STS Clusters
The following clusters are provided to guide potential STS minors and majors to the classes which will most likely interest them. Final selection of classes for minors and majors should be made in consultation with the STS Undergraduate Officer.
Biomedicine and Society
Biomedicine and related fields play an increasing role in economic, political, and personal life. These STS subjects consider the social relevance of biomedicine from historical and contemporary perspectives: How does biomedicine reflect and reshape its social, economic, and political contexts? How does it affect individual lives, and what ethical questions does it raise?
Related Subjects:
STS.006J Bioethics
STS.011 Engineering Life: Biotechnology and Society
STS.012 Science in Action: Technologies and Controversies in Everyday Life
STS.014 Embodied Education: Past, Present, Future
STS.023J Science, Caste and Gender in India
STS.049 The Long War Against Cancer
STS.060J The Anthropology of Biology
STS.330J History & Anthropology of Medicine & Biology (graduate-level)
Science in History
Scientific knowledge often appears to rise above context. Despite this appearance of universality, scientific ideas and practices often bear the marks of time and place. STS subjects in this track examine science from many angles — political, cultural, economic, institutional, intellectual, and more — that shape what count as appropriate topics for scientific study and what methods are deemed reliable for their investigation.
Related Subjects:
STS.003 Ancient Greeks to Modern Geeks: A History of Science
STS.009 Evolution & Society
STS.011 Engineering Life: Biotechnology and Society
STS.014 Embodied Education: Past, Present, Future
STS.021J Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power
STS.023J Science, Gender and Social Inequality in the Developing World
STS.030 Forensic History: Problem Solving into the Past
STS.042J Einstein, Oppenheimer, Feynman: Physics in the 20th Century
STS.046J The Science of Race, Sex, & Gender
STS.047 Quantifying People: A History of Social Science
STS.048 African Americans in Science, Technology, and Medicine
STS.049 The Long War Against Cancer
STS.051J Documenting MIT Communities
STS.060J The Anthropology of Biology
STS.074J Art, Craft, Science
STS.082J Science, Technology, & Public Policy
STS.083 Computers and Social Change
STS.087 Biography in Science
STS.310 History of Science (graduate-level)
STS.330J History & Anthropology of Medicine & Biology (graduate-level)
Technology, Media, and Human Experience
The implications of living in a “technological world” are deeply personal as well as widely social. The STS curriculum explores these implications by considering the ways we use diverse technologies and media to communicate creatively and imaginatively, and how at the same time these technologies and media shape and transform our experience of the world.
Related Subjects:
STS.001 Technology in American History
STS.004 Intersections: Science, Technology, and the World
STS.005J Data and Society
STS.008 Technology & Experience
STS.012 Science in Action: Technologies and Controversies in Everyday Life
STS.014 Embodied Education: Past, Present, Future
STS.021J Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power
STS.026 History of Manufacturing in America
STS.034 Science Communication: A Practical Guide
STS.035 Exhibiting Science
STS.043 Technology & Self: Science, Technology, & Memoir
STS.044 Technology & Self: Things & Thinking
STS.049 The Long War Against Cancer
STS.050 The History of MIT
STS.051J Documenting MIT Communities
STS.058 Space Exploration and Interplanetary Habitation
STS.064J DV Lab: Documenting Science through Video and New Media
STS.065J The Anthropology of Sound
STS.068J Advanced DV Lab: Documenting Science through Video and New Media
STS.070J Language and Technology
STS.074J Art, Craft, Science
STS.075J Technology & Culture
STS.080J Youth Political Participation
STS.081J Innovation Systems for Science, Technology, Energy, Manufacturing, and Health
STS.083 Computers and Social Change
STS.086J Cultures of Computing
STS.087 Biography in Science
STS.088 Africa for Engineers
STS.441 Technology and Self: Technology and Conversation (graduate-level)
Social Implications of Engineering
Studies the ways engineering is shaped by, and in turn shapes, the social and political worlds. Focus on the professional formation of engineering, ethical dilemmas and political action within the profession, and the processes of design, fabrication, and operation of technological systems within their social contexts.
Related Subjects:
STS.001 Technology in American History
STS.002 Finance and Society
STS.004 Intersections: Science, Technology, and the World
STS.005J Data and Society
STS.008 Technology & Experience
STS.011 Engineering Life: Biotechnology and Society
STS.025J Making the Modern World: The Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective
STS.027J The Civil War and the Emergence of Modern America: 1861-1890
STS.028 Seven Wonders of the Engineering World
STS.043 Technology & Self: Science, Technology, and Memoir
STS.044 Technology & Self: Things & Thinking
STS.050 The History of MIT
STS.052 Living with Risk: Threats, Accidents, and Disasters in a Technological Age
STS.058 Space Exploration and Interplanetary HabitationSTS.075J Technology & Culture
STS.081J Innovation Systems for Science, Technology, Energy, Manufacturing, and Health
STS.082J Science, Technology, & Public Policy
STS.083 Computers and Social Change
STS.084J Social Problems of Nuclear Energy
STS.086J Cultures of Computing
STS.088 Africa for Engineers
STS.340 Introduction to the History of Technology (graduate-level)
STS.441 Technology and Self: Technology and Conversation (graduate-level)
STS.462 Social & Political Implications of Technology (graduate-level)
STS.471J Engineering Apollo: The Moon Project as a Complex System (graduate-level)
Ethics and Policy in a Global Age
Subjects in this cluster explore a wide variety of themes in policy and ethics including law, globalization, development, environment, climate, nature, energy, military, weaponry, warfare, economics and finance.
Related Subjects:
STS.002 Finance and Society
STS.004 Intersections: Science, Technology, and the World
STS.005J Data and Society
STS.006J Bioethics
STS.012 Science in Action: Technologies and Controversies in Everyday Life
STS.021J Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power
STS.030 Forensic History: Problem Solving into the Past
STS.032 Energy, Environment, & Society
STS.046J The Science of Race, Sex, & Gender
STS.049 The Long War Against Cancer
STS.058 Space Exploration and Interplanetary Habitation
STS.080J Youth Political Participation
STS.081J Innovation Systems for Science, Technology, Energy, Manufacturing, and Health
STS.082J Science, Technology, & Public Policy
STS.083 Computers and Social Change
STS.085J Foundations of Information Policy
STS.088 Africa for Engineers