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Introduction
The Science Studies Program at UCSD was established in 1989. At
present, the Program involves twenty core faculty members and
thirty-eight graduate students from the Program's "home" departments
of communication, history,
philosophy, and sociology.
Students and faculty in the Program are committed to working toward
deeper understanding of scientific knowledge in its full cultural
and historical context. The Program offers students an opportunity
to integrate the perspectives developed within the communication
of science, history of science, sociology of science, and philosophy
of science, while receiving a thorough training at the professional
level in one of those disciplines.
The program is a graduate course of study, leading to the Ph.D.
degree, in which students complete course work in science studies
in addition to course work in their home department - - communication,
history, philosophy, or sociology. In addition to formal course
work in science studies, students participate in a lively weekly
colloquium series, complete internships, and may take directed readings
on a variety of relevant topics.
Graduate seminars, generally featuring instruction by two Science
Studies faculty from different disciplines, form a major arena of
interdisciplinary work. Participants include not only Program
members but also other graduate students from the natural sciences,
social sciences and humanities. In the seminars, students and faculty
of differing disciplinary backgrounds do more than simply exchange
views. Rather, they open their own understandings to critical examination
by members of other disciplines, and thus enrich their conceptions
of a productive approach to studying the sciences.
The introductory seminar explores new directions in the communication,
history, philosophy and sociology of science, and the birth of Science
Studies as a distinct field of inquiry. Core seminars focus on special
topics selected by Program faculty. In recent years, topics have
included the role of vision/diagrammatic representation in science;
scientific progress; gender and science; and philosophical, ethical,
and sociological issues in modern medicine.
The internship allows the student to gain essential hands-on experience
and training in the empirical study of scientific practice. As a
world-renowned center of scientific research, UCSD and its surrounding
research institutes offer excellent opportunities for student internships.
Participation in a weekly colloquium series provides further opportunities
for interdisciplinary exchange. This series features a highly diverse
set of talks on science or technology by students and faculty within
the Program, scientists and scholars of s science on the UCSD campus,
and distinguished lecturers from other universities.
Science Studies students are encouraged to select dissertation topics
that offer scope for a cross-disciplinary approach. The Ph.D. degree
will be awarded in "Communication -- Science Studies,"
"History -- Science Studies," "Philosophy -- Science
Studies, " or "Sociology -- Science Studies." In
special circumstances, students may be permitted to work for the
M.A. degree.
Outline of Study (Graduate Student Handbook)
Students enrolled in the Program choose one of the four disciplines
-- Communication, History, Philosophy, or Sociology -- for their
major field of specialist studies, and are required to complete
minor field requirements in the others. The core of the Program,
however, is a sequence of courses in Science Studies, led by faculty
from all four participating Departments.
The academic year at UCSD runs from mid-September to mid-June. Formal
teaching is given in three "quarters," each ten weeks
in length.
Science Studies students, like other graduate students at UCSD,
generally spend their first two or three years taking courses for
credit. Most graduate courses in Science Studies take the form of
small group seminars or independent study under the guidance of
a faculty member. Most courses are graded primarily on the basis
of written papers or essays, which may entail substantial reading
and research. Not uncommon, such papers become the basis for chapters
of the student's dissertation, or for articles that are later submitted
for publication.
Students are normally expected to take three courses per quarter,
or a total (spread over at least two years) of eighteen courses.
Precise specifications of required courses differ among the Departments
participating in the Science Studies Program; details are given
in the respective Departments' guides to graduate study. In addition
to those taken for credit, students may audit further courses (i.e.
participate without being examined or graded). After completing
coursework and other departmental requirements, the student prepares
a Dissertation Prospectus in consultation with his or her advisor,
setting out a description and justification of the proposed research,
and an outline of its argument and presentation. The student is
then examined orally on the prospectus, by a doctoral committee
consisting of faculty from the student's "home" and other
departments. Once the prospectus has been approved, the student
is formally advanced to candidacy, and can work full-time on the
research (insofar as other commitments allow). When the dissertation
is completed, it is examined by the doctoral committee, which recommends
whether the Ph.D. degree should be awarded.
Internships
The Program faculty recommend that students in Science Studies,
whichever their "home" Department, should have first-hand
experience of scientific practice as part of their graduate studies.
