Science & Technology Studies (STS)Arts and Sciences

Showing 37 results.

Course descriptions provided by the Courses of Study 2016-2017.

STS 1101

From global warming to surveillance of citizens to health-care reform, issues in science, technology, and medicine also are political issues. This course uses contemporary scientific controversies to explore ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 16272 STS 1101   LEC 001

STS 1116

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) lived during an extraordinary period in global history. In Darwin's time, imperial politics combined with the rise of industrial capitalism to produce a world order dominated ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 17529 STS 1116   SEM 101

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

STS 1123

This seminar explores the ways in which Technology and Society shape one another and provides the opportunity to write extensively about this mutual shaping. Topics vary by section. view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • Topic: FWS: Surveillance in Society

  • 17530 STS 1123   SEM 101

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

STS 1126

This seminar explores the ways in which Science and Society shape one another and provides the opportunity to write extensively about this mutual shaping. Topics vary by section. view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   FWS Session. 

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • Topic: FWS: Thinking Bodies

  • 17531 STS 1126   SEM 101

  • For more information about First-Year Writing Seminars, see the Knight Institute website at http://www.arts.cornell.edu/knight_institute.

STS 1201

This course investigates the ethical, legal, and social foundations of information. Through lectures, readings, and independent projects, the class will learn to analyze and engage key challenges ranging ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: INFO 1200

  • 3 Credits Graded

  • 16541 STS 1201   LEC 001

  • 16759 STS 1201   DIS 201

  • 16760 STS 1201   DIS 202

  • 16761 STS 1201   DIS 203

  • 16762 STS 1201   DIS 204

  • 16763 STS 1201   DIS 205

  • 16764 STS 1201   DIS 206

  • 18335 STS 1201   DIS 207

  • 18337 STS 1201   DIS 208

STS 2061

Politicians, scientists, and citizens worldwide face many environmental issues today, but they are neither simple nor straightforward. Moreover, there are many ways to understand how we have, do, and could ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: BSOC 2061PHIL 2460

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16213 STS 2061   LEC 001

  • 16226 STS 2061   DIS 201

  • 16227 STS 2061   DIS 202

  • 16228 STS 2061   DIS 203

  • 16229 STS 2061   DIS 204

  • 18347 STS 2061   DIS 205

  • 18348 STS 2061   DIS 206

STS 2131

Science fiction, as Fredric Jameson put it, is "the only kind of literature that can reach back and colonize reality." Today more than ever, when science and technology have penetrated everyday life in ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: BSOC 2131COML 2035ENGL 2035

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9799 STS 2131   LEC 001

  •  9800 STS 2131   DIS 201

  •  9801 STS 2131   DIS 202

  •  9802 STS 2131   DIS 203

  •  9803 STS 2131   DIS 204

STS 2451

Bioethics is the study of ethical problems brought about by advances in the medical field.  Questions we'll discuss may include:  Is it morally permissible to advance a patient's death, at his or her request, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: PHIL 2455

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16805 STS 2451   LEC 001

  • 16806 STS 2451   DIS 201

  • 18515 STS 2451   DIS 202

STS 2468

Medicine has become the language and practice through which we address a broad range of both individual and societal complaints. Interest in this "medicalization of life" may be one of the reasons that ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: ANTHR 2468BSOC 2468FGSS 2468

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  9436 STS 2468   LEC 001

  •  9437 STS 2468   DIS 201

  •  9438 STS 2468   DIS 202

  •  9440 STS 2468   DIS 204

  •  9441 STS 2468   DIS 205

  •  9442 STS 2468   DIS 206

  •  9443 STS 2468   DIS 207

  •  9444 STS 2468   DIS 208

  •  9995 STS 2468   DIS 209

STS 2821

This course aims to make comprehensible both to science majors and to students of the humanities the historical  structure and development of modern science and to show sciences as cultural phenomena. ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: BSOC 2821HIST 2820

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17387 STS 2821   LEC 001

  • 17394 STS 2821   DIS 201

  • 17395 STS 2821   DIS 202

  • 17396 STS 2821   DIS 203

  • 17397 STS 2821   DIS 204

STS 2851

Environmental problems, public health issues, scientific research-in each of these areas, communication plays a fundamental role. From the media to individual conversations, from technical journals to ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COMM 2850

