SSNet Curriculum Project
One of the primary goals of the Science Studies Network is to coordinate and build on the rich offerings in science and technology studies (STS) now available – for both graduate and undergraduate students – at the University of Washington (on the Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma campuses).
In April 2008 we held a Town Hall meeting on STS Curriculum in which we discussed several options SSNet might pursue and set some priorities (a summary of that meeting is available here). The upshot was consensus that we should focus on the following initiatives in the second year of the Science Studies Network:
- Graduate Certificate: we should lay the foundation for developing an interdisciplinary graduate certificate in science studies;
- External funding: in support of this graduate initiative, we should make it a priority to develop the proposal for an NSF “Small Grant for Training and Research” as a platform, potentially, for an IGERT proposal and consortium graduate program in the longer term;
- Navigational tools: SSNet should build a comprehensive web-based catalog of STS courses and curriculum resources, with navigational tools that provide graduate and undergraduate students access to the range of STS resources on the UW campuses.
- Integrative STS course offerings: we should pilot the development of core courses that introduces undergraduate and graduate students to STS as an established field, that puts STS students from different fields in contact with one another, and provides them an interdisciplinary framework for understanding diverse disciplinary approaches to STS topics.
The Curriculum and Program Development section of the 2008-09 Science Studies Network Proposal has more information about these initiatives.
For listings of STS courses that are or have been taught at the University of Washington, see:
We’ve been defining “science and technology studies” broadly, to include:
- history and philosophy of science, technology, and medicine;
- cultural studies of science, technology, and medicine;
- research ethics, equity issues in the sciences, and science/technology policy.
If you teach courses in any of area of STS interest and haven’t yet sent Brandon the details, please contact him at ssnet[at]u.washington.edu, or post the information to our SSNet Courses Wiki.
Curriculum Town Hall Meeting
At this year’s Curriculum Town Hall meeting, on January 12, 2009, we discussed the following:
- existing STS programs: updates on the Bothell STS track, Integrated Science program, HPS
- catalog of STS courses
- navigational tools: outline of WIKI design
- graduate certificate: discussion of Graduate School program requirements and models for an STS certificate [
Certificate Proposal Handout] - core STS courses: discussion of the prospects for developing a suite of core courses to support a graduate certificate and enrich undergraduate offerings
For more information about the results of this meeting, contact the SSNet organizers.