[*History of Science 96. Academic Internship in History and Health Policy]
Catalog Number: 5204
Steven Shapin and members of the Department
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
An opportunity to apply the methods and ideas of the history of health and medicine to understand the practical problems that have framed health policy in 20th-century America, and vice-versa, emphasizing the ways in which transformations in the epistemological and structural foundations of medical care have interacted with the broader public policy: the effects of the market upon standards of care; the rise of the clinical trial and Evidence-Based Medicine; and health-care reform.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Students are expected to produce substantial research papers based on their classwork and field placements, which are typically arranged with institutions in the Boston area.
*History of Science 97. Tutorial — Sophomore Year
Catalog Number: 5235
Janet Browne
Half course (spring term). M., 2:30-4, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
This introductory term of sophomore tutorial focuses on four or five key moments in the history of science, technology and medicine. We will explore how research, reading, and writing are done in this field. There will be opportunities to visit our Collection of Historic Scientific Instruments and to engage with historic documents.
Note: Required for undergraduate concentration in History and Science.
*History of Science 98 (formerly *History of Science 98r). Tutorial — Junior Year
Catalog Number: 1120
Anne Harrington
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This half of the junior year is a research-oriented tutorial taken in small groups. Focuses on enhancing research and writing skills through the completion a directed research paper on subject matter of the student’s interest.
*History of Science 99. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 6619
Sarah Jansen
Full course. Hours to be arranged.
Faculty-led seminar and intensive work with an individual advisor, directed towards production of the senior honors thesis.
Note: Ordinarily taken by seniors as a full course. May be taken as a half course only if special permission is obtained. Students are expected to complete a thesis or submit a research paper or other approved project in order to receive course credit.
[History of Science 106. History of Ancient Science]
Catalog Number: 3958
John E. Murdoch
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
An examination of key aspects and issues in the development of ancient science, focusing on natural philosophy from the Presocratics to Aristotle as well as its relation to early Greek medicine and mathematics. Some consideration will also be given to the historiography of natural philosophy within this period.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 107. History of Medieval Science]
Catalog Number: 5071
John E. Murdoch
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
A study of the scope and nature of scientific thought in the Latin Middle Ages, with emphasis upon the relation of that thought to other aspects of medieval culture, in particular, religion, philosophy, and the universities.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 112. Health, Medicine and Healing in Medieval and Renaissance Europe]
Catalog Number: 8576
Katharine Park
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
A survey of medical theory, organization, and practice in the context of other forms of contemporary healing, notably magical and religious. Topics include the gendering of healing and the body, the rise of hospitals and related institutions, and responses to "new" diseases such as syphilis and plague.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 117. Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9172
John E. Murdoch
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
Consideration of how science and natural philosophy found itself both opposed to and used by Christian, Judaic, and Islamic religious traditions and, as a crucial test case, how these traditions handled the divide between creation and the eternal world.
[History of Science 120. History and Philosophy of Modern Physics]
Catalog Number: 5116
Peter L. Galison
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 12
Philosophical questions raised by historical developments in 20th- and 21st-century physics, and conversely, historical-scientific questions raised by philosophical inquiry. Special and general relativity. Issues in quantum mechanics surrounding causality, determinism, realism, and probabilism. Atomic and thermonuclear weapons. Growth of large-scale experimental high-energy physics. What is meant by "unified" field theories? Is a reductionist theory of nature possible? Rise of string theory and nanosciences. Readings: scientific, historical, and philosophical texts.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have already taken Physics 120.
[History of Science 126. The Matter of Fact: Physics in the Modern Age: Conference Course]
Catalog Number: 5319 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Jimena Canales
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
What is a scientific fact? What is a physical law? How are scientific facts and laws discovered, established, and, sometimes, overturned? These questions will be addressed by exploring important episodes in the history of the physical sciences from the Industrial Revolution to Modern Physics. Topics include: engineering, astronomy, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, radioactivity, and relativity.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 131. History of Biology]
Catalog Number: 3073
Janet Browne
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
An introduction to the ways in which animals and plants have been examined, discussed and used from around 1650 to 1950. The course covers specimen collecting, classification, exploration, botanic gardens, museums, zoos and pets, plants as commodities, the environmental sciences, and the rise of laboratory biology. Visits to the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and local laboratories will be arranged.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 132. Environmental History
Catalog Number: 8673
Sarah Jansen
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
Environmental sciences, politics, and polices in a global context. Topics to be covered: Pristine nature; built environments; managed forests, agriculture, biodiversity, population and environment in postcolonial contexts; the seas, GM organisms, global warming, environmental risk assessment, and narratives of nature. Course materials include films, novels, and policy papers, as well as scientific and other academic papers.
