HSTM Track for HIS Majors

The department offers a track in the History of Science, Technology, and Science for History majors. Those pursuing the HSTM track have slightly different requirements from other students in the History major. The number of those pursuing the track varies from year to year, but it is generally around a dozen students, quite a few of whom are also pre-med (the track is designed to take advantage of the pre-med requirements, reducing the overall course load for pre-meds who want to study history).

The HSTM track combines many of the advantages of a small major (close work with faculty, a strong sense of community), with all the virtues of a large department (since students can draw on the resources of the whole history department as well). If you are interested in science and/or engineering, but also enjoy the humanities, HSTM could be for you. For more information about the major, please contact the Undergraduate Program Director for HSTM.

History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Track Curriculum

History majors wishing to complete the track in the history of science are required to meet the thematic requirements (4 courses) and geographic requirement (2 courses, which can overlap with the thematic) among their ten to twelve courses. They must also take courses that satisfy the following requirements:

  • Two courses in science, engineering, or mathematics in addition to those used to fill the University’s science distribution requirement.
  • Four of the HSTM courses listed below.
    • These specific courses can and almost certainly will also serve to at least partially meet the geographic and thematic requirements.
    • With the permission of the Undergraduate Program Director for HSTM, one of these courses may be replaced by a cognate course from another department, for example, in philosophy or sociology of science.
  • Four additional history courses.

The independent work and senior departmental requirements are the same as for all other departmental majors.

Undergraduate Program Director for History of Science

Undergraduate Program Administrator

HSTM Courses

Bolded courses are offered in the current or upcoming semester.

CourseDistribution Requirements
(only applies to majors)1
Semester Offered
EGR 277 / HIS 277: Technology and SocietyKB 
HIS 290: The Scientific World View of Antiquity and the Middle Ages  
HIS 291: The Scientific Revolution and European Order, 1500-1750  
HIS 292: Science in the Modern WorldKB 
HIS 293: Science in a Global Context: 15th to 20th CenturyKB, PC 
HIS 294: Science and Medicine in the Early Modern WorldKB, PM 
HIS 295: Making America: A Technological History of the United StatesKB 
HIS 297 / STC 297: Transformative Questions in BiologyKB 
HIS 298: Information RevolutionsKBFall 2024
AAS 352/HIS 347 Race and Reproduction in U.S. History  
ART 361/HIS 355: The Art & Archaeology of PlagueG 
SPI 364/HIS 368 Making Post-Pandemic Worlds: Epidemic History and the Future  
AAS 331/HIS 382: Beyond Tuskegee: Race and Human Subjects Research in US HistoryRD 
HIS 390: Formations of Knowledge: Historical Approaches to Science, Technology, and MedicineRD, PCFall 2024
HIS 392: History of EvolutionKB 
HIS 393: Race, Drugs, and Drug Policy in AmericaKB, RD 
HIS 394: History of Ecology and EnvironmentKB 
HIS 395: History of Medicine and the BodyKB, RD 
HIS 396: History of BiologyKB 
HIS 397: Medicine and the Mind: A History of Psychiatry from the Asylum to ZoloftKB, RD 
HIS 398: The Einstein EraKB 
AMS 399 / HIS 399: In the Groove: Technology and Music in American History, from Edison to the iPodKB 
HIS 452: Magic, Matter, Medicine: Science in the Medieval WorldKB, PM 
GSS 426/HIS 458: History and the Body  
HIS 472: Medicine and Society in China: Past and PresentKB, RD, G 
HIS 481: Science and FilmKB 
HIS 489: The Scientific SelfKB, PC 
HIS 491: Fertile Bodies: A Cultural History of Reproduction from Antiquity to the EnlightenmentPM 
HIS 492: The Therapeutic Persuasion: Psychotherapy and American LifeKB 
HIS 493: '1, 2, 3, Testing'... in the History of Science, Technology, and MedicineKB 
HIS 494: Broken Brains, Shattered MindsKB, RD 
HIS 495: Alchemy - Art and ScienceKB, PM 
HIS 496: The Science of Heaven and HellKB, PMFall 2024
HIS 497: Eating, Growing, Catching, Knowing: Historical Perspectives on Food, Science, and the Environment  
HIS 498: History of PseudoscienceKB 
HIS 499: Things  

These specific courses can and almost certainly will also serve to at least partially meet the geographic and thematic requirements.

With the permission of the Undergraduate Program Director for HSTM, one of these courses may be replaced by a cognate course from another department, for example, in philosophy or sociology of science.

  • Four additional history courses.
  • The independent work and senior departmental requirements are the same as for all other departmental majors.

1 Distribution Requirement Designations:

  • Knowledge & Belief (KB)
  • Power & Conflict (PC)
  • Pre-Modern, pre-1700 (PM)
  • Race & Difference (RD)
  • Geographic (G)