The STSC major requires 14 CU
Foundations (2 CU)
- You MUST take either STSC 0100 (Emergence of Modern Science) or STSC 0600 (Technology & Society).
- You MUST complete a second Foundation course chosen from the following list: STSC 0100, 0600, 1120, 1600, 1880, 2080 (Please note that STSC 2080 is no longer being offered on a regular basis).
- This requirement may be fulfilled by taking both STSC 0100 and STSC 0600.
STSC Departmental Electives (7 CU) [6 CU effective for new majors beginning in 2025-2026 academic year]
Follow this link for the list of courses offered by department faculty that fulfill this part of the major. Departmental electives provide a range of critical perspectives and topics characteristic of the history and sociology of science and technology.
Find these courses on Path@Penn through the "ASTL" course attribute tag.
Concentrations (4 CU) [5 CU effective for new majors beginning in 2025-2026 academic year]
Each STSC major selects a concentration and then designs an individualized program of four (4) CUs [five (5) CUs effective for new majors beginning in 2025-2026 academic year] from across the university that advances their learning goals. Courses may be petitioned for the concentration or selected from a pre-approved list (each concentration has a course attribute code used to search for classes in Path@Penn).
- Biotechnology and Biomedicine
- Energy and Environment
- Global Science and Technology
- Information and Organizations
- Science/Nature/Culture
STSC 4000: Capstone Seminar (1 CU)
- This requirement can be fulfilled by taking STSC 4000 in the spring of either junior or senior year.
- This course guides a cohort of students through writing a 20+ page original research paper in Science and Technology Studies.
- STSC 4000 is open only to STSC majors.