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science studies program
Science Studies is a well-established interdisciplinary field that employs the perspectives of the humanities and social science to examine the development of science, medicine, and technology. Science and its allied fields have become defining features of modern societies: shaping intellectual controversies, guiding industrial development, undergirding political authority, and transforming the way that people treat their bodies and conceive of their identities. The development of these sciences has also been central to the creation of the modern university and to the division of knowledge into disciplinary practices. Understanding how the sciences achieved this remarkable position demands a variety of historical and sociological tools, as well as attention to science’s representational practices. The Science Studies cluster is for students who are interested in supplementing their disciplinary learning with attention to the transformations wrought by science, medicine, and technology.
Prospective students interested in graduate studies in the field of science studies can apply to Northwestern University via the Science Studies Cluster.This new interdisciplinary initiative enables students to pursue a Ph.D. in such Departments as History, Sociology, Art History, Political Science, Communication Studies, or English, while also taking a series of coordinated courses that explore the history, social context, and the representational practices which guide the development of science, medicine, and technology. They also join the activities of the current Science Studies Graduate Affiliates.
Current Northwestern graduate students interested in exploring the reciprocal relations between the humanities and the sciences, medicine, and technology are invited to become Science Studies Graduate Affiliates. These students are invited to:
- Attend the weekly Klopsteg lecture series which usually meets on Monday afternoons from 4-5:30pm in the Hagstrum Room (University Hall, Room 201).
- Participate in the SHC reading group, which meets once a quarter to discuss a new or classic work in the field.
- Participate in the Science Studies Doctoral Colloquium, a student-run colloquium, which meets two or three times a quarter (in place of the Klopsteg lecture) so that students can discuss grant proposals, present dissertation chapters, practice job talks, go over issues of professional development, and hear visiting speakers of their own choosing.
- Are eligible for up to $400 each year to help defray the costs of presenting a paper at a professional conference on a science studies topic.
- Are eligible to apply for one-time research supplement of $1000 for an approved research project.
Prospective graduate students interested in the Science Studies Cluster and current Northwestern graduate students interested in participating in becoming Science Studies Graduate Affiliates should contact the SHC director, Professor Ken Alder, k-alder@northwestern.edu.
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