Courses, 2012 - 2013
Primarily for Undergraduates
*History of Science 91r. Supervised Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 1238
Anne Harrington and members of the Department
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Programs of directed reading and research to be conducted by a person approved by the Department.
*History of Science 97. Tutorial — Sophomore Year
Catalog Number: 5235
Anne Harrington
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Sophomore tutorial is a hands-on course that introduces students to some of the most exciting and productive questions in the history of science, technology and medicine, while developing critical reading, presentation and discussion skills. Small groups of students will tackle different aspects of a larger theme each week and share discoveries in sessions led by the faculty instructor. The course will be further enhanced by a series of supervised individual projects.
Note: Required for undergraduate concentration in History and Science. Students must register for one plenary class session that meets on Mondays from 12:00-1:30 or 3:00-4:30, as well as a weekly section to be arranged.
*History of Science 98. Tutorial — Junior Year
Catalog Number: 1120
Alex Csiszar
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This one-semester junior tutorial is a research-oriented tutorial taken in small groups. Focuses on enhancing research and writing skills through the completion of a directed research paper on subject matter of the student’s interest. Must be taken during the fall semester (except for students not in residence).
*History of Science 99a. Tutorial — Senior Year
Catalog Number: 6619
Christopher James Phillips
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Faculty-led seminar and intensive work with an individual advisor, directed towards production of the senior honors thesis.
Note: Students are expected to complete a thesis or submit a research paper or other approved project in order to receive course credit. This course must be taken Sat/Unsat.
*History of Science 99b. Tutorial — Senior Year - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 22497
Christopher James Phillips
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Faculty-led seminar and intensive work with an individual advisor, directed towards production of the senior honors thesis.
Note: Students are expected to complete a thesis or submit a research paper or other approved project in order to receive course credit. This course must be taken Sat/Unsat.
Cross-listed Courses
[Culture and Belief 11. Medicine and the Body in East Asia and in Europe]
Culture and Belief 20 (formerly Historical Study A-27). Reason and Faith in the West
[Culture and Belief 34 (formerly Historical Study A-87). Madness and Medicine: Themes in the History of Psychiatry]
[Culture and Belief 47 (formerly Historical Study B-45). The Darwinian Revolution]
Environmental Science and Public Policy 78. Environmental Politics
Ethical Reasoning 33. Medical Ethics and History - (New Course)
*Freshman Seminar 44t. The Atomic Bomb in History and Culture
Science of Living Systems 12. Understanding Darwinism
[Science of the Physical Universe 17 (formerly Science A-41). The Einstein Revolution]
[United States in the World 13 (formerly Historical Study A-34). Medicine and Society in America]
For Undergraduates and Graduates
History of Science 100. Knowing the World: An Introduction to the History of Science
Catalog Number: 0905
Alex Csiszar
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 13
What are the origins of modern science and of the scientific method? Have the ways of knowing the world of different cultures and societies changed over time? How has scientific knowledge been related to other enterprises such as art, religion, literature, and commerce? We will ask these questions and more through a broad survey of many of the crucial moments in the development of science from the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century to the present day. Topics and figures will include Galileo, evolution, eugenics, the atomic bomb, and the human genome project.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Culture and Belief or the Core area requirement for Historical Study A. This course fulfills the requirement that one of the eight General Education courses also engage substantially with Study of the Past.
[History of Science 101. Knowledge on the Move: Cultures of Science in the Medieval World]
Catalog Number: 54617
Katharine Park and Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 12. EXAM GROUP: 5
Explores the development of scientific ideas and practices in the medieval Middle East and Western Europe, focusing on the circulation of texts, people, and objects. Special attention to religious, intellectual, social, and institutional contexts.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3340.
[History of Science 106. History of Ancient Science]
Catalog Number: 3958
Mark Schiefsky
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 13
An examination of key aspects and issues in the development of ancient science, focusing on natural philosophy from the Presocratics to Aristotle as well as its relation to early Greek medicine and mathematics. Some consideration will also be given to the historiography of natural philosophy within this period.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
History of Science 108. Bodies, Sexualities, and Medicine in the Medieval Middle East
Catalog Number: 81052
Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
This course will examine the ways in which medical, religious, cultural, and political discourses and practices interacted in the medieval and early modern Middle East to create and reflect multiple understandings of human bodies and sexualities. Special attention to debates on health, sexuality, and gender and racial identities.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3587. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Historical Study B.
