From climate change to pandemics to the transformative effects of information technology—many of the challenges we confront today are inseparable from science, technology, and medicine (STM), whether as cause, explanation, or remedy. To understand the role of STM in our present predicament and think through how it will shape our future, a historical perspective is vital. In the HSTM minor, students will learn from the array of methodological approaches developed by historians of science, technology, and medicine, and track the evolution of modern science from antiquity to the present, in many of the world’s cultures.

For students majoring in the humanities and social sciences, the HSTM minor enhances their understanding of the content, methodologies, and impacts of science, technology, and medicine; in a complementary fashion, the HSTM minor provides students majoring in the natural sciences or engineering a richer appreciation of the social and cultural aspects of their fields, as well as the trajectories that brought their subjects to their present state.

Prerequisites

• There are no prerequisites for the minor.

Admission to the Program

• Students register by submitting the HSTM Minor Application Form to Cynthia Leavey, Administrative Coordinator, by the end of the spring semester of their junior year.
• Students majoring or minoring in History are not eligible for the HSTM minor.

Students interested in the minor are encouraged to meet with the Undergraduate Program Director for HSTM for a brief welcome and introductory advising session. 

Program of Study

• 1 required course: HIS 390 (“Formations of Knowledge: Historical Approaches to Science, Technology, and Medicine”)
• 2 courses in the history of science, technology, or medicine, from the list below
• 1 course in History not on the list below
• 1 additional course: this course may be a HSTM course, a HIS course, or a cognate (with approval of the Undergraduate Program Director for HSTM)
• All courses for the HSTM minor must be taken for a grade (no P/D/F).
• No more than one course may double-count with a course taken for credit in the major or another minor.

Independent Research Requirement

• Students must submit to the HSTM Undergraduate Program Director a paper of at least ten double-spaced pages in 12-point Times New Roman font, or equivalent, demonstrating original research in the history of science, technology, and medicine. This can be a segment of students’ independent written work in their majors; a written assignment from a course; or a paper done outside of coursework.