[History of Science 134. Nature on Display: Conference Course]
Catalog Number: 4987 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Janet Browne
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Explores the natural history tradition in Europe and the Americas, focusing on the cultural meanings of the practice of collecting specimens, exploration, museums displays and working the field and research stations from the 18th to 20th century.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 137. Dogs and How We Know Them - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 3047
Sarah Jansen
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Examines the history of dogs and how we conceptualized (wo)man’s best friend over time. Topics include the origins of dogs and the nature of domestication, breeding and dog breeds, mad dogs and rabies, learning theories and training methods, unwanted dogs and the humane movement, dogs as veterinary patients, dogs as experimental systems, dog emotion and social behavior, working and companion dogs, dogs as symbols, dog genomics.
History of Science 140. Disease and Society
Catalog Number: 4471
Charles E. Rosenberg
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 12. EXAM GROUP: 5
A consideration of changing conceptions of disease during the past two centuries. We will discuss general intellectual trends as well as relevant cultural and institutional variables by focusing in good measure on case studies of particular ills, ranging from cholera to sickle cell anemia to anorexia and alcoholism.
[*History of Science 145 (formerly *History of Science 90m). Medicine and Deviance: Conference Course]
Catalog Number: 2795 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Charles E. Rosenberg
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Sociologists and historians have described what they call the medicalization of deviance: explaining certain behaviors as the consequences of disease rather than culpable choice. I refer to a variety of behaviors ranging from homosexuality to substance abuse, from chronic fatigue syndrome to premenstrual syndrome. This course will focus on the interrelated legal, medical, policy, and professional history of such problematic “diseases” during the past century and a half.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 150. History of Social Science - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 0135
Rebecca M. Lemov
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
Examination of the growth and development of social sciences such as sociology, anthropology, psychoanalysis, psychology, political science, and economics from the Enlightenment to the present. Innovators devised these fields to provide new, scientific ways to gain insight into age-old philosophical and religious questions, such as, What is the nature of the "self" or the "soul"? What binds human beings to one another? What is free will? What are the limits of social control, behavioral engineering, and the possible reach of techniques for adjustment and manipulation?
[History of Science 151. Science and Empire]
Catalog Number: 3516
Marwa S. Elshakry
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
This course examines science and technologies of rule as factors in the expansion of overseas European empires from the 18th to 20th centuries. It explores how colonial administrators deployed a range of scientific concepts and practices from tropical medicine and racial anthropology to urban planning and fingerprinting, and asks what both colonized and colonizers made of these.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
*History of Science 152. Filming Science - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 8254
Peter L. Galison and Robb Moss
Half course (fall term). M., W., 12–3. EXAM GROUP: 5, 6, 7
Examination of the theory and practice of capturing scientific practice on film. Topics will include fictional, documentary, informational, and instructional films and raise problems emerging from film theory, visual anthropology and science studies. Each student will make and edit short film(s) about laboratory, field, or theoretical scientific work.
History of Science 153. History of Dietetics
Catalog Number: 1409
Steven Shapin
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
A survey of the relationships between medical expertise and human eating habits from Antiquity to the present, giving special attention to the links between practical and moral concerns and between expert knowledge and common sense.
*History of Science 154. Science and Business in Modern America
Catalog Number: 7942 Enrollment: Limited to 25.
Steven Shapin
Half course (spring term). M., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
A survey of the relationships between the practice of science and the world of commerce in the United States since the beginning of the 20th century. Topics covered include the conduct and image of science in academia and industry, ideas about the connections between science and technology, and the development and understanding of entrepreneurial science.
