GE-006-910, STS 201, Introduction to Science, Technology and Society
General Education Area C2 2
CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA
ACADEMIC SENATE
GENERAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE
REPORT TO
THE ACADEMIC SENATE
GE-006-910
STS 201, Introduction to Science, Technology and Society,
General Education Area C2
General Education Committee Date: 05/05/13
Executive Committee
Received and Forwarded Date: May 15, 2013
Academic Senate Date: May 22, 2013
FIRST READING
July 17, 2013
SECOND READING
BACKGROUND:
The referral is to recommend whether STS 201, “Introduction to Science, Technology and Society,” be added as a General Education course in Area C2. The proponent for the referral is Dr. Peter Ross of the Philosophy Department and Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program.
STS 201 introduces students to the roles of science and technology in organizing civilizations, through a study of the epistemology of science and the impact of science and technology on society. It enables students to make better informed and more moral decisions concerning science and technology, and gain an historical perspective of the evolving nature of science. The course is of general interest and its curriculum matches the general learning outcomes GE-C2 very well.
RESOURCES RECOMMENDED:
Faculty teaching GE-C2 courses.
RESOURCES CONSULTED:
Professor Lin Wu, Chair, Geography and Anthropology Department
Professor Dorothy D. Willis, Anthropology
Professor Amanda Podany, Chair, History Department
Professor Dale R. Turner, Chair, Philosophy Department
Professor Peter Ross, Proponent, Philosophy Department
The Departments of Philosophy and History indicated that the referral had been discussed at a Departmental level, obviating the need for further consultation with individual Faculty.
DISCUSSION
The referral was reviewed by the GE Committee, and a subcommittee was formed to contact Faculty and Departments in GE Area C2. The Philosophy Department indicated that there was no overlap with existing GE C2 philosophy courses; likewise, Professor Podany indicated that the History Department had discussed the proposal and had no objections to STS 201 being adopted as an Area C2 GE course.
The Geography and Anthropology Department’s sole objection to the referral was that STS 201 would be misplaced in Humanities (Area C), and should rather be part of Area D (Social Sciences):
“I have consulted Dr. DD Wills. Our consensus is that it was not clear why this [Ed: the proposal to add STS 201 as a C2 GE course] is suggested asa humanities, not a social sciences course - the course is much more concerned with scientific issues than is ANT 112, which is really about culture, customs, aesthetics, and beliefs, thus making ANT 112 a clear humanities course.” (Email from Professor Lin Wu, dated 3/21/2013)
The GE Committee then examined closely the proponent’s justification for STS 201 as a (C2) GE course, the STS 201 ECO, and the Curriculum Guide for Areas C2 and D. After brief discussion, the Committee unanimously agreed that STS 201 is best fit in GE Area C2.
The GE Committee also asked the proponent, Dr. Ross, to revise the ECO to bring it into line with current standards for GE-course ECOs, which require that the ECO state how the course relates to GE student learning objectives in its GE area. The attached ECO is the revised version, which specifies how the course fulfills C2 criteria, and how STS 201 relates to the GE Program’s objectives and learning outcomes. The referral with the revised ECO was discussed and voted on.
RECOMMENDATION:
The GE Committee voted unanimously to recommend that STS 201, “Introduction to Science, Technology and Society,” be added to the General Education Area C2, with the revised ECO as attached.
ATTACHMENTS
Revised ECO for STS 201
CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY
College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences
Expanded Course Outline
Course Title: / Introduction to Science, Technology, and SocietySubject Area/Catalogue #: / STS 201
Units: / 4
CS #: / C2
Component: / Lecture/discussion
Grading Basis / Graded
Preparation: / October 29, 2009
Prepared By: / Peter Ross
Date of last revision: / May 5, 2013
I. Catalog Description
STS 201 Introduction to Science, Technology, and Society (4)
Examines the interrelation among science, technology, and society. Historical and current cases bringing to light the nature of science, and the involvement of values in science and technology. 4 lectures discussion.
