Course Descriptions

1003. Science, Technology and Society I (Jenkins or Burnett)
Introduces liberal arts students to science and technology as forces that both influence and are influenced by society. Examines developments in science and technology (in the areas of health and medicine and the natural environment) to see how they often have ironic, unintended consequences and critically evaluates various issues arising from science and technology. 3 credit hours.

1403 – Science, Technology & War (Burnett)
This course explores the development of modern techniques, technologies, and social systems for the purposes of making war. It also asks how wars change societies, technologically, socially, and structurally. We will pay attention to technology and changes in military strategy, but we will also look at non-combatants as “users” of technology. The course will challenge students to consider such questions as: What are the purposes of military technologies? Are social values built into them? Is it possible to develop weapons that are “non-lethal,” “precise,” and/or “surgical?” Do they ultimately serve the purposes for which they were designed? How can citizens shape their use? How have our lives been shaped by military technology?

1503. Principles of Biology I (BIOL 1503) (Part-Time Faculty)
This course introduces students to the study of life. Topics include the scientific method, biological molecules, cell structure and function, energy flow, respiration, and photosynthesis. 3 credit hours.

1513. Principles of Biology II (BIOL 1513) (Part-Time Faculty)
This course examines mitosis, meiosis, and genetics. Surveys the structure, function, and evolution of the kingdoms of life. Discusses the basics of ecology, culminating in ecological interactions and the impact of humans on the planet. 3 credit hours.

1613 Everyday Chemistry (CHEM 1613) (Part-Time Faculty)
Introduces students to chemistry through the examination of the various roles that chemical elements and reactions play in our everyday lives. Topics could include the role of oxygen in combustion and the growth of living organisms, the formation of water molecules, and the role of carbon-based and organic molecules in fuels, food, and everyday objects. 3 credit hours

1713. Science, Technology and the Earth (GEOL 1713) (Whitehead)
The course introduces various elements of basic science using the Earth as its laboratory. Earth Science is well suited for this purpose. Topics are varied and include: the origin of the Earth; gravity, density and seismic waves and what they can tell us about the Earth; physical properties of minerals and what they can tell us about atomic structure; energy sources; water resources; wastes; life in the context of creationism and evolution. Lectures are augmented by online and hands-on exercises and a self-lead fieldtrip. 3 credit hours.

2103. Science, Technology and Society II (TBA)
This course is designed to introduce students to social and environmental problems raised by science and technology. Specific topics may vary from section to section. Past topics have included the genetic basis for human intelligence, new reproductive technologies, and the politics of fisheries science. The aim of this course is to prepare students to enter into debate over key issues by introducing them to scientific research, technology, and legal and political issues arising from them. 3 credit hours.
Pre-requisite: STS 1003

2123 – Food, Science & Sustainability (Burnett)
Today we take for granted the fact that the food we eat, even fresh food, is surrounded and in many ways constituted by technology and scientific knowledge. But during the last century, the ways in which science and technology have altered food and the way we eat it have at times become very controversial. Public protest, often voiced through scientific discourse, has in turn had an impact on patterns of food production and consumption. This course examines the broad contours of our technical relationship to food. How have different groups understood the costs and benefits of modern food production and distribution, and by whom are these costs and benefits borne or enjoyed? The notion of sustainability will be a central concept to be explored in the course: what are the political and economic implications of promoting agricultural sustainability? How viable is sustainability in both practical and ideological terms? Is sustainability an obvious corollary of globalization? How can both farming and patterns of consumption be made sustainable?

2243. Science and Technology in World History: From Pre-History to 1543 (Jenkins)
Examines the transformation of civilizations around the world by technologies such as stone tools, catapults, hydraulic engineering, metallurgy, and gunpowder. Also examines the growth of the abstract, theoretical sciences of astronomy, mathematics, and medicine in various regions including China, the Americas, Egypt and Greece. Aims to understand the social, political, economic, and religious consequences of science and technology from the Paleolithic Era to the mid-16th century. 3 credit hours.

2253. Science and Technology in World History: From 1543 to the Present (Jenkins)
Examines the transformation of civilizations around the world by technologies such as steam engines, electricity, airplanes, and nuclear bombs. Also examines the development and impact of new scientific theories of universal gravitation, evolution, genetics, and bio-engineering. Aims to understand the social, political, economic, and religious consequences of science and technology from the mid-16th century to the present. 3 credit hours.

2303. Natural Disasters (Whitehead)
This course focuses on various forms of natural disaster that affect human populations. The science of the physical processes involved will be addressed and the human impact of the processes will be illustrated with case studies. Disaster preparedness on global, national and local scales for various types of natural phenomena will also be discussed. Lectures will be accompanied by group activities and a group presentation of a chosen case study. 3 credit hours.

