Courses
Biology and Society
Level: Introductory undergraduate
Typically offered: Spring semester
From medical advancements to environmental crises and global food shortages, biology and the life sciences are implicated in some of the most pressing social issues of our time. This course explores events in the history of biology from the mid-twentieth century to today, and examines how developments in this scientific field have shaped and are shaped by society.
Where Science Meets Society
Level: Introductory undergraduate
What is science? What, if anything, is special about the way that scientists generate knowledge? This course identifies and challenges common (but often unstated) assumptions about what science is and how it works, with the aim of revealing the deep connections between science and technology and our social, cultural, economic, and political lives.
The 20th century gene: From eugenics to epigenetics
Level: Introductory/intermediate undergraduate
From the eugenics movement at the beginning of the century to the global initiative to sequence the human genome at its close, the gene has figured prominently into twentieth century history. How did genetics come to occupy a prominent place in both scientific and popular thinking? What are the consequences of the attention devoted to genes?
Proseminar in Historiography and Methods
Level: Graduate
Typically offered: Fall semester
This course provides an introduction to the scholarly field that is the history of science. It gives a brief overview of some of the major themes and issues that occupy the field, and the different approaches scholars have used to address their questions
Narrative Medicine and Public Health
Level: Graduate/Professional
Narrative medicine is the practice of using stories to understand health and illness in the context of people’s lives and experiences. This course explores how narrative medicine techniques can enrich the practice of public health, both through the power of listening to stories to understand how individuals experience health and through the power of telling stories to mobilize communities.