HASS-D & CI-H Subjects

MIT students: Please also refer to the MIT Subject Listing and Schedule for all class descriptions, times and locations.

STS.001: Technology in American History
[HASS-D/5] [CI-H] Spring 2010

Emphasizes how American social, political, and economic culture and cultural concerns have played a big role in shaping the sort of technology we see around us. What functions have particular technologies played? In a roughly chronological manner, we will look at major technical innovations such as the factory system, interchangeable parts, electrification, the assembly line, computers, and biotechnology, to name a few, examining not only the technical components of each, but also the non-technical concerns of the time, such as labor unrest, market forces, rise of scientific experts, ideology of progress, role of advertising, and artistic expression in relation to technological change.

STS.003: The Rise of Modern Science
[HASS-D/5] Fall 2009

This subject introduces the history of modern science from antiquity to the present. Students consider the impacts of philosophy, art, magic, social structure and folk knowledge on the development of what has come to be called “science” in the Western tradition, including those fields today designated as physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and the earth sciences. Topics include life, death, environment, energy, matter and time. Students read original works by Aristotle, Vesalius, Newton, Lavoisier, Maxwell, Darwin and Einstein, among others. Primary documents are supplemented by secondary readings, artifact study and film and visual sources.

STS.005: Disease and Society in America
[HASS-D/5] [CI-H] Fall 2009

Why do we get sick? Why do some people get sick while others stay healthy? What do people do once they are sick? These might seem like medical questions, but they are actually perfect questions for historians. The distribution of disease, the impact of medical treatments, and societal responses to disease are all crucial phenomena that have changed dramatically over the past 400 years. We will study the changing patterns of disease and medical treatments to see what lessons we can learn that are relevant for contemporary problems in disease and health policy.

STS.006J: Bioethics
[HASS-D/2] [CI-H] Spring 2010

This course does not seek to provide answers to ethical questions. Instead, the course hopes to teach students two things. First, how do you recognize ethical or moral problems in science and medicine? When something does not feel right (whether cloning, or failing to clone) - - what exactly is the nature of the discomfort? What kind of tensions and conflicts exist within biomedicine? Second, how can you think productively about ethical and moral problems? What processes create them? Why do people disagree about them? How can an understanding of philosophy or history help resolve them? By the end of the course students will hopefully have sophisticated and nuanced ideas about problems in bioethics, even if they do not have comfortable answers.

STS.010: Neuroscience and Society
[HASS-D/4] [CI-H] Spring 2010

In recent decades, research in the field of neuroscience has spilled into the national media on a daily basis, suggesting new interventions and applications in social domains such as law, education, and economics, and challenging us to redefine our understandings of responsibility, choice, and what it is to be human. In this class we will think critically about the relationship between neuroscience and society. As a HASS-D/CI-H course, emphasis is placed on oral and written communication. Active participation in a weekly recitation section is expected, and students will complete four written assignments (including a rewrite of the first paper).

STS.011: American Science: Ethical Conflicts and Political Choices
[HASS-D/2] Spring 2010

This subject examines ethical and political conflicts in American science across a number of disciplines and historical contexts. It explores the ethics and political consequences of nuclear weapons work, controversies over the use of human subjects in medical and social science research, the emergence of public interest science groups, and the experiences of scientific whistleblowers in corporations and government laboratories. It also examines recent controversies over alleged scientific fraud, asking to what extent the scientific community is capable of regulating its own behavior.

STS.034: Science Communication: A Practical Guide (NEW)
[CI-H] Spring 2010

Develops students’ abilities to communicate science effectively to non-specialist audiences in a variety of media. Emphasizes the elements of effective speaking and writing and the art of storytelling. Students study examples of science communication in journalism, broadcasting, museums and new media, and develop their skills through classroom exercises, speaking and writing assignments. Students undertake a practical project in science communication through the Cambridge Science Festival, organized by the MIT Museum.

STS.042J: Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century
[CI-M for Physics Majors] Not offered AY2009-2010

Explores the changing roles of physics and physicists during the 20th century. Topics range from relativity theory and quantum mechanics to high-energy physics and cosmology. Examines the development of modern physics within shifting institutional, cultural, and political contexts, such as physics in Imperial Britain, Nazi Germany, US efforts during World War II, and physicists' roles during the Cold War. Enrollment limited.

STS.046J: The Science of Race, Sex, and Gender
[CI-H] Fall 2009

Examines the role of science and medicine in the origins and evolution of the concepts of race, sex, and gender from the seventeenth century to the present. Focus on how biological, anthropological, and medical concepts intersect with social, cultural, and political ideas about racial, sexual, and gender difference in the U.S. and globally. Approach is historical and comparative across disciplines emphasizing the different modes of explanation and use of evidence in each field.

STS.082J: Science, Technology, and Public Policy
[CI-H] Fall 2009

Analysis of issues at the intersection of science, technology, public policy, and business. Cases drawn from antitrust and intellectual property rights; health and environmental policy; defense procurement and strategy; strategic trade and industrial policy; and R&D funding. Structured around theories of political economy, modified to take account of integration of uncertain technical information into public and private decision-making. Enrollment limited to 18.