2413 - Science, Technology & Innovation (Part-Time Faculty)
This course examines the field of science and technology studies (STS) with a focus on science and technological-based innovation, historically and in the contemporary world. The course will offer students an opportunity to critcally evaluate theories of technological change, and science and technology in globalization, and the post-modern economy. Students will also be expected to critically discuss implications for public policies in the areas of research and development, science and technology, and innovation. No pre-requisites required.

2503. History of Disease (Jenkins)
This course studies the impact of disease outbreaks on human populations and on economic, social, intellectual, religious, and political aspects of life from ancient times to the present. 3 credit hours.

2603. Animals: Rights, Consciousness, and Experimentation (Robinson)
This course is an introduction to the scientific, legal, philosophical, and political debates over animal rights, animal consciousness, and animal experimentation. 3 credit hours.

2703. History of the Life Sciences (Jenkins)
This course examines the historical background and development of the life sciences from the ancient Greek world to the present. Particular attention will be focused on the fields of biology, ecology, medicine and genetics. 3 credit hours.

2803. Controversies in the Earth and Environmental Science (Whitehead)
The Earth is affected by human activities which may be motivated by financial benefit, societal needs, or political goals. This course introduces some of the more controversial issues that face the environment. The topics will vary according to class interests, but could include: the banning of DDT, mining space resources, nuclear energy and wastes, disputed water resources, population control measures, exploiting resources in wildlife refuges, and the value of space exploration. Traditional lectures will be accompanied by student group presentations and debates on both sides of each chosen issue. Basic research training will be developed. 3 credit hours.

2903 The Politics of Science (Robinson)
This course introduces students to the many ways in which science interacts with political interests. This includes the ways in which political considerations from outside of science and elected officials influence the development of science. It also includes the ways in which political interests from within science itself control the development of science and how scientific concerns often guide the development of public policies made by politicians. 3 credit hours.

3003 Scientific Reasoning (TBA)
This course provides students with the tools needed to pursue research in Science and Technology Studies. The course will typically cover the basic elements of a traditional conceptual framework used by scientists to describe their work, including the concepts of prediction, testing, theoretical models, and scientific change over time, as well as the basic elements of alternative theoretical frameworks. Some mathematical content. Prerequisite: at least 9 credit hours in STS or permission of the instructor. 3 credit hours.

3063. Historical Perspectives on Science and Religion (Jenkins)
Examines the complex historical interactions between Western science and the Judeo-
Christian tradition in ancient, medieval and early modern worldviews. 3 credit hours.
Pre-requisite: STS 2243

3163. Contemporary Perspectives on Science and Religion (RELG) (Jenkins)
This course examines the recent debates over the relation between science and religion. A resurgence of interest in these debates has been sparked by developments in the sciences, particularly in physics and genetics, as well as by a newly-emerging understanding of what science is. The central questions include whether science and religion are compatible and whether recent developments in the sciences give new answers to religious and theological questions. Readings will represent all sides of these debates. 3 credit hours.
Pre-requisite: STS 2253 (effective Fall 2010).

3203 Science, Technology and Nature (Burnett)
Examines the historical connections between society and nature by studying how science and technology, from the time of the ancient Mesopotamians to the present, have influenced how the natural world has been both perceived and used. Topics include: transition from sacred to secular views of nature, medieval technologies and land-use, artistic representations of nature, the scientific revolution and the utility of nature, the 17t h-century mechanical philosophy of nature, the 18th-century Romantic culture of nature, impact of industrialization. Prerequisite: at least 9 credit hours in STS or permission of the instructor. 3 credit hours.

STS 3303 – Sex, Science & Gender (Burnett)
In 2005, Harvard President Larry Summers suggested in a speech that “intrinsic aptitude” might explain part of the gender gap in science and engineering professions. His remarks touched off a storm of controversy. Much of the critical furor stemmed from a fear that scientific authority might once again be used as a cover for attitudes about gender that derived from culture rather than scientific truth. In this course, students will research and discuss the proposition that scientific ideas about biological sex differences and cultural gender roles have co-evolved in the twentieth century. In other words, students will look at how scientific research has shaped common conceptions of sex differences and sexual behavior, and how this scientific knowledge has also been shaped by cultural conceptions of gender roles and “normal” behavior. The course will begin with the proliferation of scientific discourses about sex in the last third of the nineteenth century, primarily among medical practitioners and psychologists in Germany, France and Britain. Students will read about gendered medical disorders such as hysteria, as well as early models of sexual behavior and orientation. When students cross to North America in the early twentieth century, they will explore the development of sex-science research and the new science of endocrinology in the context of eugenics and the race to improve “the race.” For the post-World War II period, students will discuss the transformative cultural power of scientific research and related technology. How did the Pill, synthetic hormones, and the “sex expert” change how the public understood and discussed sex and sexuality? Conversely, have more sophisticated biological definitions of the masculine and the feminine reinforced traditional gender roles in recent years? Pre-requisite: at least 9 credit hours in STS or the permission of Dr. Burnett.

