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Bulletin Archive

This archived information is dated to the 2008-09 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Graduate courses in Science, Technology, and Society

Primarily for graduate students; undergraduates may enroll with consent of instructor.

STS 201. Science, Technology, and Contemporary Society

(Same as ENGR 130, STS 101.) 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.

4-5 units, Aut (McGinn, R)

STS 234. History of the Senses

(Same as HISTORY 241G, HISTORY 341G, STS 134.) 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.

4-5 units, not given this year

STS 280. Imagining the Computer, Wiring the World

(Same as STS 180.) 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 299. Advanced Individual Work

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

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