History of Science 156. Science and the ’Third World’ - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 8457
Marwa S. Elshakry
Half course (spring term). M., 12–2. EXAM GROUP: 5, 6
This course will examine the role of scientific expertise and technological systems in the rise of the so-called ’third world’. It begins with the colonial welfare and development policies of the 1930s and continues through the era of decolonization and the Cold War to the present. It will cover such themes as: agricultural development and trade; nuclear deployment and testing; and the rise of biotechnology and the global pharmaceutical industry.
Note: Aimed for upper-level undergraduates.
[History of Science 157. Sociological Topics in the History of Science]
Catalog Number: 2434
Steven Shapin
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
An introduction to a series of sociological topics concerning the scientific role, the scientific community, and scientific knowledge that are of special interest to historians. What are the social conditions for the institutionalization of science and for the support of the scientific role? What are the possibilities for a historical sociology of scientific knowledge? What social pressures have historically been exerted on our overall understanding of science and its relations with society?
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 158. Darwinism: A Global History: Conference Course]
Catalog Number: 4549
Marwa S. Elshakry
Half course (fall term). W., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
Examines the impact of Darwin’s ideas across languages, cultures and disciplines from the mid-19th century until WWII. Covering a range of examples from the US, Europe, the Ottoman Empire, Japan, and Russia, we will explore topics including: social Darwinism; eugenics and scientific racism; materialism and socialism; religion and rationality; war and the competition between nations.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 160. Intellectual Property in Science
Catalog Number: 8570
Mario Biagioli
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
We examine different forms of credit for scientific and technological innovation, comparing publication credit in science and use of patents to protect technoscientific work. Readings range from history of technoscience to legal and literary studies.
History of Science 161. The Scientific Revolution
Catalog Number: 2868
Mario Biagioli
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
Examines the interrelated transformations in 16th- and 17th-century astronomy, cosmography, mathematics, medicine, and natural history. Places works of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Descartes in the context of the scientific traditions of ancient Greece and medieval Islam as revived by Renaissance humanists. Analyzes recent historiographical criticisms of the Scientific Revolution as "grand narrative" versus the particularism of micro-history. Adopts contemporary divisions of knowledge and differentiates concepts, practices, and rates of change within each scientific field as alternative interpretation.
[History of Science 162. Science in the Enlightenment]
Catalog Number: 7570
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Explores practices of scientific theory, experimentation and observation in Europe and North America, 1681–1815. Topics include: Chemistry, Electricity, Astronomy, Mathematics, Natural History, Newtonianism, Science and the Public Sphere, Science and the State, Science and Rationality, Science and Utility, and Science and the Industrial Revolution.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 170. Science and the Occult - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 7225
Stefan Andriopoulos
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This seminar investigates interrelations and differentiations among science and spiritualism from 1800 to the present. In addition to analyzing the boundary work that goes into demarcating science from the occult, we will also pay attention to the constitutive role of media (the magic lantern, photography, wireless telegraphy) in visualizing and communicating with occult spheres. Specific tops include: the mind-body problem and spiritual apparitions around 1800; mesmerism; the "objectivity" of spirit photography; telepath and parapsychology.
*History of Science 171. Narrative and Neurology
Catalog Number: 3222
Anne Harrington
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
An exploration of the complex relationship between the making of brain science and the human stories/experiences of brain damaged people. Topics include iconic cases of brain damage like Phineas Gage and H.M (and who speaks for them), the emergence and historical function of neurological case histories, the study of brain-damaged soldiers in WWI, the "neurological novels" of Alexandr Luria, the popular writings of Oliver Sacks, the brain-injured patient as author, and internet-based writings celebrating "neurodiversity."
[History of Science 172. Managing the Mind]
Catalog Number: 1216
Charles E. Rosenberg
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4.
Focuses on efforts to prevent, cure, and manage emotional and behavioral ills. The readings and discussion examine relationships between law and medicine, efforts to prevent mental illness ("mental hygiene"), and efforts at therapeutic management ranging from institutional care to lobotomy.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: HS A-87 ("Madness and Medicine") provides good background for this course, but is not a requirement.
History of Science 174. Critical Experiments in the Human Sciences
Catalog Number: 1750
Rebecca M. Lemov
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
This course focuses on high-impact experiments - among them, the Milgram "Obedience" experiments and the Stanford Prison Experiment - carried out in the twentieth-century human sciences by anthropologists, sociologists, social psychologists, and/or experimental psychologists. Many dreamed of a "technology of human behavior" and conducted experiments toward this end. What were the results, and how do they continue to affect our thinking and daily lives today?