3503. Feminist Critiques of Science (GEND) (TBA)
This course is an introduction to the feminist literature on science, technology, and mathematics. Topics will include the possibility that a new science based on feminist principles might be qualitatively different from modern science. Related topics include the role played by values in science, the relation between “pure” scientific research and technology (especially military technology), the possibility that there might be a feminist alternative to classical mathematics and logic, and whether young women and men with feminist beliefs should be encouraged to become scientists (given the close connection between science and military technology). Readings will represent a range of different feminist perspectives on each of these questions, and we will examine the arguments for and against each of these views. Prerequisite: at least 9 credit hours in STS or permission of the instructor. 3 credit hours.

3533. Science and Scientific Knowledge (SOCI 3533) (TBA)
This course examines the study of science and scientific knowledge from a sociological perspective. It focuses on the effort of the Edinburgh School to provide a materialist resolution to the debate between positivist and relativist epistemologies. 3 credit hours.

3563. Philosophy of Science (PHIL 3563) (TBA)
This course will examine science from the perspective of philosophy. Topics will include the historical relation between science and philosophy, the differences between the social and the physical sciences, the nature of scientific change in history, the role of values in science, the reality of 'theoretical' objects of science, and feminist alternatives to traditional scientific research. Examples will be drawn from both the physical and the social sciences. Prerequisite: at least 9 credit hours in STS or permission of the instructor. 3 credit hours.

3803 Space Exploration (Whitehead)
This course presents a historical review of the exploration of space, discusses the benefits/problems associated with exploration, as well assessing how space exploration has changed society. The challenges that need to be overcome to continue exploration will be probed, and an introduction to the past and future technologies that have been/could be used to explore space are introduced. Controversial issues regarding terra-forming other planets, extracting resources from planets, asteroids or the moon, and the jurisdiction over these bodies are explored. The course is delivered predominantly via lecture, with some group debates, student presentations, and self-directed research projects. Prerequisite: at least 9 credit hours in STS or permission of the instructor. 3 credit hours.

4006 Honours Thesis

4103 Independent Study

Science courses

St. Thomas offers courses in the Sciences. These courses can be taken either as science courses or as courses in Science and Technology Studies. In the 2008-2009 year, the following courses are available to students:

BIOL 1503. Principles of Biology I (STS 1503) (Part-Time Faculty)
This course introduces students to the study of life. Topics include the scientific method, biological molecules, cell structure and function, energy flow, respiration, and photosynthesis.. 3 credit hours. 3 credit hours.

BIOL 1513. Principles of Biology II (STS 1513) (Part-Time Faculty)
This course examines mitosis, meiosis, and genetics. Surveys the structure, function, and evolution of the kingdoms of life. Discusses the basics of ecology, culminating in ecological interactions and the impact of humans on the planet. 3 credit hours.

CHEM 1613 Everyday Chemistry (STS 1613) (Part-Time Faculty)
Introduces students to chemistry through the examination of the various roles that chemical elements and reactions play in our everyday lives. Topics could include the role of oxygen in combustion and the growth of living organisms, the formation of water molecules, and the role of carbon-based and organic molecules in fuels, food, and everyday objects. 3 credit hours

GEOL 1713. Science, Technology and the Earth (STS 1713) (Whitehead)
The course introduces various elements of basic science using the Earth as its laboratory. Earth Science is well suited for this purpose. Topics are varied and include: the origin of the Earth; gravity, density and seismic waves and what they can tell us about the Earth; physical properties of minerals and what they can tell us about atomic structure; energy sources; water resources; wastes; life in the context of creationism and evolution. Lectures are augmented by online and hands-on exercises and a self-lead fieldtrip. 3 credit hours.

Students considering entering a B.Ed. programme after graduation should register for dual-listed STS/Science courses using the science course code (e.g., BIOL1503/GEOL1713) so that it can be considered for ‘teachable’ credit.

In addition to the courses listed immediately above, students may use any courses in the Sciences to count toward the Minor, Major and Honours in Science and Technology Studies. Students may apply more than one methods course toward their Major or Honours only with the approval of the Programme Director.

Courses at the University of New Brunswick

The University of New Brunswick offers a number of courses in the Sciences and courses that fall under the description of Science and Technology Studies but are offered by departments such as history and sociology. St. Thomas students who wish to register for any of the courses described immediately above may do so only with the approval of the Director of Science and Technology Studies and the approval of the Registrar’s Office.

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