UC Davis 2008-2010 General Catalog - General Catalog - UC Davis

472 Science and Technology Studies
nities in the sciences. The modules are: (1) Cultural
Studies of Science and Technology; (2) Ethics, Values,
and Science Policy; (3) History and Philosophy
of Science; IV. Medicine, Society, and Culture.
Courses in the modules require careful selection to
make the best use of the STS major. Prerequisites for
courses in the sciences can be extensive and require
substantial advance planning for timely completion.
Students are encouraged to take advantage of faculty
and staff advising to plan their course of study.
Career Alternatives. The STS major will create
an opportunity to analyze science and allied practices
from historical, philosophical, sociological,
political, anthropological, and cultural perspectives.
STS prepares students for careers that must address
the broader social, cultural and political ramifications
of science, technology and medicine such as
law, journalism, public policy, economics, government,
and science education. Careers that students
of STS from many universities nationwide have pursued,
in addition to academic careers in STS,
include employment in: systems engineering, Web
site design, science museums, non-profit health organizations,
government service, libraries, law, medicine,
veterinary medicine, dentistry, nursing,
teaching, public health administration, media companies,
management consultant practice, and the
Peace Corps.
A.B. Major Requirements
UNITS
Preparatory Subject Matter .................. 16
Science and Technology Studies 1............ 4
Science and Technology Studies 20.......... 4
Eight units selected from American Studies
1A; Environmental Studies 1; Nature and
Culture 1; Philosophy 30, 31, 32; Science
and Society 1, 2, 3, 5 ............................ 8
Depth Subject Matter ....................... 44-46
Twelve units each from two of the following
four modules:.......................................24
(1) Cultural Studies of Science and
Technology: Community and Regional
Development 118, 162; History 139A,
139B; Nature and Culture 100, 180:
Science and Technology Studies 130A,
131, 150; Sociology 176 ..................12
(2) Ethics, Values, and Science Policy:
Agricultural and Resource Economics 120,
147; Environmental Science and Policy
165; History 185B; Nature and Culture
120; Philosophy 115, 116; Physics 137,
160; Plant Pathology 140; Political Science
171, 175; Veterinary Medicine 170....12
(3) History and Philosophy of Science:
History 135A, 135B, 136, 185A, 185B;
Philosophy 104, 108, 109; Science and
Technology Studies 130A, 130B,
131 .................................................12
(4) Medicine, Society, and Culture:
Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
101, 160; History 139A, 139B;
Psychology 160; Sociology 154 .........12
Note: Although a course may be listed in
more than one module, that course may
satisfy only one requirement.
Science and Technology Studies 180........ 4
Science and Technology Studies 190, or
190HA-HB ......................................... 4-6
Science Electives: Select twelve units, at least
eight of which must be from upper division
courses, from the Approved Science Electives
list below. (Unit totals will vary with required
prerequisites.) ................................. 12-32
Note: Students are strongly advised to choose
science elective courses in consultation with
faculty advisors. Some courses in some areas
may require prerequisites too extensive to be
used for the STS major.
Total Units for the Major.................. 60-82
Approved Science Electives. Courses may be drawn
from any of the following approved subject areas:
Aeronautical Science and Engineering;
Animal Genetics; Animal Science;
Anthropology; Applied Behavioral Sciences;
Applied Biological Systems Technology;
Atmospheric Science; Avian Sciences;
Biological Chemistry; Biological Sciences;
Cell Biology and Human Anatomy;
Chemistry; Engineering; Engineering:
Applied Science; Engineering: Biological
Systems; Engineering: Chemical;
Engineering: Civil and Environmental;
Engineering: Computer Science; Engineering:
Electrical and Computer; Engineering:
Mechanical; Entomology; Environmental and
Resource Sciences; Environmental
Horticulture; Environmental Science and
Policy; Environmental Toxicology; Evolution
and Ecology; Exercise Science; Fiber and
Polymer Science; Food Science and
Technology; Geology; Hydrologic Science;
Material Science and Engineering; Medical
Microbiology; Medical Pharmacology and
Toxicology; Microbiology; Molecular and
Cellular Biology; Nematology; Neurobiology,
Physiology, and Behavior; Nutrition;
Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology;
Physics; Plant Biology; Plant Pathology;
Population Health and Reproduction;
Psychology; Soil Science; Wildlife, Fish, and
Conservation Biology.
