Department: Science, Technology, and Society

Code Name Description
STS1 Introduction to Science, Technology & Society The course introduces students to critical perspectives on the history, social context, epistemology, and ethics of science, technology, and medicine. The goal of the course is to learn about major concepts and methods from science & technology studi...
STS10SI Introduction to AI Alignment As we delegate more and more societal responsibilities to Artificial Intelligence, we raise pressing ethical questions about what will happen if these systems aren¿t aligned with our values. Many people, including AI experts like Stuart Russell, beli...
STS156 The Future of Global Systemic Risk The global risk environment is changing. Seemingly distinct large-scale risks affect what we now realize are mutually interdependent human, socio-technical, and ecological systems. As a result, consequences are more catastrophic, and costs are set to...
STS158 The Science and Politics of Apocalypse For millennia, an apocalypse has been just around the corner. This course examines how expectations surrounding the end of the world - and the role that human beings might play in bringing it about - have transformed over the last two centuries. Afte...
STS177 The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: Technology, History, and Justice This course will examine our everyday food practices as a site of politics where culture, technology, history, and issues of ethics and justice intersect. Through a survey of academic, journalistic, and artistic works on food and eating, the course w...
STS190 Environment and Society Humans have long shaped and reshaped the natural world with science and technology. Once a menacing presence to conquer or an infinite reserve for resources, nature is now understood to require constant protection from damage and loss. Global challen...
STS191W Doing STS: Introduction to Research This seminar introduces key analytical approaches and methodologies in the interdisciplinary field of STS, as well as basic tools for designing and conducting original research in STS and related social sciences. Students survey a series of influenti...
STS198 Independent Research Independent research. Student develops own project with supervision by an STS faculty affiliate. Students must email Prof. Edwards with brief project description and name of faculty supervisor. May be repeated for credit.
STS199 Independent Study Every unit of credit is understood to represent three hours of work per week per term and is to be agreed upon between the student and the faculty member. Instructor consent required. Please contact the department for a permission number.
STS199A Curricular Practical Training Students obtain internship in a relevant research or industrial activity to enhance their professional experience consistent with their degree program and area of concentration. Prior to enrolling students must get internship approved by the STS Prog...
STS199J Editing a Science Technology and Society Journal The Science Technology and Society (STS) Program has a student journal, Intersect, that has been publishing STS student papers for a number of years. This course involves learning about how to serve as an editor of a peer-reviewed journal, while serv...
STS200J Technometabolism: Technology, Society, and the Anthropocene The technosphere - the global sum of all infrastructure - metabolizes energy, materials, and information to feed human consumption. It runs on fossil fuels and solar energy, metabolized through such processes as photosynthesis (agriculture), photovo...
STS200N Funkentelechy: Technologies, Social Justice and Black Vernacular Cultures From texts to techne, from artifacts to discourses on science and technology, this course is an examination of how Black people in this society have engaged with the mutually consitutive relationships that endure between humans and technologies. We w...
STS200Q Sociology of Science This course explores the social construction of scientific knowledge from various perspectives. The course begins by taking stock of core philosophical theories on scientific knowledge and then it proceeds to ask how various authors have described an...
STS200U The Age of Plague: Medicine and Society, 1300-1750 (Undergraduates, enroll in 234P. Graduates, enroll in 334P) The arrival of plague in Eurasia in 1347-51 affected many late medieval and early modern societies. It transformed their understanding of disease, raised questions about the efficacy of med...
STS20SI Advanced AI Alignment This advanced follow-up to STS 10SI: Intro to AI Alignment explores the frontier of current AI alignment research directions and helps you develop your own inside view on AI safety research. In Advanced AI Alignment, we will first spend 7 weeks discu...
STS298 STS Honors Meeting This is a required monthly meeting for STS Honors students.
STS299 Advanced Individual Work For students in the STS Honors program. Every unit of credit is understood to represent three hours of work per week per term and is to be agreed upon between the student and the faculty member. May be repeated for credit.
STS51D Ethical STEM: Race, Justice, and Embodied Practice What role do science and technology play in the creation of a just society? How do we confront and redress the impact of racism and bias within the history, theory, and practice of these disciplines? This course invites students to grapple with the c...