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6071 STS 2851   LEC 001

STS 3111

This course provides an introduction to the ways in which medical practice, the medical profession, and medical technology are embedded in society and culture. We will ask how medicine is connected to ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Choose one lecture and one discussion. Combined with: BSOC 3111DSOC 3111SOC 3130

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16698 STS 3111   LEC 001

  • 16699 STS 3111   DIS 201

  • 16700 STS 3111   DIS 202

  • 16701 STS 3111   DIS 203

  • 17753 STS 3111   DIS 204

  • 17754 STS 3111   DIS 205

  • 17755 STS 3111   DIS 206

  • 17756 STS 3111   DIS 207

STS 3181

This course explores the history, sociology, and ethics of risk. In particular, we will focus on the complex and often ambiguous relationship between science, technology, and risk. A historical perspective ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: BSOC 3181HIST 3181

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  9061 STS 3181   LEC 001

STS 3241

The course examines the relationships between human populations and the environment, with an emphasis on the importance of demographic change in shaping the natural environment. We will examine a variety ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: DSOC 3240SOC 3240

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  8285 STS 3241   LEC 001

STS 3561

Computers are powerful tools for working, playing, thinking, and living. Laptops, PDAs, webcams, cell phones, and iPods are not just devices, they also provide narratives, metaphors, and ways of seeing ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •  7975 STS 3561   LEC 001

  • Course not open to Freshmen.

STS 3601

Studies major ethical and social issues involved in engineering practice. The issues include responsibility for designing products that do not harm public health, safety, and welfare; rights of engineers ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ECE 3600ENGRG 3600

  • 3 Credits Graded

  •  8819 STS 3601   LEC 001

STS 3911

This course reviews the changing political relations between science, technology, and the state in America from 1960 to the present. It focuses on policy choices involving science and technology in different ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: AMST 3911GOVT 3091

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16239 STS 3911   LEC 001

  • Enrollment limited to Senior, Junior and Sophomore students.

STS 3991

More information and applications available in 306 Rockefeller Hall. view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6712 STS 3991   IND 602

    • TBA
    • Dear, P

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7436 STS 3991   IND 603

    • TBA
    • Hilgartner, S

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7437 STS 3991   IND 604

    • TBA
    • Kline, R

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7438 STS 3991   IND 605

    • TBA
    • Leuenberger, C

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7439 STS 3991   IND 606

    • TBA
    • Lewenstein, B

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7440 STS 3991   IND 607

    • TBA
    • Lynch, M

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7441 STS 3991   IND 608

    • TBA
    • Pinch, T

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7442 STS 3991   IND 609

    • TBA
    • Prentice, R

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7443 STS 3991   IND 610

    • TBA
    • Pritchard, S

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7444 STS 3991   IND 611

    • TBA
    • Rossiter, M

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7445 STS 3991   IND 612

    • TBA
    • Sengers, P

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7446 STS 3991   IND 613

    • TBA
    • Seth, S

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-6 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7447 STS 3991   IND 614

    • TBA
    • Vogel, K

  • To apply for independent study, please complete the on-line form at https://data.arts.cornell.edu/as-stus/indep_study_intro.cfm

STS 4031

The course is designed to introduce students to the historical background of a set of debates and problems pertaining to the role technologies of identification have played in shaping our understanding ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 4031

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16383 STS 4031   SEM 101

STS 4071

Examines problems that arise at the interface of law and science. These problems include the regulation of novel technology, the role of technical expertise in public decision making, and the control over ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: BSOC 4071

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16277 STS 4071   LEC 001

STS 4101

One animal behaviorist speculates that big brains develop when species are social; that is, when they must read cues from members of their group to understand when to approach, when to flee, when to fight, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ANTHR 4101BSOC 4101

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16217 STS 4101   SEM 101

STS 4352

Cosmology can be understood as the search for order in the universe, for an underlying logic that structures and renders intelligible the raw chaos of sensory experience. In this sense, the production ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  • 17103 STS 4352   SEM 101

STS 4541

Hurricanes. Guns. Zika. Contaminated food. Climate change. Hazardous chemicals. Accidents. Cyber warfare. We live in a hazardous world of uncertainty, surrounded by claims about risks, some sounding the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16273 STS 4541   SEM 101

