Mar 29, 2024  
Undergraduate Record 2005-2006 
    
Undergraduate Record 2005-2006 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

Minors in Science, Technology, and Society


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Minor in Engineering Business


This minor offers engineering students the opportunity to study how technology and business interact. Through coursework in Commerce and Economics, students gain an overview of business enterprise and study how new products are developed and marketed. In contrast to the STP minor, which explores the role of technology in the larger realms of policy-making and political economy, the engineering business minor focuses on decision-making within a company or organization. Overall, the minor serves to develop the student’s potential as a leader and decision-maker in technology-driven industries.

Requirements


The six-course minor requires COMM 180, ECON 201, and TMP 351. The other three courses are selected from a list of electives available from the course coordinator or in A122 Thornton Hall. The program is administered by a coordinator and committee appointed by the dean of the school. For further information, contact the EB Minor Coordinator, Department of Science, Technology, and Society, Thornton Hall, P.O. Box 400744, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4744; (434) 924-6113.

Minor in the History of Science and Technology


In conjunction with the History Department, the Department of Science, Technology, and Society offers a minor in the history of technology and science. Open to all undergraduates, this minor provides students with an opportunity to become familiar with humanistic perspectives of technology and science. For the engineering student, the minor offers an occasion for placing his or her professional education in a larger social and intellectual context; likewise, it provides the liberal arts student with a better understanding of science and technology as key components in human culture.

Requirements


The minor consists of 18 credits. College students may include the non-College courses as general electives upon completion of the requirements for the minor. The list of eligible courses and requirements can be obtained from the HST Minor Coordinator, Department of Science, Technology, and Society, Thornton Hall, P.O. Box 400744, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4744; (434) 924-6113.

Minor in Science and Technology Policy


Science, technology, engineering, and government are intertwined. Federal, state, local, and foreign governments shape science and technology in a variety of ways, including through grants, contracts, regulations, and foreign policy. Science and engineering reshape governments in turn by supplying tools and expertise and, indirectly, by transforming social and economic structures.

This minor equips students with the basic skills to understand those interactions. Along with two courses in politics and economics, all students take a course in science and technology policy designed for this minor. Three electives—from fields such as history, philosophy, and planning as well as politics and economics—deepen and broaden students’ education.

Students completing this minor will gain a deeper understanding of the interdependence of science, technology, engineering, and policy. They will also prepare themselves to lead organizations inside and outside of government, including those in industry, consulting, law, and medicine.

Students interested in this minor should contact the Science, Technology, and Society Department in Thornton A-237.

Minor in Technology and the Environment


The increasing prevalence of technology has affected the environment in complex and often unforeseen ways. Society is now demanding that all disciplines of engineering be environmentally aware. Furthermore, those that use and distribute technology need to appreciate its far-ranging impacts. For a more sophisticated understanding of the relationships between technology and the environment, engineers, managers, and historians require interdisciplinary expertise.

This minor, open to all undergraduates, addresses these concerns with an interdisciplinary course of studies. A cornerstone of the minor is a basic knowledge of the technologies that directly impact environmental systems. This technological foundation allows students to build a more sophisticated understanding of how technology and the environment are interrelated. In addition to the technological courses, complementary interdisciplinary courses are selected to complete the minor.

Requirements


The minor consists of six courses (18 credits), with no more than two courses taken in the student’s major department. Each student must complete at least two courses related to environmental technology, including either CE 205 or EVSC 148. In addition, each student must choose an emphasis by completing at least three courses in one of three areas: environmental planning and policy, history of technology and the environment, or management and economics. A full description of suitable course work for this minor is available from the TE Minor Coordinator, Department of Science, Technology, and Society, Thornton Hall, P.O. Box 400744, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4744; (434) 924-6375.

Science and Technology Policy Internships


Second- and third-year undergraduates in SEAS are eligible to participate in the school’s Washington, D.C., Internship Program in Science and Technology Policy. The program places interns in executive agencies on Capitol Hill and in think tanks to work on science and technology policy for about 10 weeks each summer. Admission is competitive and takes place during fall term. Those selected take a preparatory course during spring term. The program provides shared dormitory housing and a stipend during the summer. In Washington, the program merges with a similar endeavor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Interns from the two schools share dormitory rooms, attend a speaker series, carry out service projects, and socialize together.

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