[History of Science 111. Two Scientific Revolutions: From the Classical Age of Islamic Sciences to the Scientific World of Early Modern Europe]
Catalog Number: 96159
Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
Explores the emergence and consolidation in the Islamic Middle East of a new science and philosophy constructed in part out of Persian and Greek materials; the consolidation and development of this science in an Islamic context; and its connections with novel developments in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century European science. Attention to cultural context, including imperial projects, societal transformation, and religious worldviews.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Historical Study B.
[History of Science 112. Health, Medicine and Healing in Medieval and Renaissance Europe]
Catalog Number: 8576
Katharine Park
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
A survey of medical theory, organization, and practice in the broader context of healing, including magical and religious healing. Topics include the construction of medical authority and expertise, the play of sex and gender among healers and patients, the rise of hospitals, and responses to "new" diseases such as syphilis and plague.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Historical Study B.
History of Science 113. Crusades, Plagues and Hospitals: Medicine and Society in the Islamic Middle Ages
Catalog Number: 59744
Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School)
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
Surveys the recasting of Islamic medical practices, traditions, and institutions in response to the many health challenges of the turbulent Middle Ages, from the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries, including wars, invasions, and epidemics.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Historical Study B.
History of Science 116v. The Worlds of Galileo - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 37703
Bruce Moran
Half course (fall term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
An exploration of Galileo’s life and works through his own writings and those of his modern interpreters. Topics include astronomical discoveries, religious debates, social and personal contexts.
*History of Science 118. Instruments and the Material Culture of Science in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800 - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 79069 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Jean-francois Gauvin
Half course (fall term). W., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
What is an instrument? Can there be more than one definition? What, if any, is the epistemological difference between Galileo’s telescope and rolling balls? Between Newton’s prisms, Hooke’s microscope, and Réaumur’s thermometer? This course looks at three centuries of science and particularly at its material culture. What makes an “instrument” a “scientific” instrument? Are all instruments “scientific”? How does an object become a scientific instrument? What are the relationships between theory and instruments? Readings and discussion, though at the core of the course, will be supplemented with visits in other Harvard museums and hands-on classes using the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.
History of Science 125. "Moneyball" Nation: Science and the Making of Modern America - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 49441
Christopher James Phillips
Half course (spring term). M., W., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
From selecting a leadoff hitter to conducting randomized clinical trials, decisions and evaluations are increasingly made using mathematical concepts and models. This course surveys the development of--and resistance to--such tools by grounding them in the recent cultural history of the United States. Using sources both scientific and popular, students will explore how and why Americans have come to believe mathematics solves complicated problems, even in seemingly unrelated moral, political, and social domains.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Empirical and Mathematical Reasoning or the Core area requirement for Quantitative Reasoning.
[History of Science 127. The Making of a Scientist]
Catalog Number: 66306
Christopher James Phillips
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
How does one become a scientist in the modern world? What are the conventions of scientific practice and how are they mastered? This course explores training in the sciences by combining an historical examination of key pedagogical sites and episodes with a study of Harvard’s own undergraduate program of science education. By looking at the tools, theories, and practices involved in the formation of scientists, we explore the nature of the scientific enterprise and of the intellectual and moral shaping of the men and women who participate in it.
[*History of Science 134. Nature on Display: Conference Course]
Catalog Number: 4987 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Janet Browne
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4.
This conference course is run as an advanced seminar for undergraduates. We explore the way that living beings were collected, displayed, and discussed, from the 18th century to today. This means we look carefully at the different places in which natural history could be encountered in the past, such as museums, zoos, botanical gardens, marine stations, parks, and reserves, circuses and shows. It offers an opportunity to engage with some current issues in historical research, notably popular science and the material culture and ’spaces’ of science. The course hopes to enlarge your understanding of the complex relations between display, entertainment, and knowledge. A visit to the Museum of Comparative Zoology is an integral part of our studies.
Note: Expected to be given in 2014–15.
History of Science 135. From Darwin to Dolly: A History of the Modern Life Sciences - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 58347
Sophia Roosth
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 13
This course surveys the history of modern biology, from the nineteenth century to now. Drawing on primary sources in biology, as well as readings from historians and anthropologists of science, students will be introduced to major themes and questions in the history of the modern life sciences. Topics include theories of natural selection, genetics, eugenics, genomics, ecology, molecular biology, artificial life, and biotechnology. Students will explore questions such as: what has “life” meant at different historical moments? What approaches have life scientists taken to investigating life — from cataloging to experimenting to making new living things? How have notions of “diversity” shaped biology, from Enlightenment taxonomies of nature to modern-day efforts at conserving biodiversity?