[History of Science 176. Evolution and Human Nature: Conference Course]
Catalog Number: 6736 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Anne Harrington
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Explores the historical attempt to reconcile our understanding of the human mind—and our fundamental experience of our humanness—with evolutionary understandings of human origins since Darwin. Organized topically around classic and exemplary debates on the nature and purpose of consciousness, free will, morality, aggression, religion and more. Readings include Darwin, Wallace, Huxley, Spencer, James, Freud, Lorenz, Chardin, and Wilson. Particular attention to social and ethical context and perceived implications of these debates.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Preference given to juniors and seniors.
[History of Science 177. Stories Under the Skin: The Mind-Body Connection in Modern Medicine]
Catalog Number: 4338
Anne Harrington
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 11.
An analysis of the making of modern mind-body medicine as a system of interacting (and partly conflicting) narratives. Why do we believe that certain illnesses have roots in childhood traumas? That the stress of modern life can kill? That positive attitude can heal? That the “East” possesses secrets of mind-body balance that the West has lost? Analytic emphasis on the relationship between scientific research, clinical practice, popular culture, and experiences of illness and recovery.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 182. Science, Modernity, and Discontent]
Catalog Number: 4322
Jimena Canales
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 9. EXAM GROUP: 2
Examines theories of modernity (Marx, Freud, Bergson) vis-à-vis postmodernity (Habermas, Lyotard, Jameson) in the context of modern science and technology. Particular emphasis is placed on the development of the steam engine, telegraphy, rail, photography and cinematography and their impact on art, history, psychology, medicine, and urbanism.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 186. History of Technology: From the Printing Press to the Internet]
Catalog Number: 2147
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
Surveys the history of technology in Europe and North America from the mid-fifteenth century to the present. Topics include warfare, agriculture, communication technologies, production and consumption, social change. labor, capitalism, transportation, urbanization, and colonization. Special emphasis on the interrelations between technological artifacts and other forms of “cultural production” such as government, commerce, philosophy, and art.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 192. Environmental Politics
Catalog Number: 9243
Sheila S. Jasanoff (Kennedy School)
Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
An introduction to the history, organization, goals, and ideals of environmental protection in America. Examines the shift in emphasis from nature protection to pollution control to sustainability over the 20th-century and develops critical tools to analyze changing conceptions of nature and the role of science in environmental policy formulation. Of central interest is the relationship between knowledge, uncertainty, and political or legal action. Theoretical approaches are combined with case studies of major episodes and controversies in environmental protection.
Note: Offered jointly with Environmental Science and Public Policy 78. May not be taken for credit by students who have already taken ESPP 78.
*History of Science 201 (formerly *History of Science 200). Research Methods in the History of Science
Catalog Number: 5277
Katharine Park and members of the Department
Half course (fall term). M., 1–3:30. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7, 8
Introduction to research tools and resources, including libraries, archives, and collections useful for the History of Science at Harvard. Discussion of current methodologies and research practices by members of the Department.
*History of Science 206r. Archimedes and the Archimedean Tradition: Seminar - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 2410
John E. Murdoch, Barry C. Mazur, and Mark Schiefsky
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Reading and discussion of selected works of Archimedes’, with some attention to their impact on the later development of mathematics and mechanics.
*History of Science 207r. William of Ockham and the Rise of 14th-century Nominalism: Seminar - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 8468
John E. Murdoch
Half course (fall term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Reading and discussion of Ockham’s works on logic and natural philosophy, with some consideration of his nominalist contemporaries and successors, particularly in their interpretations of Aristotle.
Note: Reading knowledge of Latin is not required.
