The University has updated its science and technology studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences, renaming it the science, technology and society major, according to the Cornell Chronicle.
The science, technology and society major will combine science, social science and the humanities, serving as an “expanded” form of the current major, according to the Chronicle. The updated major will remain housed within the Department of Science and Technology Studies.
STS chair Prof. Suman Seth, science and technology, described students in the updated major as “all-rounders,” in an interview with CAS. He added that the science, technology and society major is ideal for students who want to engage with technical fields like information science or computer science while “think[ing] socially” about what they’re learning.
Students will focus on one of seven themes as a part of the updated major: data and society; health and society; gender, sexuality and science; race, science, and medicine; environment and society; mind, brain and artificial intelligence; or engineering, design and society.
The science and technology studies major currently offers various interdisciplinary classes, including STS 2051 “Ethical Issues in Health and Medicine,” STS 3311 “Environmental Governance” and” STS 4292 “Politics and Technology Since 1960.”
The updated major will introduce several new classes, including a practicum where students will learn about climate change, artificial intelligence and media ethics directly from policy experts.
Completing a senior thesis will not be mandatory for students in the updated major, but it will be “encouraged,” Seth said.
The expansion of the major was designed to prepare students for an “ever-changing world," Malte Ziewitz, associate professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies, told the Chronicle.
Through the updated major, students will learn how to be the kind of expert that Ziewitz believes is needed to address developing technologies like data centers, genome editing and voting technologies, as well as climate change.
“None of these challenges are simply technical or scientific; they all require experts that can speak across boundaries, have serious analytical chops and have the judgment to make effective interventions,” Zeiwitz said.
Giselle Redmond is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is an assistant news editor for the 144th Editorial Board and can be reached at gredmond@cornellsun.com.
