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| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Department of Science and Technology Studies Graduate Programs in Science and Technology Studies 110 8th Street Troy, NY 12180-3590 Program Link: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/sts |
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Professor Linda Layne, |
The field of science and technology studies asks fundamental questions about the role of science and technology in social change. It integrates insights from the humanities and social sciences into a coherent body of knowledge that provides a basis for action. As they grapple with this central issue in the contemporary world, students in this field can expect broad, rigorous training, with commensurate intellectual rewards.
Founded in 1982, the Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS)
at Rensselaer is one of the few in the world that offers STS degrees from
baccalaureate to doctoral levels. The graduate program emphasizes the cultural,
historical, economic, political, and social dimensions of scientific and
technological society, with a focus on ethical and values issues.
M.S. - Science and Technology Studies
Ph.D. - Science and Technology Studies
Full-time students require one year and a summer to complete the M.S.
program; many prefer to spread the work over two years. Ph.D. students
take 4-6 years to complete their programs.
M.S. - Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in science, engineering, humanities or social science.
Ph.D. - A degree equivalent to Rensselaer's M.S. in STS is required.
Students holding master's degrees in other fields may be required to take
master's core courses as part of their Ph.D. work. Recent entrants' GRE
scores have averaged 2033 (for the combined Verbal, Quantitative and Analytical
scores) and GPAs have averaged 3.10. The Institute requires a minimum TOEFL
of 550, and for work in this department a minimum of 600 is recommended.
M.S. - Students must complete 30 credit hours, including a 6 credit master's thesis or internship. There are four required courses: Concepts in STS, Values and Policy, Research Methods, and a Research Seminar.
Ph.D. - The doctoral program requires completing 60 credit hours beyond
the M.S. including a 30 credit hour dissertation. There are four required
core courses: Science, Technology, and Policy; Technology and Social Theory;
Science and Social Theory; and Nature of Inquiry. Students are required
to take three field examinations: science studies, technology studies,
or policy studies (2 of 3), and a specialty exam in an area the student
chooses. Students are admitted to candidacy upon successfully defending
their dissertation proposals.
There are approximately 28 full time and 14 part time students in the program.
About half have degrees in the natural sciences or engineering, about
half in the social sciences or humanities. About half come directly
from undergraduate or graduate training. The other half come after work
experience of a few years or more.
There are 13 full time faculty trained in six fields of the social sicences and humanities. Research interests include: environmental and science and technology policy, cultural studies, medicine, political and social theory, design, science, technology and values.
Sharon Anderson-Gold, Ph.D. (philosophy), New School, 1980. Kantian ethics, history of modern philosophy, social and political philosophy, human rights, bioethics. Dr. Anderson-Gold is the author of Crimes Against Humanity: A Kantian Perspective on International Law, Autonomy and Community, Kant's Ethical Anthropology and the Critical Foundations of Kant's Philosophy of History, and History of Philosophy Quarterly.
Steve Breyman, Director, Ecological Economics, Values and Policy; Ph.D. (political science), California, Santa Barbara, 1992. Social movements, environmental politics and policy, Green parties, politics and theory, institutional greening, environment and development, environmental science. Dr. Breyman is the author of Movement Genesis: The West German Peace Movement and Social Movement Theory and Why Movements Matter: The West German Movement, the SPD and INF Negotiations (forthcoming).
Linnda R. Caporael, Ph.D. (psychology), California, Santa Barbara, 1979. Evolutionary theory, psychology and culture, social identity, design. Dr. Caporael is a contributor to Science, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Journal of Social Issues, Personality and Social Psychology Review, and other journals and books.
Ron Eglash, Ph.D. (history of consciousness), California, Santa Cruz, 1992. African studies, anthropology, architecture, black history, complexity theory, cybernetics, math and science education, economic development, virtual communities. Dr. Eglash is the author of African Fractals: Indigenous Design and Modern Computing.
Kim Fortun, Ph.D. (anthropology), Rice, 1993. Cultural and political-economic analysis of globalization, environmentalism, and information technology; science, technology and law. Dr. Fortun is the author of Advocating Bhopal: Environmentalism, Disaster New World Orders.
Michael Fortun, Ph.D. (history of science), Harvard, 1993. Historical and ethnographic studies of genomics, biotechnology and life sciences, ethical scientific literacy. Dr. Fortun is co-author of Muddling Through: Pursuing Science and Truths in the 21st Century.