STS 4561

Evaluation is a pervasive feature of contemporary life. Professors, doctors, countries, hotels, pollution, books, intelligence: there is hardly anything that is not subject to some form of review, rating, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: INFO 4561SOC 4560

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16452 STS 4561   SEM 101

STS 4601

The building skin separates and provides a controlled atmosphere for the interior space of a building, set off from the surrounding environment. When architecture is understood as an organism, and the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: ARCH 6308SHUM 4609VISST 4609

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 17975 STS 4601   SEM 101

STS 4610

The pervasiveness of media in and through the planet has rendered the term "media" a muddy one, situated between technics, nature, and human. This seminar develops a set of theoretical frameworks ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SHUM 4610VISST 4610

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18008 STS 4610   SEM 101

STS 4661

Explores the structure, meanings, and implications of "public communication of science and technology" (PCST). Examines the contexts in which PCST occurs, looks at motivations and constraints of those ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COMM 4660

  • 3 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 18226 STS 4661   LEC 001

STS 4751

This course is divided into three major thematic sections. The first looks at the history of racial thinking in the West. We begin with the existence (or not) of conceptions of biological race in the early- ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 4751

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16349 STS 4751   SEM 101

STS 4821

In retrospect, was film anything more than some highly flammable strips of celluloid? Taking its cue from the "digital turn," this course rephrases a traditional question asked in film theory about the ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: COML 4312GERST 4312PMA 4512

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16382 STS 4821   SEM 101

  • Taught in English. Film screening one evening night per week TBA.

STS 4992

Students must register for the 4 credits each semester (BSOC 4991-BSOC 4992) for a total of 8 credits. After the first semester, students receive a letter grade of "R"; a letter grade for both semesters ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: BSOC 4992HE 4992

  • 4 Credits Graded

  •  8541 STS 4992   RSC 701

    • TBA
    • Staff

STS 6061

This course examines the relationship between scientific development, technological innovation and maintenance, and the capitalistic forces that support and benefit from these activities. view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 6065

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16270 STS 6061   SEM 101

STS 6071

Ethnomethodology (literally people's methodology) is the study of practices through which people collectively organize and sustain social activities. After being introduced as a subfield of sociology in ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16271 STS 6071   SEM 101

STS 6181

This course uses water to examine the confluence of two fields: environmental history and the social and historical studies of science and technology. Although preliminary scholarship has begun to demonstrate ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: HIST 6181

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16300 STS 6181   SEM 101

STS 6311

In this Graduate seminar we will discuss the nature, politics and basic assumptions underlying qualitative research. We will examine a selection of qualitative methods ranging from interviewing, oral history, ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SOC 6310

  • 4 Credits Graded

  • 16215 STS 6311   SEM 101

STS 6321

Rather than analyze the social impact of technology upon society, this course investigates how society gets inside technology. In other words, is it possible that the very design of technologies embody ... view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session.  Combined with: SOC 6320

  • 4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  • 16234 STS 6321   SEM 101

STS 6352

Cosmology can be understood as the search for order in the universe, for an underlying logic that structures and renders intelligible the raw chaos of sensory experience. In this sense, the production ... view course details

View Enrollment Information

Syllabi: none
  • 17124 STS 6352   SEM 101

STS 6991

Applications and information are available in 306 Rockefeller Hall. view course details

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Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  6771 STS 6991   IND 602

    • TBA
    • Dear, P

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7448 STS 6991   IND 603

    • TBA
    • Hilgartner, S

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7449 STS 6991   IND 604

    • TBA
    • Kline, R

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7450 STS 6991   IND 605

    • TBA
    • Leuenberger, C

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7451 STS 6991   IND 606

    • TBA
    • Lewenstein, B

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7452 STS 6991   IND 607

    • TBA
    • Lynch, M

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7453 STS 6991   IND 608

    • TBA
    • Pinch, T

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7454 STS 6991   IND 609

    • TBA
    • Prentice, R

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7455 STS 6991   IND 610

    • TBA
    • Pritchard, S

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7456 STS 6991   IND 611

    • TBA
    • Rossiter, M

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7457 STS 6991   IND 612

    • TBA
    • Sengers, P

Syllabi: none
  •   Regular Academic Session. 

  • 1-4 Credits Stdnt Opt

  •  7458 STS 6991   IND 613

    • TBA
    • Seth, S