[History of Science 212. The Sciences of Life, Medicine and the Body in Medieval Renaissance Europe: Proseminar]
Catalog Number: 0640
Katharine Park
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Graduate colloquium for students preparing for general examinations in the fields covered by the course, as well as other students wishing to develop a comprehensive knowledge of the subject through extensive reading of secondary sources.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 214. Early Modern Science: Proseminar]
Catalog Number: 5732
Mario Biagioli
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Intensive survey of the history of science from 1500 to 1750 across disciplinary, national, and institutional contexts. For students preparing early modern fields for their comprehensive exams and for students interested in the scientific revolution.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 215r. Science and Culture in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 4568
Katharine Park and Susan Dackerman, Agnes Mongan Curator of Prints, Harvard University Art Museums
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Topic for 2008-09: Prints and the Production of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe. Explores the overlapping knowledge projects of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century artists, artisans, and scientists and the role of printed images in those projects. An important focus of the seminar will be planning a special exhibition to be mounted in the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: Some familiarity with the history of early modern European art or science and reading knowledge of at least one European language in addition to English.
[*History of Science 222r. Research in the History and Philosophy of Physical Sciences: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 4178
Peter L. Galison
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Students advance their chosen research with the aim of producing a publishable paper. Open to students working in 19th- to 21st-century sciences and technologies, or boundary work within science, art, and architecture.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 230. ‘Science Inc.’: Governing and Funding Knowledge in the Modern Age: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 1541
Sarah Jansen
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
States, the private sector, and international organizations as patrons of science and shapers of knowledge. Cases include biotechnologies such as stem cell research and genomics, and science policies in international comparison.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 238. Rethinking the Darwinian Revolution: Seminar
Catalog Number: 9533
Janet Browne and Marwa S. Elshakry
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Taking Charles Darwin as a well-documented case study, we will explore the historiography of evolutionary ideas from 1900 on, covering the political , social, and scientific commitments involved in the concept of a "Darwinian Revolution."
[History of Science 240. The Body in Health and Disease: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 6821
Charles E. Rosenberg
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
“Sickness” and “health,” notions of inappropriate and appropriate behavior, are determined by conceptions of the body and its proper management. Discussion will focus first upon secondary studies and subsequently upon students’ research.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 241. Science in Literature]
Catalog Number: 5778
Janet Browne
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
This intensive reading course addresses the social history of medicine as expressed in literature (fiction, drama, and memoirs) mostly from the 19th century to the present day, with some attention paid to Shakespeare. Key themes are illness as metaphor, relationships between patients and doctors, representations of mind and body, and medical imagery.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
[History of Science 242. Caring and Curing: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 6304
Charles E. Rosenberg
Half course (fall term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
The body and its management in health and disease. Discussions of representative texts, underlining historiographical and substantive issues in the history of medicine, followed by student progress reports and drafts.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 243. The Making of Modern Medicine: Seminar
Catalog Number: 5572
Charles E. Rosenberg
Half course (spring term). W., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
Focus on key works in the history of medicine, illustrating historiographical trends in the past half-century as well as the substantive aspects of the field that have attracted the historical concern.
[*History of Science 244. Research in the History of Medical Ethics: Seminar ]
Catalog Number: 6301
Allan M. Brandt
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Course provides a framework for the historical examination of debates concerning medical ethics, and seeks to identify social, cultural, political, and economic forces that have shaped value conflicts in clinical medicine and health policy. Students are expected to write a research paper utilizing primary and archival source materials.
[History of Science 251. Science in Translation: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 4873
Marwa S. Elshakry
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Examines ways in which scientific knowledge is transformed by its translation, appropriation, and interpretation within different socio-cultural and epistemological settings, utilizing theoretical insights from linguistics, sociology, and anthropology and drawing on a number of case studies.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 252. Science and Empire: Seminar - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 4758
Marwa S. Elshakry
Half course (spring term). W., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
Analyses the theory and practice of modern empires, debates over sovereignty and territoriality, and the relation between imperial expansion and scientific knowledge. Advanced level course with an emphasis on theory and topics reflecting student interests.
[*History of Science 253. Bioethics, Law, and the Life Sciences ]
Catalog Number: 4500
Sheila S. Jasanoff (Kennedy School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
Seeks to identify and explore salient ethical, legal, and policy issues – and possible solutions – associated with developments in biotechnology and the life sciences.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Kennedy School as STP-321. May not be taken for credit by students who have already taken STP-321 (KSG).
History of Science 254. Probability in Science and Society: Seminar
Catalog Number: 0807
Sarah Jansen
Half course (spring term). Th., 12–2. EXAM GROUP: 14, 15
Explores the history of probability, one of the key concepts of modern science, from the Enlightenment to the present. Topics include reconceptualizations of the individual and the social, and changing notions of truth, facticity, and objectivity.
