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The Science, Technology and Society Honors Program

Are you interested in environmental studies?  How about the role of aesthetics in culture or the connections between music and technology?  Do you want to understand the philosophy and ethics of scientific activity and technology development? What about big questions regarding technology’s role in global policy decisions? Are you considering becoming an educator once you’ve earned your degree?

If the answer to any of these questions is Yes, consider a minor or a double major in Science, Technology and Society (STS).

All students in the Albert Dorman Honors College are eligible to participate in the Science, Technology and Society (STS) Honors program, whose goals include expanding your academic experience within a research-oriented, communication intensive framework.

As an STS double major, you will take 34 credits of coursework that comprises the STS program's core requirements, while working with a multidisciplinary faculty to understand the complex interaction between the technical and the social aspects of the contemporary global environment.  With the careful selection of courses from both your primary major and STS, you will be able to complete both sets of degree requirements in a timely manner – in some cases, with no additional courses or semesters.

During your senior year, you will engage in a multidisciplinary thesis that unifies the technical documentation produced for your disciplinary capstone and the theoretical, analytical, and evaluative contextual layers that coursework and guided research in STS provide.  You will have a rich and elegant document upon completion of your undergraduate career, one that demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of both your chosen subject and its social, historical, economic and political ramifications.

As an STS minor, you will take STS 307 (Fundamentals of Research in STS) and choose two 300-level STS courses in preparation for an interdisciplinary research/thesis experience to be undertaken throughout the junior and senior years via STS 490 and STS 491.  As with the double major, your thesis will unify the technical documentation produced for your discipline’s capstone project with the theoretical, analytical, and evaluative perspectives that coursework and guided research in STS provides.  

All students in the Science, Technology and Society (STS) Honors Program are eligible for track-specific sections of HSS 491, the Honors Humanities Senior Seminar, that tie together faculty-specific expertise with the ongoing work of your senior thesis.  Whether your focus is on Environment Studies; Media, Aesthetics and Technology; Technology, Public Policy and Globalization; Ethics and Philosophy of Technology; or Science Education, your thesis will be augmented through focused study with an STS professor who will align their work with yours.  Participants will also be contributing to disciplinary- and thematically-based wikis and blogs, which will be in your control and will be your responsibility to maintain.  Each student will also complete their degrees with a web-based portfolio of documents and projects that reflect the depth and breadth of the multi-disciplinary work you’ve completed at NJIT.

Interested?  Want to find out more or sign up?  Contact Prof. Rob Friedman, STS Director, at (973) 596-5765 or friedman@njit.edu, or stop by his office: 331 Cullimore Hall.  For more information about the STS major, consult the program’s webpage.
Copyright 2009 New Jersey Institute of Technology     University Heights, Newark, New Jersey 07102     (973) 596-3000 Maintained by Albert Dorman Honors College.
Date of last update: 07/14/2009 12:18:08