Internships might include a period of work in a scientific laboratory,
a science museum or archive, participation in scientific fieldwork
or an expedition, working at a preservation laboratory, hospital,
regulatory agency, etc. A report from the internship is part of
the basis for grading and evaluation in the program. Program faculty
mentors assist students by helping them plan their internships and
by using their contacts in scientific departments at UCSD or elsewhere.
Students are encouraged to contact the program director or relevant
faculty for details.
Students who, before enrolling in the Program, have had substantial
practical experience in some aspects of scientific work may apply
for a waiver of the requirement to undertake an internship, but
will still be required to write a report reflecting on that earlier
experience.
Faculty Contact for the Internship Program:
Martha Lampland, Department of History
(858) 534-5640, mlampland@ucsd.edu
Language Requirements
All students enrolled in the Program are encouraged to equip themselves
with linguistic skills sufficient to ensure that their choice of
topics for research is not adversely restricted to those in which
all the relevant literature is in English. For many students in
Science Studies this will entail having, or acquiring, a reading
knowledge of at least one language other than English.
Students enrolled in the Departments of Communication and History
are required to demonstrate a basic reading competence in one language
other than English, before advancing to candidacy; details about
how this may be fulfilled are given in the Department al Graduate
Handbook. The choice of language must be approved by the student's
advisor, and must be clearly relevant to the prospective field of
research. Students whose native language fulfills that condition
may apply for the language requirement to be waived. Conversely,
a student's advisor may set a requirement of more than one language
other than English, if the proposed field of the dissertation makes
that desirable.
Students enrolled in the Department of Philosophy are required to
demonstrate reading proficiency in either German, French, Latin
or Classical Greek. Competence in a second language may be required
if, in the judgment of the student's advisor, the propose d dissertation
topic makes that desirable. The language requirement must be met
before the student can advance to candidacy.
Other Program Resources
The Program office is located in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Building on the main campus. In the same building are a Program
computer room, a reading room for Program graduate students, and
offices for faculty.
The main libraries at UCSD include the Social Science and Humanities
Library, the Science and Engineering Library, the Biomedical Library
-- all within easy walking distance of the Program office -- and
the library and archives of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
(SIO) about a mile away near the Pacific shore. The combined book
holdings of the UCSD library system recently passed the two-million
mark. Basic holdings in the science studies disciplines are good
, and are being improved with the help of NSF funds and other grants.
The UCSD libraries contain major collections of published materials
for science studies research on many aspects of 20th century science.
There are also rich archival resources, particularly the MSS and
unpublished papers of many distinguished scientists who were associated
with SIO, such as Roger Revelle, Herbert York, Leo Szilard, and
Maria Goeppert-Mayer. The Department of Special Collections at Central
Library contains important collections of pre-20th century materials
-- for example the 5000-volume collection of early-modern works
acquired from Don Cameron Allen -- and a growing amount of material
in microform. In addition, the Malcolm A. Love Library at San Diego
State University (a few miles from UCSD) contains a major collection
of early-modern astronomical works, and an associated collection
of secondary works that is unique on the West Coast.
As part of the University of California (UC) system, UCSD has access
to the UC-wide California Digital Libraries; books can be requested
on Inter-Library Loan from other UC and San Diego libraries. Major
collection s of pre-20th century materials are accessible at the
UCLA library, Williams Andrews Clark Library, and Henry E. Huntington
Library, all within the greater Los Angeles area. Program funds
may be available to graduate students to subsidize the expenses
of research trips to more distant libraries, such as that at UC
Berkeley.
For "ethnographic" work on modern science, the many distinguished
science and engineering Departments at UCSD offer attractive possibilities
for research. In addition, the Salk Institute, the Supercomputer
Center, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and many biotechnology
laboratories are located on or near the UCSD campus.
The Program may award travel grants to students to enable them to
attend national meetings of the main societies for the science studies
disciplines (History of Science Society, Society for Social Studies
of Science, and the Philosophy of Science Association), particularly
if the student is delivering a paper. Grants may also be made toward
essential research expenses off campus (archival work, interviewing
scientists, etc.), and toward approved expenses connected with internships.
For further information on the Science Studies graduate program,
write, call, or e-mail:
Science Studies Program
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive #0104
La Jolla, CA 92093-0104
Telephone: (858) 534-0491
Fax: (858) 534 7283
E-mail: ssadmin@ucsd.edu
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