Undergraduate courses in Science, Technology, and Society

(Same as ENGR 130, STS 201.) Key social, cultural, and values issues raised by contemporary scientific and technological developments; distinctive features of science and engineering as sociotechnical activities; major influences of scientific and technological developments on 20th-century society, including transformations and problems of work, leisure, human values, the fine arts, and international relations; ethical conflicts in scientific and engineering practice; and the social shaping and management of contemporary science and technology. GER:DB-SocSci

4-5 units, Aut (McGinn, R)

STS 101Q. Technology in Contemporary Society

(S,Sem) Stanford Introductory Seminar. Preference to sophomores. Introduction to the STS field. The natures of science and technology and their relationship, what is most distinctive about these forces today, and how they have transformed and been affected by contemporary society. Social, cultural, and ethical issues raised by recent scientific and technological developments. Case studies from areas such as information technology and biotechnology, with emphasis on the contemporary U.S. Unexpected influences of science and technology on contemporary society and how social forces shape scientific and technological enterprises and their products. Enrollment limited to 12. GER:DB-SocSci

4 units, Aut (McGinn, R)

STS 110. Ethics and Public Policy

(Same as MS&E 197, PUBLPOL 103B.) Ethical issues in science- and technology-related public policy conflicts. Focus is on complex, value-laden policy disputes. Topics: the nature of ethics and morality; rationales for liberty, justice, and human rights; and the use and abuse of these concepts in policy disputes. Case studies from biomedicine, environmental affairs, technical professions, communications, and international relations. GER:DB-Hum, EC-EthicReas, WIM

5 units, Win (McGinn, R)

STS 112. Ten Things: Science, Technology, and Design

(Same as CLASSART 113, CLASSART 213.) Connections among science, technology, society and culture by examining the design of a prehistoric hand axe, Egyptian pyramid, ancient Greek perfume jar, medieval castle, Wedgewood teapot, Edison's electric light bulb, computer mouse, Sony Walkman, supersonic aircraft, and BMW Mini. Interdisciplinary perspectives include archaeology, cultural anthropology, science studies, history and sociology of technology, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology. GER:DB-SocSci

4-5 units, Win (Shanks, M)

STS 115. Ethical Issues in Engineering

(Same as ENGR 131.) Moral rights and responsibilities of engineers in relation to society, employers, colleagues, and clients; cost-benefit-risk analysis, safety, and informed consent; the ethics of whistle blowing; ethical conflicts of engineers as expert witnesses, consultants, and managers; ethical issues in engineering design, manufacturing, and operations; ethical issues arising from engineering work in foreign countries; and ethical implications of the social and environmental contexts of contemporary engineering. Case studies, guest practitioners, and field research. Limited enrollment. GER:DB-Hum

4 units, Spr (McGinn, R), alternate years, not given next year

STS 134. History of the Senses

(Same as HISTORY 241G, HISTORY 341G, STS 234.) Technological, medical, philosophical, and scientific history of the five senses, drawing upon readings from antiquity to the present. How physiologists and philosophers have explained the functioning of the senses; how doctors have tampered with them both to help and to hinder; and how technologies including medical devices, scientific instruments, and tools of the arts have continually transformed the nature and experience of sensation. GER:DB-SocSci

4-5 units, not given this year

STS 144. Game Studies: Issues in Design, Technology, and Player Creativity

What can be learned about innovation from digital games? Digital game technologies, communities, and cultures. Topics include game design, open source ideas and modding, technology studies, player/consumer-driven innovation, fan culture, transgressive play, and collaborative co-creation drawn from virtual worlds and online games.

4 units, Spr (Lowood, H)

STS 153. Living With Social Technologies

How can technologies facilitate and engage human capacities and needs for social interaction? Do social technologies pose special challenges for policy making and research and how can we respond? Topics include: the emergence of social technologies in cyberspace; gaming, social networking, virtual agents, and social robotics; comparison of communities online and off; technological innovation and new modes of communicating, learning, playing, and working; the social impacts of shifting boundaries between animacy/inanimacy, human/machine, real/virtual.

4 units, Win (Sabanovic, S)

STS 155. Society in the Age of Robots

Predictions, discourse, and applications of robotics and its impacts on individual lives, cultural practices, and social institutions. Are robots the next step in human evolution? How will robotic technologies affect society in their new roles as caretakers, companions, entertainers, teachers, and guides? Can robotics contribute to solving contemporary social issues such as an aging society? Attention to materials from robotics, the social sciences and humanities, and film and fiction; comparison between the U.S. and Japan.

