Courses
HSSC 503 Issues in the History of Medicine
Offered: Fall 2009
Barnes W 2-5
Undergraduates by permission only.
HSSC 505 Seminar in the History and Sociology of Science
Offered: Fall 2009
Aronowitz T 12-3
This is a required course for all graduate students.Undergraduates by permission only.
HSSC 515 History of Computing
Offered: Spring 2010
Ensmenger R 1:30-4:30
HSSC 518.640 Religion, Science and the Understanding of Nature
Offered: Spring 2010
Ceccatti M 6:00-8:40
This graduate course is taught in the College of Liberal and Professional Studies.
Although frequently portrayed in opposition, religion and science share a common goal of providing a coherent explanation of the origins and operations of the natural world. Indeed, until the modern period, it is often difficult to discern a sharp boundary between the theological and the rational. In this seminar, we will explore the evolving relationship between these two dominant worldviews from Antiquity to the present. Specific topics include: Aristotelian thought and its incorporation into Christian theology; alchemy, magic, and mysticism; Galileo and the Catholic Church; Protestantism and the Scientific Revolution; evolution and theology; and God, Eastern religion, and modern physics.
HSSC 519 Topics in the Social History of Knowledge
Offered: Previous Semesters
Tresch
This reading seminar will cover writings on the social history of knowledge that are often mentioned by historians of science but less often read; it will give students a chance to read and discuss authors who are neglected, trendy, difficult, and/or foundational in this field. We will begin with Lovejoy’s Great Chain of Being and critiques brought against it, moving to classic histories of scientific ideas with a focus on “mechanical philosophy” followed by recent rethinkings of “the Scientific Revolution.” We will then visit major schools of historical interpretation: Foucault’s genealogies of knowledge and power, Marxist criticism and the Frankfurt School, Max Weber’s analysis of rationalization and the values of science, along with philosophical approaches to technoscience, biopower, the state of exception, and artificial life. Throughout, our guiding questions will be the relationship between scientific knowledge and institutions, practices, technologies and values, as well as the connection between local case studies and the “big picture” of science and technology in the modern world. The seminar is open to graduate students from any discipline who want to engage critically with these works.
Syllabus
HSSC 527 New Topics in the Philosophy of Biology
Cross-listed as PHIL 525 & COML 525
Offered: Spring 2010
Weisberg T 3-6
[from Philosophy Department]
HSSC 528 Gender and Science
Cross-listed as GSOC 538
Offered: Spring 2010
Lindee T 1:30-4:30
HSSC 532 Medicalization: Theory and History
Cross-listed as HIST 534, SOCI 513
Offered: Previous Semesters
Linker
Almost every book on the history and sociology of twentieth-century medicine invokes the term “medicalization.” We are told that everything from childbirth and allergies to hyperactivity and hospitals have become dominated by the medical profession and its explanation of health and illness. This course traces the history of the medicalization thesis, from its beginnings with Michel Foucault and Ivan Illich to its latest articulation put forth by sociologist Peter Conrad. Once we are accustomed to the multiple meanings of medicalization, we will put them each under scrutiny, borrowing from literature in the history of religion (a subfield that has grappled with the predominance of the secularization thesis, a theory very much akin to medicalization), as well as from the history of the body. In short, the goal of this course is to read current works in the history of medicine in order problematize the theory of medicalization.
Syllabus
HSSC 535 Biology in the Last Century
Offered: Fall 2009
Adams M 12-3
Undergraduates by permission only.
HSSC 548 Cultures of Medicine
Cross-listed as ANTH 614
Offered: Spring 2010
Petryna W 2-5
HSSC 584 Ethnography of Belief
Cross-listed as RELS 507
Offered: Fall 2009
Hufford T 1:30-4:30 pm
Undergraduates by permission only.
HSSC 622 Darwin
Offered: Previous Semesters
Adams
HSSC 626 Research Seminar in the History of Technology
Offered: Fall 2009
Cowan T 4:30-7:30
HSSC 628 How science became Science
Offered: Spring 2010
Kohler W 2-5
How modern science as we know it -- with disciplines, careers, formal credentialing, and concepts of "objectivity," "discovery," etc. evolved out of natural philosophy in the early-19th century and then became the modern way to do things. Readings and discussion will emphasize micro and macro ways of thinking about this big-picture topic, drawing on both science studies and social history, and will focus on Europe in the 19th century.
HSSC 690 Publish or Perish
Offered: Spring 2010
Kuklick W 5:00-8:00
In this seminar graduate students will work on turning a conference or research paper into a journal article for publication.
