courses

In addition to the coursework required by their home departments, all Science Studies graduate students are required to take the Introduction to Science Studies (Part I & II), Colloquium in Science Studies, and the Science Studies Core seminars.

Following is the list of Fall 2008 Science Studies courses as well as a list of Science Studies courses from the UCSD General Catalog. Students should review the UCSD Quarterly Schedule of Classes to find out which courses will be offered during a particular quarter.

FALL 2008 COURSES

Graduate Courses

Introduction to Science Studies: Part I (COGR 225A, HIGR 238, PHIL 209A, SOCG 255A)
Tuesdays, 9:30a - 12:20pm, HSS 3027, Prof. Robert Westman
Study and discussion of classic themes and texts in history of science, sociology of science, and philosophy of science, and of work that attempts to develop an interdisciplinary science studies approach. Required for all students in the Science Studies Program. Prerequisite: enrollment in Science Studies Program.

Colloquium in Science Studies (COGR 225C, HIGR 240, PHIL 209C, SOC 255C)
Mondays, 4:00-6:20pm, HSS 3027
A forum for the presentation and discussion of research in progress in science studies, by graduate students, faculty, and visitors. Students must attend the colloquium series for their entire first and second years. They receive course credit in one quarter each year.

Undergraduate Courses

HISC 106. The Scientific Revolution, TuTh, 3:30p - 4:50p, Prof. Robert Westman

HISC 115. Making Modern Medicine, MWF, 10:00 - 10:50a, Prof. Cathy Gere
Introduction to the history of modern medicine from the Paris Clinic to the Human Genome Project, exploring the origins of contemporary life familiar to us all, from the vitamins we swallow down with breakfast to giving birth in hospital.

HISC 116. History of Bioethics, MWF, 2:00 - 2:50p, Prof. Cathy Gere

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All Science Studies Courses (UCSD General Catalog)

SCIENCE STUDIES CORE COURSES

COGR 225A, HIGR 238, PHIL 209A, SOCG 255A. Introduction to Science Studies
Study and discussion of classic work in history of science, sociology of science, and philosophy of science, and of work that attempts to develop a unified science studies approach. Required for all students in the Science Studies Program. Prerequisite: enrollment in Science Studies Program.

COGR 225B, HIGR 239, PHIL 209B, SOCG 255B. Seminar in Science Studies
Study and discussion of selected topics in the science studies field. Required for all students in the Science Studies Program. The topic varies from year to year, and students may, therefore, repeat the course for credit. Prerequisite: enrollment in Science Studies Program.

COGR 225C, HIGR 240, PHIL 209C, SOCG 255C. Colloquium in Science Studies
A forum for the presentation and discussion of research in progress in science studies, by graduate students, faculty, and visitors. Required for all students in the Science Studies Program. Prerequisite: enrollment in the Science Studies Program.

COGR 225D, HIGR 241, PHIL 209D, SOCG 255D. Advanced Approaches to Science Studies Contemporary themes and problems in Science Studies. Focus on recent literature in the history, philosophy and sociology of science, technology, and medicine. Required of all students in the Science Studies Program. Prerequisites: completion of COGR 225A, HIGR 238, PHIL 209A, or SOCG 255A; enrollment in Science Studies Program or instructor’s permission.

COMMUNICATION

COGR 201I. Ethnography of Information Systems
This course will survey the rapidly growing body of ethnographic analyses of information systems, to extend the basic principles of ethnographic research and to lead students in the development of projects modifying these principles for the emerging electronic environment. Students may approach the course in one (or both) of two ways—either preparing for and carrying out a pilot ethnographic study or studying the theoretical literature in depth.

COGR 275. Technology, Communication, and Everyday Practices
The course considers our everyday engagement with technology to discuss:
sociocultural character of objects and built environments; situated,
distributed and embodied character of knowledges; the use of multimodal
semiotic resources in human-technology interaction.

HISTORY

HIGR 235. Science, Empire and Exploration
Examines links between scientific work, particularly expeditions and exploration, and political programs of empire in the 17-20th centuries. Topics: collecting expeditions as expressions of empire; role of colonial administrative networks in facilitating field-based investigations; relation between European and non-European knowledge systems

HIGR 236A-B. Seminar in History of Science
A two-quarter research seminar, comprising intensive study of a specific topic in the history of science. The first quarter will be devoted to readings and discussions; the second chiefly to the writing of individual research papers. The topic varies from year to year, and students may repeat the course for credit. (IP grade to be awarded the first quarter; final grade will be given at the end of the second quarter.)

HIGR 242. Topics in the History of Earth and Life Sciences
Intensive study of specific problems in the history of the life sciences and earth sciences, ranging in period from the Renaissance to the 21st century. May be repeated for credit as topics will vary annually.

HIGR 243. Historical Scholarship in Technology
An introduction to the historiography of technology. This reading seminar provides an overview of scholarly approaches to the history of technology by critically examining classic and contemporary works in the field.

HIGR 244. Introduction to Sound Studies
Study and discussion of classic and recent scholarship on sound production and cultures of listening. Emphasizes historical literature but also includes works in literary studies, art history, music, and other fields.

