor’s permission.
COGR 201I. Ethnography of Information
Systems (4) This course will survey the rapidly growing
body of ethnographic analyses of information systems, to extend the basic principles
of ethnographic research and to lead students in the development of projects
modifying these principles for the emerging electronic environment. Students
may approach the course in one (or both) of two ways—either preparing for
and carrying out a pilot ethnographic study or studying the theoretical literature
in depth.
HIGR 235. Science, Empire, and Exploration
(4) Examines links between scientific work, particularly
expeditions and exploration, and political programs of empire in the seventeenth
to twentieth centuries. Topics: collecting expeditions as expressions of empire;
role of colonial administrative networks in facilitating field-based investigations;
relation between European and non-European knowledge systems. Prerequisite:
graduate standing or consent of instructor.
HIGR
236A-B. Seminar in History of Science (4-4) A two-quarter
research seminar, comprising intensive study of a specific topic in the history
of science. The first quarter will be devoted to readings and discussions; the
second chiefly to the writing of individual research papers. The topic varies
from year to year, and students may repeat the course for credit. (IP grade to
be awarded the first quarter; final grade will be given at the end of the second
quarter.) Prerequisite: graduate standing.
HIGR 242. Topics in the History of
Earth and Life Sciences (4) Intensive study of specific
problems in the history of the life sciences and earth sciences, ranging in period
from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century. May be repeated for credit
as topics will vary annually. Prerequisite: graduate standing.
HIGR 243. Historical Scholarship in
Technology (4) An introduction to the historiography
of technology. This reading seminar provides an overview of scholarly approaches
to the history of technology by critically examining classic and contemporary
works in the field. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.
HIGR 244. Introduction to Sound Studies
(4) Study and discussion of classic and recent scholarship
on sound production and cultures of listening. Emphasizes historical literature
but also includes works in literary studies, art history, music, and other fields.
HISC
160/260. Historical Approaches to the Study of Science (4) This
colloquium course will introduce students to the rich variety of ways in which
the scientific enterprise is currently being studied historically. Major recent
publications on specific topics in the history of science selected to illustrate
this diversity will be discussed and analyzed; the topics will range in period
from the seventeenth century to the late twentieth, and will deal with all major
branches of natural science. Requirements will vary for undergraduate, M.A.,
and Ph.D. students. Graduate students may be expected to submit a more substantial
piece of work. Prerequisites: consent of instructor; department stamp required.
HISC
162/262. Problems in the History of Science and Religion (4) Intensive
study of specific problems in the relation between science and religion. The
problems may range in period from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Topics
vary from year to year. Requirements will vary for undergraduate, M.A., and Ph.D.
students. Graduate students may be expected to submit a more substantial piece
of work. Prerequisites: upper-division standing; department stamp required.
HISC
163/263. History, Science, and Politics of Climate Change (4) The
complex historical development of human understanding of global climate change,
including key scientific work, and the cultural dimensions of proof and persuasion.
Special emphasis on the differential political acceptance of the scientific evidence
in the U.S. and the world. Graduate students are required to submit an additional
paper. Prerequisite: upper-division or graduate standing. Department stamp
required.
HISC
164/264. Topics in the History of the Physical Sciences (4) Intensive
study of specific problems in the physical (including chemical and mathematical)
sciences, ranging in period from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Topics
vary from year to year, and students may therefore repeat the course for credit.
Requirements will vary for undergraduate, M.A., and Ph.D. students. Graduate
students may be expected to submit a more substantial piece of work. Prerequisites:
consent of instructor; department stamp required.
HISC
165/265. Topics in Twentieth-Century Science and Culture (4) This
is a seminar open to advanced undergraduates and graduate students that explores
topics at the interface of science, technology and culture, from the late nineteenth
century to the present. Topics change yearly; may be repeated for credit with
instructor’s consent. Requirements vary for undergraduates, M.A., and Ph.D.
students. Graduate students are required to submit a more substantial piece of
work. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent of instructor; department
stamp required.
HISC
166/266. The Galileo Affair (4) Galileo’s condemnation
by the Catholic Church in 1633 is a well-known but misunderstood episode. Was
Galileo punished for holding dangerous scientific views? Personal arrogance?
Disobedience? Religious transgressions? Readings in original sources, recent
historical interpretations. Graduate students will be expected to submit a more
substantial piece of work. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or consent
of instructor.
