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Human Context of Science and Technology

Structure | HCST Certificate |

Faculty

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Director

Joseph N. Tatarewicz

Advisement Coordinator

Faye Adams

Human Context of Science and Technology Committee

Ted Foster
Sandra Herbert
Jessica Pfeifer
Laszlo Takacs
G. Rickey Welch

Courses in this program are listed under HCST.

This is a 27-credit, upper-division certificate program.It complements the student's major.

For students in the humanities and social sciences, the Human Context of Science and Technology (HCST) Certificate Program provides a core of foundational courses in one of the areas of science or engineering that will provide the technical background allowing them to integrate humanistic and scientific learning. The HCST Program provides students in the sciences and engineering with a broad-based education that will equip them to understand the cultural setting and societal impact of their future work.

To assist students in their future careers, whether in business, engineering, education, writing or in the arts, the HCST Certificate Program provides a bridge connecting the cultural life of the humanities and the sciences. In an era when individuals change careers with some frequency, it also provides avenues into a number of different areas of knowledge.

Structure

The program has a three-part structure:

1)    A required introductory course, HCST 100 (three hours)
2)    Electives chosen from a list of prescribed courses (15 hours)
3)    Natural science/ engineering component (nine hours minimum)

I.)    HCST 100 (3 credits) (GFR: meets A/H, GDR: meets H)

II.)   Electives (15 hours)

A student in the HCST Certificate Program would take five of these courses, of which at least four would have to be at the upper level. Substitutions to this list can be approved by the director of the certificate program. This course list will be subject to periodic revision. For all courses, a grade of “C” or better is required.

HCST Certificate

Electives List:

AMST 270
American Cultureand Science

AMST 388/ENGL 388
American Environment: Landscape and Culture

ANTH 312
Medical Anthropology

ENGL 200
Language and Scientific Value

ENGL 317/CPLT 317
Literature and the Sciences

ENGL 383
Science Writing

ENGL 418
Advanced Topics in Literature and the Sciences

ENGL 419
Seminar in Literature and the Sciences

GEOG 326
Conservation Thought

GEOG 432
Seminar in Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation

HIST 369
Darwinism: The Evolutionary Perspective

HIST 387
Medicine and Health Care in China

HIST 404/IS 404/CMSC 404
History of Computers and Computing

HIST 492
Colloquium in the History of Science

HIST 445
History of Science to 1700

HIST 446
History of Science Since 1700

MATH 432
History of Mathematics

PHIL 248
Introduction to Scientific Reasoning

PHIL 251/CMSC 304
Ethical Issues in Information Systems

PHIL 358/HAPP 358
Bioethics

PHIL 372
Philosophy of Science

PHIL 394
Philosophy of Biology

PHIL 395
Philosophy of Physics

PHIL 454 Animals and the Environment: Moral Theory and Its Applications

PHIL 472
Advanced Topics in the Philosophy of Science

PHYS 333
Applied Physics in Archaeology and Art

POLI 452
Politics of Health

SOCY 351
Medical Sociology

SOCY 352
Issues in Health Care

SOCY 361
Science and Society

SOCY 416/ANTH
Cyberspace, Culture and Society

SOCY 457/HIST 450
Social History of American Medicine

WMST 352
Women, Gender and Information Technology

WMST 378
Gender, Science and Technology

III.) Natural science/technology component (9 hours minimum)
In addition to studying critical literature about science and technology, students must become acquainted in some detail with current conceptions and practice in a chosen area of science or technology as presented by that area’s current practitioners. The following options are available:

Biology Option:

BIOL 100/100L [4+2]
Concepts of Biology
BIOL 302 [4]
Molecular and Cellular Genetics
Chemistry Option:

CHEM 123/124/124L [4+3+2]
Intro to General Organic and Biochemistry
OR
CHEM 101/102/102L [4+3+2]
Principles of Chemistry

Computer Science Option:

Three courses chosen from the following:
CMSC 104 [3]
Problem-solving and Computer Programming
CMSC 201 [4]
Computer Science I for Majors
CMSC 202 [4]
Computer Science II for Majors
CMSC 203 [3]
Discrete Structures

Geography and Environmental Systems Option:

GEOG 110 [3]
Physical Geography
GEOG 111 [3]
Principles of Geology
GEOG 120 [3]
Environmental Science and Conservation
Information Systems Option:
IS 202 [3]
Systems Analysis Methods
AND Two additional courses chosen from IS 125
OR ANY IS courses at the 200 level or above.

Mathematics/Statistics Options:

MATH 151 [4]
Calculus and Analytic Geometry I
MATH 152 [4]
Calculus and Analytic Geometry II
AND Either any 200-level MATH course
OR ANY 300-level STAT course.

Physics Option:

PHYS 111/112 [4+4+3]
Basic physics and any other course in the physical sciences
OR
PHYS 121/122/122L [4+4+2]
Introductory Physics

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Option:
ENES 101 [3]
Introductory Engineering Science
CHEM 101/102/102L [4+3+2]
Principles of Chemistry
ENCH 215 [3]
Chemical Engineering Analysis

Mechanical Engineering Option:

ENES 101 [3]
Introductory Engineering Science
ENME 204 [3]
Introduction to Engineering Design with CAD
ENES 220 [3]
Mechanics of Materials
General Engineering Option
ENES 101 [3]
Introductory Engineering Science

AND At least two more three-credit courses in an engineering field, selected from the courses listed under the engineering options. In exceptional cases, courses other than the ones listed may be accepted on the recommendation of the advisor, provided they are at a similar or higher level.