David Hess, Director of Undergraduate Studies; Ph.D. (anthropology), Cornell, 1987. Medical anthropology, science studies, Brazil, alternative medicine, cancer therapy. Dr. Hess is the author of Can Bacteria Cause Cancer?, Science and Technology in a Multicultural World, Science Studies in the New Age, and Samba in the Night: Spiritism in Brazil.
Linda Layne, Hale Professor and Director of Graduate Studies; Ph.D. (anthropology), Princeton, 1986. Pregnancy loss, new reproductive technologies, consumer culture, popular representations of nature, universal design. Dr. Layne is the author of Home and Homeland: Dialogics of Tribal and National Identities in Jordan and Motherhood Lost: The Cultural Construction of Pregnancy Loss in the United States and is editor of The Rhetoric of the Gift: Transformative Motherhood in a Consumer Culture and Anthropological Approaches in STS.
Thomas Phelan, Institute Historian; M.A. (English), College of Holy Cross, 1945. Nineteenth century American material culture, particularly as it relates to industrialization. He is the author of Rensselaer: An Illustrated History of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and The Hudson Mohawk Gateway.
Andrea Rusnock, Ph.D. (history), Princeton, 1990. History of medicine, history of quantification, gender, science and technology. Dr. Rusnock is the author of The Correspondence of James Jurin (1684-1750), Physician and Secretary to the Royal Society.
Sal Restivo, Ph.D. (sociology), Michigan State, 1971. Social studies of science, mathematics and mind. Dr. Restivo is the author of The Social Relations of Physics, Mysticism and Mathematics; The Sociological Worldview; Mathematics in Society and History; and Science, Society, and Values and is co-editor of Comparative Studies in Science and Society, Math Worlds, and Degrees of Compromise.
Langdon Winner, Ph.D. (political science), Berkeley 1973. Political theory, technology and politics, social dimensions of design. Dr. Winner is the author of Autonomous Technology and The Whale and the Reactor and editor of Democracy in a Technological Society He is currently writing a book about the politics of design in the contexts of engineering, architecture, and political theory.
Edward Woodhouse, Ph.D. (political science), Yale, 1983. Democratic steering of technologies, risky technologies, nuclear power. Dr. Woodhouse is co-author of The Demise of Nuclear Energy, The Policy Making Process, and Averting Catastrophe: Strategies for Regulating Risky Technologies.
ADJUNCT FACULTY AND LECTURERS
Atsushi, Akera, Ph.D. (history and sociology of science), Pennsylvania, 1998. Early history of scientific and technical computing in the United States, history of invention and innovation. Dr. Akera is the author of "Engineers or Managers? The Systems Analysis of Electronic Data Processing in the Federal Bureaucracy" in Hughes and Hughes (eds.) The Spread of the Systems Approach; "Discovering the Scientific User: Cuthbert Hurd, An Applied Science Field Man" Proceedings of the Conference on the History of Computing and Information Processing.
P. Thomas Carroll, Executive Director of the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway; Ph.D. (history and sociology at science), Pennsylvania, 1982. American cultural history, history of American science and technology; science, technology, community, and cultural transformations. Dr. Carroll is the author of American Science Transformed, American Scientist, An Annotated Calendar of the Letters of Charles Darwin, Designing Modern America in the Silicon Valley of the Nineteenth Century, and Rensselaer and is co-author of Chemistry in America 1876~1976.
Todd Cherkasky, Ph.D. (Science and Technology Studies), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1999. Work and technology, politics of design, information society and culture. Social informatics. Dr. Cherkasky is a contributor to Science as Culture, WorkingUSA, and IEEE Technology and Society Magazine.
Richard Jensen, Ph.D. (American studies), Yale, 1966. American political history, especially presidential politics and popular voting behavior. Dr. Jensen is author of The Winning of the Midwest: Social and Political Conflict 1858~1896, The Evolution of American Electoral Systems, and Grass Roots Politics: Parties, Issues, and Voters, 1954-1983.
Thomas Lobe, Ph.D. (political science), Michigan, 1975. U.S. foreign policy, the Cold War, and the intelligence community. Dr. Lobe is the author of United States National Security Policy and Aid to the Thailand Police and articles on Nicaragua and the Office of Public Safety.
Graduates of the M.S. program have found jobs as government analysts, in the public interest sector, and other areas. Some go on to graduate study in law or other fields. Ph.D.s have found jobs in both academic and government.
Tuition for 1999-2000 is $665 per semester hour.
Of the students eligible for financial aid in 1999-2000, 22 have full or partial tuition support and 13 have full or partial stipend support.
The Department offers graduate concentrations in contextual design and environmental policy. The campus offers rich additional resources for students in these areas and others.
