Lower Division Courses

STS 040A: MEDIA HISTORY 1

TR 10:30-11:50am + section

History of media to 1945, with particular focus on mechanically reproduced mass media technologies including the printing press, the newspaper, photography, cinema, radio and early computing technology. Analysis of inter-related cultural and political topics. AH, OL, SS, VL, WE.

 

Upper Division Courses

STS 100: METHODS IN THE STUDIES OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND MEDICINE

TR 4:40-6:00pm

Methodological approaches for studying science, technology, and medicine in social context. Detailed case studies illustrate different historical, philosophical, sociological, ethical, rhetorical, and political methods of analysis. SL, SS. (STS 001 recommended)

STS 114: GLOBAL INFORMATION AGE

TR 12:10-1:30pm

Introduction to the global spread of information technologies like computers and smartphones. Special focus on their social, cultural, and commercial impact. SS, WC, WE.

STS 120: RELIGION, MAGIC, & SCIENCE

TR 1:40-3:00pm

Religion, magic, and science from the middle ages to the present. Contrast between modern scientific methodology and religious and magical thinking. AH, OL, VL, WC.

STS 122: HEALTH AND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES

MW 6:10-7:30pm

Critical/historical examination of medical technologies: imaging, pharmaceuticals, genetics, implants/devices. Exploration of mutually constitutive relationship between health, medical technologies, social difference (race/gender/class/sexuality). DD, SS. 

STS 136: SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

TR 10:30-11:50am

Rise of modern science in Europe, 1500-1750. Transformation of ideas about nature, knowledge, medicine, and technology in the age of Copernicus, Vesalius, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton. AH, SS, WC.

STS 162: SURVEILLANCE STUDIES

TR 1:40-3:00pm + section

Study of the ubiquitous presence of CCTV, face recognition software, global tracking systems, biosensors, and data mining practices that have made surveillance part of our daily life. Exploration of the boundary between security and control, information and spying. AH, OL, SS, VL, ACGH, WE.

STS 164: WRITING SCIENCE

TR 10:30-11:50am

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. AH, SL, WE. (Prerequisite STS 001, ENL 003, or equivalent)

STS 172: VIDEO GAMES & CULTURE

TR 3:10-4:30pm + section

Critical approaches to the study of video games, focusing on formal, historical, and cultural modes of analysis. History of software and hardware in North American and global contexts. Relations of games to society, politics, economics, literature, media, and the arts. AH, SS, VL, ACGH.

STS 176: SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE

4:10-5:30pm + section

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. SS. (SOC 001, SOC 002, SOC 002 recommended)