HISC 260. Historical Approaches to the Study of Science
This colloquium course will introduce students to the rich variety of ways in which the scientific enterprise is currently being studied historically. Major recent publications on specific topics in the history of science selected to illustrate this diversity will be discussed and analyzed; the topics will range in period from the seventeenth century to the late twentieth, and will deal with all major branches of natural science.

HISC 262. Problems in the History of Science and Religion
Intensive study of specific problems in the relation between science and religion. The problems may range in period from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Topics vary from year to year.

HISC 263. History, Science, and Politics of Climate Change
The complex historical development of human understanding of global climate change, including key scientific work, and the cultural dimensions of proof and persuasion. Special emphasis on the differential political acceptance of the scientific evidence in the U.S. and the world.

HISC 264. Topics in the History of the Physical Sciences
Intensive study of specific problems in the physical (including chemical and mathematical) sciences, ranging in period from the Renaissance to the twentieth century. Topics vary from year to year.

HISC 265. Topics in Twentieth-Century Science and Culture
This is a seminar open to advanced undergraduates and graduate students that explores topics at the interface of science, technology and culture, from the late nineteenth century to the present. Topics change yearly; may be repeated for credit with instructor’s consent.

HISC 266. The Galileo Affair
Galileo’s condemnation by the Catholic Church in 1633 is a well-known but misunderstood episode. Was Galileo punished for holding dangerous scientific views? Personal arrogance? Disobedience? Religious transgressions? Readings in original sources, recent historical interpretations.

HISC 267. Gender and Science
Why have women been traditionally excluded from science? How has this affected scientific knowledge? How have scientists constructed gendered representations not only of women, but also of science and nature? We will address these questions from perspectives including history, philosophy, and psychoanalytic theory.

HISC 268. The Extraterrestrial Life Question
The changing fortunes of the belief in the existence of life beyond the Earth (pluralism) from 1750–present as it evolved from a marginal speculation to a central scientific question with wide-ranging consequences for traditional religious belief systems.

HISC 270. Topics in the History of Science and Technology
This seminar explores topics at the interface of science, technology, and society, ranging from the seventeenth century to the twentieth.

HISC 272. Building America: Technology, Culture, and the Built Environment in the United States
The history of the built environment in the United States, from skyscrapers to suburbs, canals and railroads to factories and department stores. The technological history of structures and infrastructures, and the social and cultural values that have been “built into” our material environment.

PHILOSOPHY

Phil. 204A. Core Course in Philosophy of Science
An introduction to one or more central problems in the philosophy of science, or in the philosophy of one of the particular sciences, such as the nature of confirmation and explanation, the nature of scientific knowledge, reductionism, the unity of science, or realism and antirealism. May be taken for credit three times with changed content.

Phil. 245. Philosophy of Science
This seminar will cover current books and theoretical issues in the philosophy of science. May be taken for credit seven times with changed content.

Phil. 247. Philosophy of Biology
Historical and contemporary perspectives on foundational issues about biology. May include questions about the nature of biological explanation, the relation of biology to chemistry and physics, the status of attributions of function, and the relation of biology to the social sciences. May be taken for credit six times with changed content.

Phil. 250A. Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences
Contemporary debates about the study of the mind-brain as studied in one or more of the empirical cognitive sciences. May include questions about the different strategies of explanation invoked, the conceptions of representation employed, the connections between theoretical models developed. May be taken for credit six times with changed content.

280. Philosophy of Science Topics and Methods
This course meets weekly to discuss recent books or articles in philosophy of science. The reading is designed both for students doing active research in the field and for those seeking to gain some familiarity with it. Can be taken nine times for credit with changed content.

SOCIOLOGY

SOCG 234. Intellectual Foundation of the Study of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This course focuses on some classic methodological and theoretical resources upon which the sociology of science, technology, and medicine all draw. It gives special attention to relationships between knowledge and social order, and between knowledge and practice, that are common to science, technology, and medicine.

SOCG 247. Madness and Society
An examination of the historical and sociological literatures on the relationship between madness and society, focusing primarily on the United States and Great Britain but with some comparative reference to western Europe.

SOCG 249. Technology and the Human
This course explores the ethical and political implications of technological interventions into human life. Approaches from science studies, the sociology of the body, and philosophy. Topics include transformations in domains of life such as work, health, childhood, and death.

SOCG 283. The Making of Modern Medicine
An examination of the intellectual, social, cultural, and political dimensions of the Transformation of Western medicine from 1750 to 1900, with a primary focus on Anglo-American developments.

SOCG 284. Contemporary Biomedicine
Develops central themes in medical sociology in order to understand twentieth- and twenty-first-century medical practice and research. Topics include authority and expertise; health inequalities; managed care; health activism; biomedical knowledge production; and the construction of medical objects and subjects.

SOCG 288. Knowledge Capitalism
This seminar examines the place of scientific knowledge and information and communication technology in the transformation of capitalist economy and society. The class explores new interactions between science studies and the social theory of advanced capitalism.