HISC
167/267. Gender and Science (4) Why have women been
traditionally excluded from science? How has this affected scientific knowledge?
How have scientists constructed gendered representations not only of women, but
also of science and nature? We will address these questions from perspectives
including history, philosophy, and psychoanalytic theory. Prerequisite: upper-division
standing or consent of instructor.
HISC
168/268. The Extraterrestrial Life Question (4) The
changing fortunes of the belief in the existence of life beyond the Earth (pluralism)
from 1750–present as it evolved from a marginal speculation to a central
scientific question with wide-ranging consequences for traditional religious
belief systems. Prerequisites: upper-division standing or graduate standing
or consent of instructor. Graduate students will be expected to submit a more
substantial piece of work.
HISC
170/270. Topics in the History of Science and Technology (4) This
seminar explores topics at the interface of science, technology, and society,
ranging from the seventeenth century to the twentieth. Requirements will vary
for undergraduate, M.A., and Ph.D. students. Graduate students are required to
submit an additional paper. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent
of instructor/department stamp required.
HISC
172/272. Building America: Technology, Culture, and the Built Environment in
the United States (4) The history of the built environment
in the United States, from skyscrapers to suburbs, canals and railroads to factories
and department stores. The technological history of structures and infrastructures,
and the social and cultural values that have been “built into” our
material environment. Graduate students are required to submit an additional
paper. Prerequisite: upper-division standing or consent of instructor; department
stamp required.
Phil. 204A. Core Course in Philosophy
of Science (4) An introduction to one or more central
problems in the philosophy of science, or in the philosophy of one of the particular
sciences, such as the nature of confirmation and explanation, the nature of scientific
knowledge, reductionism, the unity of science, or realism and antirealism. May
be taken for credit three times with changed content.
Phil. 245. Philosophy of Science (4) This
seminar will cover current books and theoretical issues in the philosophy of
science. May be taken for credit seven times with changed content.
Phil. 247. Philosophy of Biology (4) Historical
and contemporary perspectives on foundational issues about biology. May include
questions about the nature of biological explanation, the relation of biology
to chemistry and physics, the status of attributions of function, and the relation
of biology to the social sciences. May be taken for credit six times with changed
content.
Phil. 250A. Philosophy of the Cognitive
Sciences (4) Contemporary debates about the study
of the mind-brain as studied in one or more of the empirical cognitive sciences.
May include questions about the different strategies of explanation invoked,
the conceptions of representation employed, the connections between theoretical
models developed. May be taken for credit six times with changed content.
Phil. 280. Philosophy of Science Topics
and Methods (1-2) This course meets weekly to discuss
recent books or articles in philosophy of science. The reading is designed both
for students doing active research in the field and for those seeking to gain
some familiarity with it. Can be taken nine times for credit with changed content. Prerequisite:
graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Soc/G 234. Intellectual Foundation
of the Study of Science, Technology, and Medicine (4) This
course focuses on some classic methodological and theoretical resources upon
which the sociology of science, technology, and medicine all draw. It gives special
attention to relationships between knowledge and social order, and between knowledge
and practice, that are common to science, technology, and medicine. Prerequisites:
graduate standing.
Soc/G 247. Madness and Society (4) An
examination of the changing Western responses from the age of Bedlam to the age
of Prozac. Topics include: the rise and decline of the total institution; the
emergence of psychiatry; changing cultural meanings of madness; and the therapeutics
of mental disorder. Prerequisite: graduate standing.
Soc/G 249. Technology and the Human
(4) This course explores the ethical and political
implications of technological interventions into human life. Approaches from
science studies, the sociology of the body, and philosophy. Topics include transformations
in domains of life such as work, health, childhood, and death. Prerequisite:
graduate standing.
Soc/G 283. The Making of Modern Medicine
(4) An examination of the intellectual, social, cultural,
and political dimensions of the Transformation of Western medicine from 1750
to 1900, with a primary focus on Anglo-American developments. Prerequisite:
graduate standing.
Soc/G 284. Contemporary Biomedicine
(4) Develops central themes in medical sociology in
order to understand twentieth- and twenty-first-century medical practice and
research. Topics include authority and expertise; health inequalities; managed
care; health activism; biomedical knowledge production; and the construction
of medical objects and subjects. Prerequisite: graduate standing.