History of Science 136. History of Biotechnology
Catalog Number: 58601
Sophia Roosth
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 13
What becomes of life when researchers can materially manipulate and technically transform living things? This course historically investigates biotechnology in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, paying attention to how efforts to engineer life are grounded in social, cultural, and political contexts. Topics include reproductive technologies, genetic engineering and cloning, synthetic biology and bioinformatics, stem cells, intellectual property, and biosafety and biosecurity. Students will explore themes of ownership, personhood, biocitizenship, and biocapital by reading and discussing historical and anthropological accounts of biotechnology, as well as primary scientific publications, science fiction, and legal cases.
[History of Science 138. Sex, Gender, and Evolution]
Catalog Number: 30321
Sarah S. Richardson
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 12
Evolutionary theories of sex and gender and central controversies in human evolutionary biology from Darwin to the present. Topics include debates over the theory of sexual selection and the evolutionary basis of monogamy, sexual preference, physical attraction, rape, maternal instinct, and sex differences in cognition. Readings: primary texts and historical, philosophical, and feminist analyses.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
[History of Science 139. The Postgenomic Moment]
Catalog Number: 81843
Sarah S. Richardson
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Joining "postgenomic" assessments of the genome projects, this seminar examines the history and contemporary practice of genomics from a multidisciplinary perspective. Topics include the role of technology, government funding, private industry, and race, gender, and nationality in the historical development of genomics, the ways in which genomic research challenges traditional conceptions of biology and science, and the implications of emerging trends such as direct-to-consumer genomics and whole-genome sequencing.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
History of Science 142. History and Politics of the American Obesity Epidemic - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 27547
Chin Jou
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
Obesity has become a leading public health concern in the industrialized West (and increasingly in other parts of the world). Rates of obesity in the United States have doubled in adults and tripled in children since 1980. How did this happen? And why is the obesity epidemic controversial? What does looking at the history and politics of the obesity epidemic reveal about broader issues of health and society throughout the twentieth-century United States? This course will illuminate these questions as we survey the trajectory of obesity from many dimensions since the beginning of the twentieth century.
History of Science 146. Introduction to Women’s Bodies in Medicine - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 57761
Chin Jou
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
This course examines: 1) the evolution of medical and scientific discourse on women’s bodies, and the social and political developments that have informed those discussions; 2) the ways in which classifications and diagnoses of various pathologies have been gendered; and 3) the surveillance of women’s bodies via various screening measures. Specific course topics include: the history of hysteria, eating disorders, women’s representation in clinical trials, the HPV vaccine, contraception, and cosmetic surgery.
History of Science 148. History of Global Health
Catalog Number: 21054
Aaron Pascal Mauck
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 12
A survey course exploring the interrelated histories of public health, international health, and global health from the 19th to the 21st centuries, with attention to the relationship between Western and non-Western forms of scientific practice and health systems. This course will trace the role of health and medicine in mediating the relationships between metropolis and colony, state and citizen, North and South, public welfare and private interest, research practices and human subjects, the commodification of health and the body, and human rights discourse. The course will be divided chronologically into four parts, tracing imperial health formations in the long 19th century, the nascent internationalism of the interwar period, the construction of bureaucracies of development in the postwar and postcolonial era, and configurations of public- and private-sector actors in late 20th and early 21st century global health practices.
Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Historical Study A.
[History of Science 150. History of the Human Sciences]
Catalog Number: 0135
Rebecca M. Lemov
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
Examination of the growth and development of social sciences such as sociology, anthropology, psychoanalysis, psychology, political science, and economics from the Enlightenment to the present. Innovators devised these fields to provide new, scientific ways to gain insight into age-old philosophical and religious questions, such as, What is the nature of the "self" or the "soul"? What binds human beings to one another? What is free will? What are the limits of social control, behavioral engineering, and the possible reach of techniques for adjustment and manipulation?
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
[*History of Science 152. Filming Science]
Catalog Number: 8254 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Peter L. Galison and Robb Moss
Half course (fall term). M., 1–3, W., 1–4. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7, 8
Examination of the theory and practice of capturing scientific practice on film. Topics will include fictional, documentary, informational, and instructional films and raise problems emerging from film theory, visual anthropology and science studies. Each student will make and edit short film(s) about laboratory, field, or theoretical scientific work.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
[History of Science 153. History of Dietetics]
Catalog Number: 1409 Enrollment: Limited to 35.