Major Adviser. J. Dumit
Courses in Science and Technology
Studies (STS)
Lower Division Courses
1. Introduction to Science, Technology and
Medicine Studies (4)
Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. History, philosophy,
sociology, politics, and cultural studies of
science, technology, and medicine. Emphasis on a
broad range of perspectives. GE credit: SciEng or
SocSci.—Carroll
20. Methods in Science, Technology and
Medicine Studies (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite:
course 1 recommended. Methodological
issues concerning the historical, philosophical, sociological,
ethical, and political analysis of science,
technology, and medicine. Detailed case studies to
illustrate different methods of analysis. GE credit:
SciEng or SocSci, Wrt.—Carroll
32. Drugs, Science and Culture (4)
Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Drugs, politics,
science, society in a cultural perspective:
emphasis on roles of science, government and the
media in shifting attitudes toward alcohol, marijuana,
Prozac and other pharmaceuticals; drug
laws, war on drugs and global trade in sugar,
opium, cocaine. (Same course as Anthropology
32)—III. (III.) Dumit
98. Directed Group Study (1-5)
Prerequisite: consent of instructor (P/NP grading
only.)
99. Special Study for Undergraduates (1-5)
Prerequisite: consent of instructor (P/NP grading
only.)
Upper Division Courses
109. Visualization in Science (4)
Lecture—3 hours; extensive writing or discussion—1
hour. Prerequisite: course 1 or 20 or Anthropology
2. Anthropological approaches to scientific visualization
techniques, informatics, simulations. Examination
of different visualization techniques toward
understanding the work involved in producing them,
critical assessment of their power and limits, especially
when visualizations are used socially to make
claims. Offered in alternate years. (Same course as
Anthropology 109.) GE credit: SocSci, Wrt.—II.
Dumit
120. Religion, Magic and Science (4)
Lecture—3 hours; extensive writing. Religion, magic,
and science from the middle ages to the present.
Contrast between modern scientific methodology
and religious and magical thinking. (Same course as
Religious Studies 120.) Offered in alternate years.
GE credit: ArtHum, Div, Wrt.—Coudert
130A. From Natural History to the History
of Nature (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite:
History 135A recommended. Evolution and
demise of natural history as a discipline from Aristotle
to Linnaeus. Considers ancient views of nature
and its Renaissance rediscovery; the emergence of
biology, botany, geology, and zoology; the history
of taxonomy and classification. GE credit: ArtHum
or SciEng, Wrt.
130B. History of Modern Biology (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite:
course 130A recommended. Development of
modern biology from pre-Darwinian roots to the
present. Considers emergence of modern biological
specialities and consolidation of biological theory
around evolutionary ideas. History of allied fields
such as genetics, paleontology, embryology, ecology,
systematics and molecular biology. GE credit:
ArtHum or SciEng, Wrt.
131. Darwin (4)
Lecture—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: upper
division standing or consent of instructor. Students
will explore the life and times of Charles Darwin and
will trace the development of evolutionary thinking
before and after the Origin of Species to appreciate
its place in Victorian society and in the corpus of
Darwin’s thought. GE credit: ArtHum or SciEng,
Wrt.—Griesemer
150. Gender and Science (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. An interdisciplinary
approach to the relations between gender
and science. Topics include the biological and
cultural construction of sexual difference, the role of
women as practitioners of science, and feminist
approaches to science. GE credit: SocSci, Div, Wrt.
161. Time: Mechanism and Measurement
(4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite:
course 1. Cultural concepts of time; units and
instruments of time measurement; historical differences
in the social organization of time; and time
measurement in twentieth-century science. GE credit:
SocSci, Wrt.
163. History of Communication
Technologies (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. History of
communication technologies from the late Middle
Ages to the 20th century. Questions of technology,
knowledge, power and culture. Particular attention
to questions about information and truth. Offered in
alternate years. GE credit: SocSci.
164. Writing Science (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite:
course 1 or English 3, or equivalent. 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. (Same course as English
164.) GE Credit: Wrt.—I. Milburn
165. Built Environments (4)
Lecture—3 hours; extensive writing. Built environments,
which are designed to support forms of life.
Their role as carriers of cultural memory and in turning
knowledge of nature into social assets. Historical
constellations of knowledge, social order, and
power. Offered in alternate years. GE credit: Soc-
Sci, Wrt.
173. Science Fiction (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; extensive writing. Prerequisite:
course 3 or Science and Technology Studies
1, or equivalent. The literary modes and methods
of science fiction. Representative texts, authors, and
themes of the genre—e.g., time travel, alternative
universes, and utopias. Relations of science fiction to
science, philosophy, and culture. (Same course as
English 173.) GE credit: ArtHum, Wrt.
Quarter Offered: I=Fall, II=Winter, III=Spring, IV=Summer; 2009-2010 offering in parentheses
General Education (GE) credit: ArtHum=Arts and Humanities; SciEng=Science and Engineering; SocSci=Social Sciences; Div=Social-Cultural Diversity; Wrt=Writing Experience