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STS 201 focuses on science and technology as playing important roles in organizing civilizations. It considers fundamental aspects of scientific epistemology - such as what it is about scientific inquiry which distinguishes science from pseudoscience. The course is also devoted to considering science and technology from the standpoint of human values, thus enabling students to make better informed and more responsible moral choices concerning science and technology (for example, in their evaluations of proposed or established public policy). The course also takes up historical and current cases of questionable, controversial, and contested science, examples of which could include polygenism as an example of questionable science from mid-nineteenth century America, continental drift as an example of science which was controversial in the early to mid-twentieth century, and global warming as an example of science which has been recently contested. Furthermore, the course takes up an understanding of the nature of science from a broad historical perspective, considering how a theory (for example, astrology) could be scientific during one period of history, but pseudoscientific during another period of history.
II. Required Coursework and Background
None.
III. Expected Outcomes
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
1. Broadly delineate intellectual foundations of science, including describe how science is different from pseudoscience, and how innovative scientific research is different from textbook science.
2. Discern ways in which science and technology impact society, for example, how they impact public policy.
3. Discern ways in which society influences the development of science and technology, for example, how political interests affect scientific inquiry and technological development.
IV. Texts and Readings
Suggested Required Texts:
Martin Bridgstock, David Burch, John Forge, John Laurent, and Ian Lowe, Science, Technology, and
Society: An Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
Rudi Volti, Society and Technological Change, 5th edition (New York: Worth Publishers, 2006).
Morton E. Winston and Ralph D. Edelbach, editors, Society, Ethics, and Technology, 3rd edition
(Belmont, Cal.: Wadsworth, 2006).
Philosophy of Science and Technology
Andrew Feenberg, Critical Theory of Technology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
Ronald Giere, Science without Laws (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999).
Ian Hacking, The Social Construction of What? (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999).
Philip Kitcher, Advancement of Science: Science without Legend (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1993).
Philip Kitcher, Science, Truth, and Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001).
Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3rd edition (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1996).
Thomas Kuhn, The Essential Tension: Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1977).
Helen Longino, The Fate of Knowledge (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 2001).
Michael Ruse, Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction? (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University Press, 1999).
History of Science and Technology
Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man, revised and expanded edition. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996).
Lauren Graham, The Ghost of the Executed Engineer: Technology and the Fall of the Soviet Union
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996).
Thomas P. Hughes, American Genesis: A Century of Invention and Technological Enthusiasm,1870-1970 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004).
David Hull, Science as a Process: An Evolutionary Account of the Social and Conceptual Development
of Science (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988).
Daniel J. Kevles, The Physicists: The History of a Scientific Community in Modern America, 2nd
edition (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1987).
Edward J. Larson, Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory, (New York: The Modern
Library, 2004).
David E. Nye, American Technological Sublime (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1994)
Londa Schiebinger, The Mind Has No Sex? Women in the Origins of Modern Science (Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991).
Merritt Roe Smith and Gregory Clancey, editors, Major Problems in the History of American Technology (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998).
Merritt Roe Smith and Leo Marx, editors, Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of Technological Determinism (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1994).
Sociology of Science and Technology
Harry M. Collins and Trevor Pinch, The Golem: What You Should Know about Science, 2nd edition
(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998).
Harry M. Collins and Trevor Pinch, The Golem at Large: What You Should Know about Technology
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
Steve Fuller, The Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies (New York: Routledge, 2006).
Karin Knorr-Cetina, The Manufacture of Knowledge: An Essay on the Constructivist and Contextual
Nature of Science (New York: Pergamon Press, 1981).
Karin Knorr-Cetina, Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1998).
Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar, Laboratory Life: The Social Construction of Facts (Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1986).
Michael Lynch, Scientific Practice and Ordinary Action: Ethnomethodology and Social Studies of
Science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
Sergio Sismondo, An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
2004).
Sharon Traweek, Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1988).
Ethics and Public Policy of Science and Technology
Julian Agyeman, Sustainable Communities and the Challenge of Environmental Justice (New York:
NYU Press, 2005).
Tom L. Beauchamp and LeRoy Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 6th edition (Belmont, Cal.:
Wadsworth, 2002).
Elof Axel Carlson, The Unfit: A History of a Bad Idea. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.: Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory Press, 2001).
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962).