Steven Shapin
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
A survey of the relationships between medical expertise and human eating habits from Antiquity to the present, giving special attention to the links between practical and moral concerns and between expert knowledge and common sense.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
History of Science 157. Sociology of Science
Catalog Number: 2434
Steven Shapin
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
An introduction to a series of sociological topics concerning the scientific role, the scientific community, and scientific knowledge that are of special interest to historians. What are the social conditions for the institutionalization of science and for the support of the scientific role? What are the possibilities for a historical sociology of scientific knowledge? What social pressures have historically been exerted on our overall understanding of science and its relations with society?
[History of Science 162. Science in the Enlightenment]
Catalog Number: 7570
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (spring term). W., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
What is the relationship between science and the period commonly referred to as the Enlightenment (ca. 1685-1815)? We will examine scientific theory, experimentation, and observation in the multiple contexts of social, philosophical, intellectual, and material cultures of the Enlightenment in Europe and North America. The course will explore the connections between Enlightenment science, technology, and engineering with the Industrial Revolution, Newtonianism, and the eventual reactions to Enlightenment ideals of reason and rationality.
Note: Expected to be given in 2014–15.
[History of Science 164. Sense and Scientific Sensibility: Beyond Vision, From the Scientific Revolution to Now]
Catalog Number: 35633
Sophia Roosth
Half course (fall term). M., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Scientific inquiry is often considered an endeavor pursued using one’s sense of vision: scientists peer into microscopes and telescopes, and stare at graphs, diagrams, and computer screens. But on what other senses do scientists rely? Do they also gather data using senses of hearing, smell, taste, and touch? How are the senses technologically mediated, and how do researchers evaluate sensory evidence? To address such questions, this course combines readings in the history and anthropology of science with classic primary sources.
Note: Expected to be given in 2014–15.
[History of Science 165. The Scientific Revolution]
Catalog Number: 71921 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Alex Csiszar
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4.
When, where, and how did modern science come into being? Many historians and philosophers have looked to Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries to answer these questions. What it meant to learn about the natural world, even what nature was understood to be, underwent so many radical changes during this period that it became known as the Scientific Revolution. This seminar will examine the diverse meanings that have been given to this revolution. Topics will include the experimental method, the nature of belief, the role of communications media, instruments, gender, and natural history. There will be several opportunities for hands-on work with instruments, books, and prints housed in the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Houghton Library, and the Sackler Museum.
Note: Expected to be given in 2014–15.
History of Science 166. "What is Enlightenment?": Science, Religion, and the Making of Modernity - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 83424
Soha Hassan Bayoumi
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
From Immanuel Kant’s answer to this question in 1784 to Michel Foucault’s engagement with the same question and answer in 1984, two centuries had passed and a lot of water had flown under the bridge. From the inception of its ideals in the Anglo-Saxon world in the seventeenth century at the hands of Spinoza, John Locke and Isaac Newton, to its development in France in the eighteenth century by Voltaire, Montesquieu and Rousseau and culmination with the writings of Immanuel Kant, the Enlightenment developed into an important intellectual movement which helped shape modernity and its repercussions in the contemporary world. This course will trace the history of Enlightenment in primary sources, enriched by a collection of secondary readings, and will explore contemporary reflections on Enlightenment from various schools of thought ranging from Marxism to feminism and from postmodernism to conservatism. The course will address the themes of reason and rationality, science and knowledge, religion and religious institutions, tolerance and intolerance, ethics and morality.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3302.
History of Science 174. Critical Experiments in the Human Sciences
Catalog Number: 1750
Rebecca M. Lemov
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
This course focuses on high-impact experiments - among them, the Milgram "Obedience" experiments and the Stanford Prison Experiment - carried out in the twentieth-century human sciences by anthropologists, sociologists, social psychologists, and/or experimental psychologists. Many dreamed of a "technology of human behavior" and conducted experiments toward this end. What were the results, and how do they continue to affect our thinking and daily lives today?