4 units, Spr (Sabanovic, S)

STS 160. Controversy and Closure: The Politics of Technical Expertise

What are the causes and consequences of global warming? Do birth control pills increase the risk of cancer? Was there prewar evidence of WMD in Iraq? How political institutions, culture, and technology shape techno-political advice and common assumptions about who counts as an expert.

4 units, not given this year

STS 165. Science and Engineering in the Security State

How defense research changes how scientists and engineers work. How the research projects of the Cold War shaped practices in disciplines including computing, physics, biology, medicine, environmental sciences, and social sciences. Challenges faced by scientists and engineers in the context of heavy defense spending.

4 units, not given this year

STS 170. Technology in Modern Security Discourse

Technology's central role in discussions of international security issues including nuclear proliferation or containment, ballistic missiles or anti-missiles, biological weapons or vaccines, and data mining or computer security. What uses can and should technology serve in diplomacy? Why are some weapons stigmatized while others are deemed acceptable? How does discourse itself become a weapon? The history of the technologies and the discourses about them.

4 units, not given this year

STS 176. Technology and Politics

The impact of politics, scientific advice, and government actors on new technologies; their effects on political life. How politics have shaped the development, use, and regulation of information, bio-, nano-, space-based weapons, nuclear power, and greenhouse gas technologies. How technologies such as television, the Internet, and large computer databases have affected democratic politics, freedom, privacy, equality, civil society, and political participation. Focus is on U.S. politics; attention to developments elsewhere.

5 units, offered occasionally

STS 180. Imagining the Computer, Wiring the World

(Same as STS 280.) The theme of revolution in th epopular imagination about computing. How people imagine themselves as members of a global network society, navigating cyberspace and pioneering a bold, new information age. But where did modern information technology come from? Has it brought about revolution, and if so for whom? The cultural and political visions that shaped modern computing, and how the resulting technology has shaped a globalizing sociopolitical order.

4 units, Spr (Slayton, R)

STS 190. Junior Honors Seminar

For juniors intending to pursue honors in STS or a related discipline. Goal is to identify a research problem and identify key components of honors research and thesis writing such as literature reviews, methodologies, theoretical frameworks, and writing standards.

3-4 units, Win (Slayton, R)

STS 195A. Honors Research

For students in STS honors program. Goal is submission of proposal.

1-5 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff)

STS 195B. Honors Research

For students in STS honors program. Continued study and writing.

1-5 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff)

STS 195C. Honors Research

For students in STS honors program. Final work on project.

1-5 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff)

STS 199. Individual Work

1-5 units, Aut (Staff), Win (Staff), Spr (Staff)

STS 200. Senior Colloquium

Analytical and theoretical texts treating the natures and interplay of science, technology, and society. Prerequisite: STS major with senior standing and four STS core courses, or consent of instructor.

4 units, Win (Heise, U), Spr (Dupuy, J)

STS 210. Ethics, Science, and Technology

Ethical issues raised by advances in science and technology. Topics: biotechnology including agriculture and reproduction, the built environment, energy technologies, and information technology. Prerequisite: 110 or another course in ethics. Limited enrollment. GER:DB-Hum

4 units, Spr (McGinn, R), alternate years, not given this year

STS 221. The Politics and Ethics of Modern Science and Technology

(Same as HISTORY 257, HISTORY 347.) The WW II decision to build and use the atomic bomb. The controversy over the H-bomb. The Oppenheimer loyalty-security case and the relationship of scientist to the state. Medical experimentation on humans and pitfalls of technology. Relations among science, technology, and university. GER:DB-Hum

4-5 units, not given this year

STS 290A. Senior Honors Seminar

For seniors pursuing STS honors. Goal is to write a literature review with adviser consultation.

1-5 units, Aut (Slayton, R; Sabanovic, S)

STS 290B. Senior Honors Seminar

For seniors pursuing STS honors. Goal is to analyze data and write up results.

1-5 units, Win (Sabanovic, S)

STS 290C. Senior Honors Seminar

For seniors pursuing STS honors. Goal is to complete the final thesis.

1-5 units, Spr (Slayton, R)

Registrar's Office

Stanford Bulletin, Archive 2008-09

Stanford Bulletin, Archive 2008-09

Alphabetical Index

Bulletin Archive

Undergraduate courses in Science, Technology, and Society