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Semester 2

Topics in the History of Modern Science and Medicine (STIS10015)

Subject

Science, Technology and Innovation Studies

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed at least 2 Social Science courses (i.e. Sociology, Politics, Social Policy, Social Anthropology, African Studies, American Studies, Gender/Queer Studies) at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses.

Course Summary

This course invites students to engage with topics of current scholarly importance in the modern history of science and medicine while developing research and analysis skills in these fields. Students will interrogate recent scholarship, consider canonical and emerging methodologies, examine historiographical controversies, and explore disciplinary borderlands as an induction into honours-level study in the history of science and medicine.

Course Description

The modern histories of science and medicine have a distinctive scholarly tradition with a rich body of methods and debates borne of the subject's interdisciplinary origins and interest. This honours level course invites students to develop a critical understanding and capacity for analysis in these fields and to examine important topics in current research. Students will encounter and practice canonical and emerging methods, frameworks, and debates in the history of science and medicine. They will work collaboratively to engage and contextualize the current literature and will develop skills in the historical analysis of modern science and medicine. The course's content will be relevant to a range of degree subjects and learning goals and will connect to contemporary questions about science and medicine in society. Class discussions and directed learning will bring students to the forefront of current scholarship, equipping them to consider open questions and unresolved challenges in the field. The course is discussion based with an expectation of regular independent reading as preparation for collaborative exploration.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0% Portfolio Assessment (100%) consisting of student work up to a maximum of 5000 words, with a self-assessment that does not count toward the word total. Portfolio elements can include an essay, report, book review, project, or other approach with guidance from the course organiser. The portfolio will demonstrate that the student has met the learning outcomes through course activities combining broad engagement with in-depth examination of specific themes or methods, deriving from the questions and methods developed in course discussions and readings. The self-assessment will evaluate the student's learning in relation to their personal goals and the course learning outcomes, and students will build toward the self-assessment with discussions of goals and learning approaches at the start and middle of the course.

view the timetable and further details for this course