[History of Science 176. Brainwashing and Modern Techniques of Mind Control]
Catalog Number: 76277
Rebecca M. Lemov
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 3
This course examines the phenomenon of "brainwashing" as a modern set of techniques that can apparently force a subject radically to alter her beliefs against her will. The Cold War roots of ’brainwashing’ - both the myth and the reality -- lie in the politics of twentieth-century anti-Communism and the deeper fear that people’s most strongly held thoughts, ideas, and ideological commitments could be vulnerable to powerful infiltration. In order to understand the dynamics of this process we will examine case studies beginning with the Korean War-era emergence of the term ’brainwashing’, the American interdisciplinary science of "coercive persuasion" that arose in response, and successive waves of technological, political, and sociocultural developments. We will also look at how brainwashing and analogous persuasive techniques may operate among larger groups, crowds, organizations, and mass societies.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
History of Science 180. Science, Technology, and Society in Modern East Asia
Catalog Number: 5317
Dong Won Kim
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 10. EXAM GROUP: 12
This course aims to survey the history of science and technology in East Asian countries—China, Japan and Korea—since the late 19th century. It will emphasize the mutual influence between science & technology and society to answer how they become major industrial powers in the 21st century.
[History of Science 183. Democracy and Technology]
Catalog Number: 47674
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
What is the relationship between technology and politics in global democracies? This course explores various forms of technology, its artifacts and experts in relation to government and political decision-making. Does technology "rule" or "run" society, or, should it? How do democratic societies balance the need for specialized technological expertise with rule by elected representatives? Topics will include: industrial revolutions, factory production and consumer society, technological utopias, the Cold War, state policy, colonial and post-colonial rule, and engineers’ political visions.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
History of Science 185 (formerly History of Science 282). Communicating Science: From Print Culture to Cybersocieties
Catalog Number: 20399 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Alex Csiszar
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Science doesn’t just happen in the lab. Scientific results have to be communicated among scientists, and to the public. This course investigates the ways in which scientific knowledge circulates, and pays special attention to how new communications media have shaped knowledge-in-the-making. Topics will include the history of scientific genres (letters, encyclopedias, periodicals), popular science, peer review, intellectual property, and new information technologies. Selected classes will take place in Houghton Library.
[History of Science 186. Technology in the Social World]
Catalog Number: 2147
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4
What role does technology play in the social world? This course explores a variety technological systems in social and historical contexts in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia between 1300 and 2010. Topics include warfare, agriculture, communication technologies, transportation, consumerism, urbanization, and colonization. Special emphasis on the interrelations between technological artifacts and other forms of "cultural production" such as government, commerce, philosophy, and art.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
[History of Science 190. Science Facts and Science Fictions]
Catalog Number: 28387
Sophia Roosth
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11.
This course uses science fiction as a lens through which to view the history of science and technology. By reading sci-fi literature (including novels and short stories by Shelley, Wells, Verne, and Butler, as well as more recent works by Heinlein, Asimov, Le Guin, Gibson, and Atwood) and viewing sci-fi films, this course asks how science is fictionalized, and what such representations tell us about science as an enterprise that melds present contexts with futurism and fantasy. Topics include: time travel, utopias and dystopias, other worlds, artificial intelligence, robotics, alien life.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
*History of Science 193. History and Technology of Food Production in Modern America - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 42654 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Chin Jou
Half course (fall term). Th., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 18
For much of the twentieth century, America has enjoyed a secure, reliable food supply. To be sure, Americans’ access to food and the quality of the food they consume vary widely. But food is generally available. Whether found in supermarkets, farmer’s markets, convenience stores, or restaurants of every variety, there is an abundance of food and a surfeit of choices. How did this come to be? How did high-yield agriculture develop? How did processed foods find their way to store shelves? To illuminate these questions and more, we will examine the history, technology, and politics of agricultural production throughout the twentieth century. We will also consider contemporary food production practices and ethical dilemmas about how food is produced. Course readings will cover how food has been cultivated, manufactured, and distributed, as well as the human labor behind some of these production stages.
History of Science 196. Justice in Health: Ethics of Public Health in the Contemporary World - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 92662
Soha Hassan Bayoumi
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Public health is distinctly political. It is a field where moral and political philosophy play a significant role. Contemporary political debates on justice have very often brought up questions of public health and what justice in health means. This course will address central issues in what is often called philosophy of healthcare, investigating how some fundamental questions in this field have been answered and attempting to explore alternative answers to them. These questions include the following: What is health? What is healthcare? Does health enjoy a special moral importance? What is it? Who requires and/or deserves healthcare? Is access to healthcare a fundamental human right? The course will also address some controversial moral and political philosophical questions related to health insurance, reproductive rights and euthanasia.
