Santa Clara University

Open the pages of your favorite newspaper any day of the week. Stories about global warming, the latest advancements in robotics, the use of stem cells in research, and surveillance on the Internet abound.

Everyone who shapes public policy, law or choices in the marketplace must understand and respond to the scientific and technological dimensions of our society. Everyone who works on the latest scientific or technological advancements needs to anticipate and understand how these innovations will impact various stakeholders in society. And every day, we as voters and consumers confront choices with wide-ranging scientific, technological and social implications. Thus, today’s students, if they are to be engaged citizens of tomorrow’s world, will each be called upon to grasp the complex interrelationships between science, technology and society. This is the unique aim and promise of the STS minor: to provide SCU students with the academic foundation for becoming responsible and effective ‘technological citizens’, and leaders of a better and more just world.

Why STS?

Distinguish yourself on the job market.

Today’s employers look for more than scientific and technological skills. They want fresh thinking leaders who can critically analyze the social and cultural aspects of new products, both their causes and effects. The STS minor develops the skills you need to enable businesses to thrive while contributing to a better world. Distinguish yourself and make a difference.

Open the door to a top graduate school.

The STS minor distinguishes your grad school application by demonstrating that you understand how science operates in the real world. Investigate the ways in which social values shape the trajectory of scientific discovery, and how the expansion of scientific knowledge in turn shapes them. Distinguish yourself and make a difference.

Apply science and technology in service to global society.

World leaders must be able to understand the role of science and technology in global society. The world faces enormous challenges in the fields of energy, agriculture, public health, environmental management, and communication – and these all require solutions that use science, technology, innovation, and creativity. Through the STS minor, you can create solutions to these challenges. Distinguish yourself and make a difference.

 

Requirements

The minor consists of the following:

• Four classes in one of the three emphasis areas
• Any other three classes approved as undergraduate STS courses
• Documented attendance and/or volunteering at four colloquia or conferences organized by CSTS
• Submission of brief critical summaries of four colloquia or conferences organized CSTS for a pass/no-pass evaluation by the minor advisor

Emphasis areas

Information Technology & Society

Courses address the role of computers, the internet, and information technologies in modern society, and the transformative relationship between society and these technologies. Sample courses: COMM 12, Technology & Communication; OMIS 34, Information Technology, Business & Society; and SOC 49, Computers, Internet & Society.

COMM 12	Technology & Communication	COMM 149B	Science News
COSC 10	Introduction to Computer Science	ENGL 138	Internet Culture in the Information Society
ENVS 115	GIS in Environmental Studies	LBST 75	Educational Reform in America
MUSC 115	Thinking About Music Now	SOCI 49	Computers, Internet & Society
SOCI 120	Quantitative Methods & Applied Statistics	SOCI 149	Business, Technology & Society
ACTG 134	Accounting Information Systems	MGMT 177	Managing with the Internet
OMIS 34	Information Technology, Business & Society

Science & Technology for the Common Good

Courses examine how science and technology can contribute to social benefit, especially the well-being of underserved communities. They investigate the factors internal to the development of science and technology, as well as the societal factors (e.g., cultural, political, economic) that favor their development. Sample courses: ENVS 2, Energy & Society; PHIL 80, Science, Technology & Society; PHSC 100, Introduction to Epidemiology.

ANTH 133	Human Nutrition & Culture	ANTH 135	Human Development & Sexuality
ANTH 140	Food, Culture & Environment	BIOL 109	Genetics & Society
BIOL 135	Biofuels: Sustainable Energy for the Future?	BIOL 159	Plagues in the Age of Insects
BIOL 171	Social & Ethical Dimensions of Biotechnology	COMM 149B	Science News
COMM 164A	Race, Gender & Public Health	ENVS 2	Energy & the Environment
ENVS 10	The Joy of Garbage	ENVS 80	Energy and the Environment
ENVS 135	Biofuels: Sustainable Energy for the Future?	ENVS 145	Environmental Technology
ENVS 153	Conservation Science	HIST 123	History of Plagues, Epidemics & Infections
HIST 125	History of the Senses	PHIL 80	Science, Technology & Society
PHIL 140	Philosophy of Science	PHIL xxx	Prenatal Humans, Science & Social Values
PHIL xxx	Neuroscience, Values & the Law	PSYC 50	Ways of Knowing
PSYC 158	Conservation Psychology	PSYC xxx	Neuroscience, Values & the Law
PHSC 1	Human Health & Disease	PHSC 28	Human Sexuality
PHSC 100	Introduction to Epidemiology	PHSC 120	Technology, Innovation & Public Health
SOCI 49	Computers, Internet & Society	SOCI 149	Business, Technology & Society
OMIS 80	The World Food System	ENGR 60	Sustainable Electric Energy for the 21st Century
ENGR 160	Nanotechnology & Society	MECH 144	Smart Product Design

Science Communication

Courses examine how expert scientific knowledge has been and can be communicated to scientific and lay audiences. This includes communication within research communities, communication of scientific and technical information to the public, and science and technology communication policy. Sample courses: ANTH 5, Popular Culture & Bioanthropology; COMM 149B Science News; PHYS 5, The Science of Star Trek.

ANTH 4	Vanished Peoples & Lost Civilizations	ANTH 5	Popular Culture & Bioanthropology
ANTH 132	Paleoanthropology	ANTH 133	Human Nutrition & Culture
ANTH 135	Human Development & Sexuality	ANTH 147	The Archaeology of Complex Societies
BIOL 109	Genetics & Society	BIOL 135	Biofuels: Sustainable Energy for the Future?
BIO 142	Natural History of California	BIOL 144	Baja Natural History
BIOL 159	Plagues in the Age of Insects	BIOL 171	Social & Ethical Dimensions of Biotechnology
COMM 149B	Science News	COMM 164A	Race, Gender & Public Health
ENGL 138	Internet Culture in the Information Society	ENVS 2	Energy & the Environment
ENVS 10	The Joy of Garbage	ENVS 115	GIS in Environmental Studies
ENVS 135	Biofuels: Sustainable Energy for the Future?	ENVS 144	Baja Natural History
ENVS 145	Environmental Technology	ENVS 153	Conservation Science
MUSC 115	Thinking About Music Now	PHIL xxx	Prental Humans, Science & Social Values
PHIL xxx	Neuroscience, Values & the Law	PHYS 5	The Science of Star Trek
PHYS 8	Intro to Space Sciences	PSYC 158	Conservation Psychology
PSYC xxx	Neuroscience, Values & the Law	PHSC 28	Human Sexuality
PHSC 100	Introduction to Epidemiology	PHSC 120	Technology, Innovation & Public Health
OMIS 80	The World Food System	ENGR 60	Sustainable Electric Energy for the 21st Century
ENGR 160	Nanotechnology & Society	MECH 141	Mechanical Vibrations
MECH 144	Smart Product Design

STS Minor Faculty Contacts

Keith Warner, O.F.M.

Lecturer, Religious Studies Department
Assistant Director of Education (Core Curriculum), Center for Science, Technology, and Society
Kwarner@scu.edu

Craig Stephens

Professor, Biology Department
Director of Public Health Program and Combined Sciences major
Director of Education for the Center for Science, Technology, and Society
CStephens@scu.edu

Participating Departments

Accounting Anthropology Biology Communication Computer Science English Environmental Studies History Liberal Studies

Music Philosophy Physics Psychology Public Health Science Sociology Management Operations Management & Information Systems Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering