Science, Technology and Society

What is the Science, Technology and Society Program? The Science, Technology and Society (STS) program is designed to help you understand the ways in which science and technology influences and is influenced by the society of which it is a part. STS courses are taught by faculty from many disciplines including history, philosophy, literature, anthropology, and economics, as well as from disciplines in the natural and life sciences and from technology disciplines such as computer science.

In your studies you will confront many challenging and exciting questions about the relationship between science, technology and society. For instance:

• How have scientific discoveries--from the discovery that the earth orbits the sun to the mapping of the human genome--altered the surrounding society? What impact do these scientific changes have on our view of ourselves in art, literature and religion?
• How do technological innovations--like gunpowder, antibiotics, or computers--alter political, social, economic and cultural life?
• What are the social, economic and political processes that determine the directions of scientific research and technological development?
• How is science and technology portrayed in the arts, literature and the media, and what effects do these portrayals have on how science and technology work?
• How can we reconcile the sometimes conflicting claims of science and religion?
• What kinds of ethical issues arise with new developments in science and technology--like genetic engineering or the Internet--and how do we resolve such issues?

No doubt you can think of other questions like these. The STS program will allow you to explore them.

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