Science, Techonology, and Society (STS) Minor is for students from any NUS faculty or discipline who want to understand the immense influence of science & technology on modern social, political, religious, and cultural life. The core courses within STS are historical and sociological, but electives are offered across a broad range of departments and faculties. Students need no previous background in science or engineering to do well in this Minor.
The STS Minor is designed to:
| a. |
Serve as a formal scholarly ‘meeting ground' for students throughout the university who are curious about the science-technology-society relationship.
|
| b. |
Present students with a basic yet critical history of modern science, engineering, and medicine, i.e. how, where, and when they arose, and why they came to have such inordinate influence on the modern world.
|
| c. |
Present students with a basic understanding of how social scientists study the physical sciences, life sciences, technology, and medicine, and how these activities have become embedded in social processes.
|
| d. |
Allow students to understand how science and technology differ from (and converge with) other realms of human thought and activity. Expose students to critical thinking on ‘scientific method', the manipulation/conservation of nature, and similar concepts.
|
| e. |
Acquaint students with the idea that science and technology (as human understandings of / manipulations of nature) interact with social, political, cultural, religious, and other realms normally considered ‘outside' nature. To expose students to the lively scholarly disagreements as to the depth and limits of this interaction.
|
|