Paul T. Durban, editor, Critical Perspectives on Nonacademic Science and Engineering (Bethlehem,
Penn.: Lehigh, 1991).
Paul T. Durban, Social Responsibility in Science, Technology, and Medicine (Bethlehem, Penn.:
Lehigh University Press, 1992).
M. David Ermann, Mary B. Williams, Michele S. Shauf, Computers, Ethics, and Society, 2nd edition
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
Eugene C. Hargrove, Foundations of Environmental Ethics (New York: Prentice Hall, 1989).
Alan Irwin and Brian Wynne, editors, Misunderstanding Science? The Public Reconstruction of
Science and Technology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
Bruce Lewenstein, editor, When Science Meets the Public (Washington, D. C.: AAAS, 1992).
John T. Lyle, Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development (New York: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 1994).
Deborah G. Mayo and Rachelle D. Hollander, Acceptable Evidence: Science and Values in Risk
Management (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).
Dorothy Nelkin, editor, Controversy: Politics of Technical Decisions, 3rd edition (Newbury Park, Cal.:
Sage, 1992).
Dorothy Nelkin, editor, Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology (New York:
W. H. Freeman, 1995).
Louis P. Pojman, editor, Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application, 4th edition
(Belmont, Cal.: Wadsworth, 2004).
Daniel Sarewitz, Frontiers of Illusion: Science, Technology and the Politics of Progress (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 1996).
Richard E. Sclove, Democracy and Technology (New York: Guilford, 1995).
Langdon Winner, Autonomous Technology: Technics Out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought
(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1977).
Langdon Winner, The Whale and the Reactor: A Search for Limits in an Age of High Technology
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986).
V. Minimum Student Materials
Assigned reading materials.
VI. Minimum College Facilities
Smart classroom, overhead projection system, library
VII. Course Outline
A. Introduction
a. Science as a social undertaking
b. The relation of science to technology in the industrial revolution
c. The social impacts of science and technology (for example, impacts from environmental degradation)
B. Science and values
a. Does a method determine the difference between science and pseudoscience?
b. Historical and/or contemporary cases of scientific controversy
C. The interaction between science and public policy (for example, taking up the issue of global warming as an area where science informs public policy but also where public policy makers contest science).
D. Scientific literacy in the US: formal science and technology education, and informal education through the media
VIII. Instructional Methods
Lecture, problem-oriented discussion, and analytical writing.
IX. Evaluation of Outcomes
A. Student Assessment
1. Four short papers critically discussing a particular topic in relation to some of the assigned reading materials. Each paper will require students to explore an issue, such as the demarcation between science and pseudoscience, the meaning of the term ‘proof’ in scientific epistemology, ways in which society influences the development of science and technology, for example, through public policy, and the scientific literacy of American voters and policy makers.
2. A term paper on a topic of students’ choice.
3. Participation in discussion of the course topics and readings.
B. Course Assessment
The course will be evaluated using the Department of Philosophy’s student evaluation of teaching form (made up of 15 questions including “The goals and expectations of the course were clearly communicated” where student response ranges from strong agreement to strong disagreement). Other evaluative tools could also be implemented such as a questionnaire pertaining to whether the students perceived that this course fulfilled the objectives of an Area C2 course or a short paper in which students assess the merits of the course as an Area C2 course.
Relationship to GE Area C2 Learning Outcome:
STS 201 focuses on science and technology as playing important roles in organizing civilizations. It considers fundamental aspects of scientific epistemology (such as what it is about scientific inquiry which distinguishes science from pseudoscience). The course is also devoted to considering science and technology from the standpoint of human values, thus enabling students to make better informed and more responsible moral choices concerning science and technology (for example, in their evaluations of proposed or established public policy). The course also takes up historical and current cases of questionable, controversial, and contested science (examples of which could include polygenism as an example of questionable science from mid-nineteenth century America, continental drift as an example of science which was controversial in the early to mid-twentieth century, and global warming as an example of science which has been recently contested). Furthermore, the course takes up an understanding of the nature of science from a broad historical perspective, considering how a theory (for example, astrology) could be scientific during one period of history, but pseudoscientific during another period of history.