[History of Science 255. Sociology of Scientific Knowledge: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 8911
Steven Shapin
Half course (fall term). F., 12–2. EXAM GROUP: 5, 6
Surveys themes and achievements in the sociological study of scientific knowledge and practice, focusing on the historical and cultural contexts in which this work developed and its usefulness in writing the history of science.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 256. Culture, Personality, and Self - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 5086
Rebecca M. Lemov
Half course (fall term). Th., 12–2. EXAM GROUP: 14, 15
Examines the history of the culture and personality movement, considered narrowly and broadly, as well as technologies and techniques developed in the social and human sciences for measuring the self and its socialization processes.
[History of Science 258. The Normal and the Abnormal]
Catalog Number: 0817
Charles E. Rosenberg and Arthur Kleinman
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
We examine case studies and theoretical readings from history, cultural anthropology, and social theory, to compare notions of the normal and abnormal. We ask how do norms bridge the moral, the political, and the body.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Open to undergraduates with the permission of the instructor. May not be taken concurrently with Anthropology 2655.
[History of Science 273. Freud and the American Academy]
Catalog Number: 5828 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Anne Harrington
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Freud himself and Freud as used, adapted, and denounced in the academy. Freud himself on hysteria, dreams, the unconscious, sex, religion, and aggression. Appropriations and polemics within psychiatry, philosophy, literary criticism, psychohistory, feminism, and brain science.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Intended to function as a graduate seminar, but advanced undergraduates with appropriate background in psychology or history of science (e.g., HS 175) will be considered.
History of Science 280. Theories of Technology - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1024
Stefan Andriopoulos
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This seminar sets out to conceptualize interactions among technological media, scientific research, and cultural discourses without relapsing into a technological determinism. Based on historical case studies that range from 1800 to the present we will ask questions such as: How can we account for cultural conditions of technological innovation? And how are newly emerging technologies used and appropriated in scientific and cultural practices? Readings include: Crary, Galison, Giedion, Heidegger, Kittler, Latour, Luhmann, and others.
History of Science 281. Flat Science: Picturing Knowledge through Print, Photography, and Cinematography
Catalog Number: 2387
Mario Biagioli
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Examines imaging techniques from the Scientific Revolution to the twentieth century in astronomy, physiology, and criminology; interactions between art history (Benjamin, Krauss), philosophy (Bergson, Foucault, Deleuze), and science studies; the epistemological status of pictures.
[History of Science 284. Technology and the Text: Machines and Discourse in Historical and Literary Inquiry]
Catalog Number: 6779
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Investigates historically and theoretically the relationship between textuality and technology in recent works as well as in "classics" of the history of technology, cultural theory and literary criticism. Readings include studies in media history, media theory, and theories of materiality and textuality; case studies in history of technology and literary history; and literary and cultural analyses of the mechanical reproduction of poetry and of works of art from 19th- and 20th-c. German and French Social and Cultural Theory.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
*History of Science 285a. Science, Power and Politics I
Catalog Number: 5124
Sheila S. Jasanoff (Kennedy School)
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
This is the fall term of a year-long seminar that introduces students to the major contributions of the field of science and technology studies (S&TS) to the understanding of politics and policymaking in democratic societies.
Note: Offered jointly with the Kennedy School as STP-291. May not be taken for credit by students who have already taken STP-291 (KSG). Either 285a or 285b may be taken as a separate course, but only with permission of the instructor.
[*History of Science 285b. Science, Power, and Politics II]
Catalog Number: 5291
Sheila S. Jasanoff (Kennedy School)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2:10-4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Introduction to major methodological approaches in the field of science and technology studies (S&TS), particularly focusing on the analysis of science politics and policymaking in democratic societies.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Kennedy School as STP-292. May not be taken for credit by students who have already taken STP-292 (KSG). Either 285a or 285b may be taken as a separate course, but only with permission of the instructor.
[History of Science 287. Heidegger and Technology: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 2819
Peter L. Galison and Peter E. Gordon
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
An advanced seminar focusing on Heidegger’s assessment of modern technology and the relation of scientific and/or technological practices to human experience, history, and philosophy.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with History 2471.
