Human Context of Science and Technology

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Faculty
Career and Academic Paths

Faculty

Director

Joseph N. Tatarewicz
B.A. Towson University, 1972; M.A., The Catholic University of America, 1976; MA., Indiana University 1981; Ph.D., 1984

Human Context of Science and Technology Committee

Ted Foster
B.S., University of Virginia, 1963; Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University, 1967

Sandra Herbert
B.A., Wittenberg University, 1963; M.A., Brandeis University, 1965; Ph.D., 1968

Jessica Pfeifer
B.A., Wesleyan University, 1991; Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 1999

Phillip S. Sokolove
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1964; Ph.D., Harvard University, 1969

Lynn C. Sparling
B.S., University of New Mexico, 1976; M.S., University of Wisconson, Madison, 1980; Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin, 1987
Interests: Atmospheric physics, dynamics, transport

Laszlo Takacs
M.S., Eotvos Lorand University (Hungary), 1974; Ph.D., 1978

Courses in this program are listed under HCST.

This is a 27-credit, upper-division certificate program. It complements the student’s major.

For students in the humanities and social sciences, the Human Context of Science and Technology (HCST) Certificate Program provides a core of foundational courses in one of the areas of science or engineering that will provide the technical background allowing them to integrate humanistic and scientific learning. The HCST Program provides students in the sciences and engineering with a broad-based education that will equip them to understand the cultural setting and societal impact of their future work.

To assist students in their future careers, whether in business, engineering, education, writing or in the arts, the HCST Certificate Program provides a bridge connecting the cultural life of the humanities and the sciences. In an era when individuals change careers with some frequency, it also provides avenues into a number of different areas of knowledge.

Career and Academic Paths

This program is suitable for and accessible to students of all abilities, particularly those with serious interests in both the humanities and the sciences. Sometimes the choice may be a matter of emphasis. Does a student want to be a physicist with an interest in archaeology, or an archaeologist with training in physics? Sometimes the choice is more dramatic. If a student is interested in biology, would he or she be better served by pursuing an M.D., or a degree in the new field of medical humanities? Sometimes the choice may be more market-driven. With the current high demand for teachers of mathematics and science in elementary and secondary schools, students who excel in the skills of communication so essential to the humanities might be drawn to complete more years of training in science and technology-related fields than they otherwise might have. It is also true that in the Baltimore-Washington area, with its emphasis on public affairs, students with both technical and humanistic knowledge are often preferred by employers over those students whose education is more limited. In short, HCST is important to any individual who wishes to understand the human dimensions of science and technology, or the technical and scientific dimensions of his or her humanity.

Programs

Certificate

Human Context of Science and Technology Certificate

Courses

Human Context Science & Technology