Mar 28, 2024  
Undergraduate Record 2007-2008 
    
Undergraduate Record 2007-2008 [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, economics, and other disciplines, students gain an overview of business enterprise and study the ways in which firms use technology to gain competitive advantage. 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.  It requires 18 credits.  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.

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.

For more information on the program, see its website at http://www.student.virginia.edu/~ecouncil/wip/default.html

You can contact the director at Washington Internship Program
Department of Science, Technology, and Society
Thornton A-237
School of Engineering and Applied Science
University of Virginia
PO Box 400744
Charlottesville, Virginia, 22904-4744
434-982-2623

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