[History of Science 288. History and Philosophy of Technology: Proseminar]
Catalog Number: 6645
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (spring term). Th., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 18
Graduate-level survey of classic and recent influential work in the history of technology, covering the early modern, modern, and late modern periods; industrial-technological, information-technological, and bio-technological systems; as well as philosophical accounts from the analytical and the continental traditions. For students preparing field examinations and those wishing to gain insight into current issues in the historiography of technology.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
History of Science 293. Experts, Politics and Public Policy - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 4043
Sheila S. Jasanoff (Kennedy School)
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This course takes a critical look at the assumptions underlying the use of expertise in policymaking and asks how our growing reliance on experts affects the quality, effectiveness, and accountability of public policy and governance. Case studies and theoretical readings are used to explore the basis for claims of expertise, the reasons for expert controversies, the relations between lay-people and experts, and the measures used to hold experts accountable in diverse decisionmaking frameworks.
Note: Jointly offered with PAL-145 at the Kennedy School of Government.
History of Science 294. Tools, Instruments, and Extended Cognition - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 3303
Peter L. Galison and Peter Godfrey-Smith
Half course (fall term). Th., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 18
An examination of the relation between external tools and internal cognitive processing. Do the boundaries of a thinking agent sometimes extend beyond the skin? Perspectives from both the philosophy of mind and history of science will be considered. Readings from Clark, Wilson, Sterelny, Galison, and others.
[*History of Science 295r. Scientific and Legal Doubt: Inter-School, Faculty-Student Workshop]
Catalog Number: 8360 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Peter L. Galison and Martha L. Minow (Law School)
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Is climate change due to human intervention? What are the effects of tobacco, asbestos, and low-level radiation? Is Darwinism "just a theory"? We will produce a student-faculty-guest expert "commission report" on doubt in science and law.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Open to graduate students, undergraduates, law students, and others by permission of the instructors.
[History of Science 297r. Topics in the History of Medieval Latin Science ]
Catalog Number: 5050
John E. Murdoch
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Topic to be announced.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: Reading knowledge of Latin.
[*History of Science 298r. The Establishment of Medieval Latin Scientific and Philosophical Texts: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 4893
John E. Murdoch
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: Knowledge of Latin, but no previous experience with paleography required.
*History of Science 301. Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 5641
Mario Biagioli 1756, Allan M. Brandt 3031, Janet Browne 5511, Jimena Canales 5070 (on leave 2008-09), Marwa S. Elshakry 4884, Peter L. Galison 3239, Owen Gingerich 1159, Evelynn M. Hammonds 4545, Anne Harrington 1895, Steven James Harris 4081, Erwin N. Hiebert 1187, Gerald Holton 1883, Sarah Jansen 4107, Sheila S. Jasanoff (Kennedy School) 2248, Everett I. Mendelsohn 2700, John E. Murdoch 1877, Katharine Park 2974 (on leave fall term), Antoine Picon (Design School) 4295, Charles E. Rosenberg 3784, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz 3651, A. I. Sabra 2702, Steven Shapin 3984, and Adelheid Voskuhl 5569 (on leave 2008-09)
Individual work in preparation for the General Examination for the PhD degree.
*History of Science 302. Guided Research
Catalog Number: 5282
Mario Biagioli 1756, Allan M. Brandt 3031, Janet Browne 5511, Jimena Canales 5070 (on leave 2008-09), Marwa S. Elshakry 4884, Peter L. Galison 3239, Owen Gingerich 1159, Evelynn M. Hammonds 4545, Anne Harrington 1895, Erwin N. Hiebert 1187, Gerald Holton 1883, Sarah Jansen 4107, Sheila S. Jasanoff (Kennedy School) 2248, Everett I. Mendelsohn 2700, Robb Moss 1392, John E. Murdoch 1877, Katharine Park 2974 (on leave fall term), Antoine Picon (Design School) 4295, Charles E. Rosenberg 3784, Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz 3651, A. I. Sabra 2702, Steven Shapin 3984, and Adelheid Voskuhl 5569 (on leave 2008-09)
Through regular meetings with faculty advisor, each student will focus on research and writing with the purpose of developing a publishable research paper.