STS.004 Intersections: Science, Technology, and the World

HASS-H

3-0-9 units

Prereq: None

Enrollment limited

Fall 2015
Tues/Thurs 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Instructor: David Singerman, PhD

This introductory course will be built around four case studies of contemporary issues in science, technology, and society. We’ll start with what’s around us, asking how MIT, Google, and Novartis are transforming Kendall Square, Cambridge, and Boston in the 21st century. Next we’ll look at the future of energy: what are the ethical implications of science’s participation in the extraction of fossil energy from the earth while also showing us its dire consequences? Third, we’ll ask about doping—its consequences for athletes and sport as a whole, and what lessons we should draw for the present and future of pharmaceutical and physical enhancement in all areas of life. Finally, we’ll ask about privacy and publicity on social media, from the NSA’s mass collection of data, to private companies tracking your every movement, to the power of the Twitter mob to cause both good and evil.