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Core course (Autumn Term)
MSc students on both degrees are enrolled in a common
core course during the first term:
- Introduction to Historical, Social and
Philosophical
Studies of Science, Medicine and Technology
The core course requires attendance in 2-hour lectures
four days a week, and also roughly fortnightly individual tutorials. Part-time
students take one component of the core course in each of their two years
of study.
There are two components in the core course. One gives
a selective survey of the major developments in science, medicine and
technology from the ancient times to the 20th century. The other provides
a comprehensive introduction to historiographical, sociological and philosophical
methodologies for understanding the development of scientific and technical
knowledge and the interactions between society and science, medicine and
technology.
Option courses (Winter and Spring Term)
After the core course, students are required to take
three option courses in the second and third terms. Part-time
students take one option in one year of their study, and two options in
the other year.
There is a wide variety of options to choose from:
- Science, Technology and Medicine in Antiquity
- The Scientific Revolution, 1450-1750
- Ideas of Health and Sickness in Industrial
Society
- The Sciences in the Age of Industry, 1750-1920
For 2010-11, "Science, Technology and Global History"
will be substituted for SAI
- History of the Human Sciences
- Philosophy of Science
- Science, Medicine and Technology in the
Twentieth Century
- Sociology of Science and Technology
- Science, Governance and the Public
To qualify for the MSc in History of Science,
Medicine and Technology, students must take at least two of their
three options from 1-7 above.
To qualify for the MSc in Science, Technology,
Medicine and Society, students must take at least two of their
three options from 7-9 above.
As the programmes develop, more option courses may
be added. One option course may be substituted with a relevant course
of equivalent weight from another master's programme (such as the MA in
History of Medicine offered by the Wellcome Trust Centre for History of
Medicine at UCL). These substitutions must be approved on a case-by-case
basis by the London Centre board of examiners.
Course synopses
Science, Technology and Medicine in Antiquity
This course examines various forms of knowledge between the first millennium
BC and the sixth century AD, including mathematics, medicine, astrology,
engineering, and natural philosophy. What were the ancient notions of
health and disease? How did one cast a horoscope? How did one build a
catapult? How were notions of gender constructed and framed within natural
philosophy? We will discuss many such questions and possible answers to
them, and also reflect on why, or whether, the questions themselves are
significant for us today. Early science, technology, and medicine are
particularly amenable to historiographical reflection. Consequently, emphasis
will be put on methodology and the use of evidence, and on the wider issues
raised by particular topics.
The Scientific Revolution, 1450-1750
This course examines various developments in mathematics, natural philosophy,
and the life and earth sciences from the Italian Renaissance to the Enlightenment.
It deals with themes such as: scientific instrumentation; the mechanical
philosophy; the appearance of scientific institutions; the relations between
science and medicine, and science and religion; science and patronage;
cartography; alchemy; the relations between mathematics and natural philosophy;
and of course the work of the doyens of the Scientific Revolution, especially
Nicolas Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, Galileo Galilei, René
Descartes, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and Robert
Hooke.
Ideas of Health and Sickness in Industrial Society
The course covers major developments in clinical medicine and the biomedical
sciences in the period 1800-1950. Particular attention is paid to: developments
in the patient/doctor relationship during this period; the rise of the
modern hospital; issues of public health in industrializing societies;
the relations between clinical medicine and the laboratory sciences; and
the impact on western medicine of colonial expansion into other parts
of the world in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
The Sciences in the Age of Industry, 1750-1920
This course examines the history of the sciences in Britain and Europe
from the late Enlightenment to the period just after the First World War.
Classes will be taught on: science and the industrial revolution; scientific
organisation and the audiences for science; the social purposes behind
British writings on natural theology, political economy and Malthusianism;
the making of geology and its theoretical and practical uses; reforms
in the teaching of mathematical physics; the emergence of technologies
of calculation in their commercial, industrial and scientific contexts;
cultural arguments on the 'manliness' of scientific competition with parallel
debates on women in science; Darwin, Darwinism and eugenics; the history
of museums and laboratories; and the place of Einstein in modern physics.
Science, Technology and Global History
Course description to come.
History of the Human Sciences
This option examines the origins of the disciplines commonly referred
to as the human sciences, and charts their development in the period 1700-1930.
The course will consider the way the term 'human' was construed during
this period, paying special attention to how considerations of race and
gender impinged upon conceptions of human nature. Epistemological questions
of the forms of knowledge appropriate to an understanding of human nature
will also be considered. In particular, recurrent debates about how far
the human sciences shared a common methodology with the natural sciences
or required special forms of cognition will be reviewed. Throughout the
course the development of the human sciences will be placed in the context
of contemporary social and political events.
Philosophy of Science
This course is an introduction to the philosophy of science specifically
designed for students in history and social studies of science, addressing
some fundamental questions about the nature and development of scientific
knowledge. What differentiates science from other systems of thought and
ways of engaging with the natural world? Is there a 'scientific method'
that guarantees the reliability and superiority of scientific knowledge?
Is there progress in science, or merely change from one world view to
another, each maintained by social agreement? Do scientists choose between
competing theories in a rational way? What is the relationship between
observation, theory, and experimentation? Does science give us an objectively
true description of an independent physical reality, or useful tools of
thought, or both? All of the philosophical questions will be addressed
through concrete episodes from the actual development of science.
Science, Technology and Medicine in the 20th Century
The course covers a wide range of subjects, ranging from the impact of
war and imperialism on scientific research to the rise of genetic technologies
and pharmaceutical industries. A central aim of the course is to explore
critically the assumptions that are made in existing historical accounts.
It takes as read the powerful interconnections between science, technology
and medicine. Among the themes subject to critical analysis are such key
concepts as 'big science' and the 'two cultures', and the standard approaches
to the relations of science, technology, medicine and war. Students will
get not only a good overview of a complex subject, but will also be able
to challenge the dominant assumptions made in the literature. The course
takes its examples from many different parts of the world.
Sociology of Science and Technology
Anthropologists routinely provide causal, social explanations for the
structure and content of knowledge held by other cultures. But is it possible
to provide similar types of explanation for those beliefs that our own
modern western techno-scientific culture authorizes and warrants as ''true'
and 'universal'? The sociology of science scrutinises one of our culture's
most high-status practices, investigating scientific knowledge-production
from a sociological standpoint and challenging traditional understandings
of scientific 'truth,' 'rationality,' and 'progress'. This course traces
the development of the sociology of science, examining the different schools
of thought, key theoretical and conceptual frameworks, and influential
empirical studies. It also examines the extrapolation of concepts from
the sociology of science to the analysis of the social dimensions of technology,
and considers the organizational contexts of science and technology.
Science, Governance and the Public
Industrialised countries in the late 20th and early 21st century have
witnessed tremendous changes in the organisation and social relations
of science. Emerging areas such as biotechnology and genetics, nanotechnology,
and information technology promise great benefits but also pose many challenges
for contemporary societies. One central challenge has been to establish
trust and communication between the scientific community and wider society.
This course explores the relationship between science and society, with
particular reference to the governance of new science and technology.
We look at theoretical and empirical studies that try to understand the
changing and interrelated roles of key actors including government, the
scientific community, industry, NGOs, and the public. The course finishes
with discussion of a number of case studies in the governance of specific
areas in science and technology.
Dissertation
The MSc programmes end with a dissertation of 10,000-12,000
words requiring original research. These are undertaken during the summer,
under the supervision of an individual member of the London Centre staff.
Dissertation topics must be agreed in each case by the supervisor and
approved the London Centre board of examiners. Part-time students are
strongly encouraged to start working on their dissertations during their
first year.
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