Application Deadline
All application materials for Fall 2009 admission are due by December 15, 2008. Access the electronic application form for information about applying and the Graduate Division of the School of Arts and Sciences. Click here for information about the process within the Department of History and Sociology of Science.
The following mailing address should be used for hard copy application materials (including application forms, transcripts, writing samples, and letters of recommendation sent by mail):
University of Pennsylvania
Ernestine Williams
History and Sociology of Science
249 S. 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304
About the Program
The Department of History and Sociology of Science is distinctive for its scope of study and its emphasis on an integrated program that explores the relationships between disciplines. In general, the Department admits students who wish to be prepared for research careers in any of the Department's areas of faculty strength, namely history of life sciences, medicine, technology, social sciences in Europe and the United States from the late 17th century on, and science, technology, and medicine in Russia, Africa, and East Asia. The program focuses on a balance of technical, social, and cultural aspects of natural knowledge. Students are encouraged to integrate these aspects in research and to explore the applications of history to contemporary issues in industrial, health, and science policy.
In addition to doctoral students, the department admits students seeking a terminal master's degree, including part-time students.
Graduate Chair: Dr. Robert Aronowitz
The Graduate Group in History and Sociology of Science comprises faculty from across departments in the School of Arts and Sciences and the University who share scholarly interests and expertise around science, technology and medicine.
Mark Adams (HSSC)
Robert Aronowitz (HSSC)
David Barnes (HSSC)
Charles Bosk (Sociology)
Arthur Caplan (Bioethics)
Randall Collins (Sociology)
Ruth Schwartz Cowan (HSSC)
Peter Dodson (Anatomy)
Nathan Ensmenger (HSSC)
Julie A. Fairman (Nursing)
Steven Feierman (HSSC)
Robert Giegangack (Geology/Environmental Science)
Gary Hatfield (Philosophy)
Thomas P. Hughes (HSSC)
Michael Katz (History)
Robert E. Kohler (HSSC)
Alan C. Kors (History)
Henrika Kuklick (HSSC)
Walter Licht (History)
Mary Susan Lindee (HSSC)
Beth Linker (HSSC)
Carolyn Marvin (Communications)
Jonathan Moreno (HSSC)
Ann Moyer (History)
Erin O'Connor (English)
Kathy Peiss (History)
Adrianna Petryna (Anthropology)
Daniel Raff (Management )
Jeremy Sabloff (Anthropology)
Jason Schnittker (Sociology)
Nathan Sivin (HSSC)
Rosemary Stevens (HSSC)
Thomas J. Sugrue (History)
Arnold Thackeray (HSSC)
Janet Tighe (HSSC)
John Tresch (HSSC)
Leonard Warren (Wistar Institute)
Michael Weisberg (Philosophy)
Combined MD-PhD Program
The Department also offers a combined MD-PhD program, in coordination with the Medical School. Students must be accepted by both Penn Medical School and the Department of History and Sociology of Science, and must complete all requirements for both degrees, but the program has many advantages, integrating technical and historical training, and preparing students for careers as both historical scholars and practicing physicians or researchers. Interested applicants can visit the Medical School website for general information about the MD-PhD program (which includes the option of earning a PhD in a relevant science), and can contact Professor Skip Brass in the medical school.
MD-PhD Program alumni include Carla Keirns (December 2004), currently at the University of Michigan in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program, and Chris Feudtner (1995), who is now teaching in the department and on staff at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
History and Social Study of Medicine and Health
For information about the program in the history and social study of medicine and health, contact faculty members in HSSC, including Professor Robert Aronowitz [Graduate Chair], Professor Steven Feierman, Professor David Barnes, and Professor Beth Linker. Graduates of this program over the last decade have been extremely successful in pursuing research and clinical careers, and in developing professional work in the history and social study of medicine [see Alumni PhDs]