History of Science 197. Nature, Environment, and the Understanding of Space - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 69934
Jeanne Marie Haffner
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Investigations of the natural world have focused on different concepts at different historical moments. In America, for instance, the notion of "wilderness" was most prevalent in the late-nineteenth century; that of "environment" became central in the twentieth; and, from the postwar era to the present, analyses of the inextricability of spatial form and social organization have dominated scholarship and social activism alike. The aim of this seminar is to examine these shifts, exploring how they were employed within particular historical contexts, and to assess their implications for the past, present, and future of environmental movements in Europe and America.
Cross-listed Courses
Classical Studies 165. Medicine in the Greco-Roman World
[History 1345. The Human Sciences in the Modern West]
[History 1702 (formerly History 1923). Violence, Substances and Mental Illness: African Perspectives: Conference Course]
*MCB 142. Major Advances in Classical and Molecular Genetics
[Sociology 160. Medicine, Health Policy and Bioethics in Comparative and Global Perspective: Conference Course]
Sociology 180. Law, Science, and Society in America - (New Course)
Sociology 190. Life and Death in the US: Medicine and Disease in Social Context
Primarily for Graduates
*History of Science 200. Knowing the World: Studying the History of Science
Catalog Number: 11825
Alex Csiszar
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
This is the graduate section to History of Science 100, Knowing the World: An Introduction to the History of Science.
[*History of Science 206r. Physical Atomism in Antiquity: Epicurus and Lucretius: Seminar ]
Catalog Number: 2410
Mark Schiefsky
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Reading of Epicurus’ Letter to Herodotus in Book X of Diogemes Laertius, together with Epicurean atomism in Lucretius’ De rerum natura and its criticism in other ancient sources. All readings in translation.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
History of Science 209. Science, Religion and Culture: Debates, Methods and Controversies
Catalog Number: 74851
Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School)
Half course (fall term). W., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
Critical examination of different methods and theories in history and philosophy of science and STS (Science, Technology and Society studies) along with discussions of a number of tools in the study and history of culture and religion and how they can be utilized in the study of science and religion; away from the conflict/reconciliation paradigms and towards examining the perceived relations and exchanges of science and religion through analyzing paradigms, discourses, traditions and authorities. The course can serve as a methodological introduction to history and philosophy of science and STS. The course is a research workshop with a focus on training and professionalization and an emphasis on methods tools in academic writing and research. Students work on specific projects throughout the semester from topic selection, question formation, to research and writing to produce a piece of academic writing such as research papers, conference papers, articles, book reviews, prospectus, syllabi, etc.
Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3341.
[History of Science 212. The Sciences of Life, Medicine and the Body in Medieval and Renaissance Europe]
Catalog Number: 0500
Katharine Park
Half course (fall term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Graduate colloquium for students preparing for general examinations in the fields covered by the course, as well as other students wishing to develop a comprehensive picture of the subject through extensive reading of secondary sources.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
[History of Science 215r. Science and Culture in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 4568
Katharine Park
Half course (fall term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
Topic for 2010-11: Utopia in the Age of the Scientific Revolution. Explores the relations between new forms of scientific knowledge and the new literary genre of the utopian fiction in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe, including works by More, Palissy, Brahe, Campanella, Bacon, Cavendish, and Fontenelle.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
Prerequisite: Some familiarity with the history of early modern European art or science and reading knowledge of at least one European language in addition to English.
History of Science 216v. Nature Beneath the Skin: Scientific Curiosity in Renaissance Europe - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 49773
Bruce Moran
Half course (spring term). Th., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
In the sixteenth century the study of the physical world increasingly focused upon hidden interiors - of bodies, of artifacts, of regions, and of natural objects. The seminar focuses on themes including rationalities of the body, secrets of nature, occult qualities, local and indigenous knowledge, new world interiors, and the architecture of constructed spaces.
History of Science 221. Einstein Reversed (Graduate Seminar in General Education) - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 21014
Peter L. Galison
Half course (spring term). Th., 12–2. EXAM GROUP: 14, 15
This course explores the history of physics and confronts issues of digital film and internet development, curriculum design, and IP issues. Students will produce films and develop a combination of scientific, social scientific, and humanistic assignments.
Note: The seminar will design and develop a General Education course on these themes for undergraduates.
[History of Science 223. History of the Exact Sciences: Trust, Skepticism, and Objectivity]
Catalog Number: 42293
Christopher James Phillips
Half course (fall term). M., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Mathematics is both a grounded cultural practice and a mechanism for creating seemingly timeless and place-less knowledge; over the last three centuries the discipline has become both highly esoteric and ubiquitous. This course explores these developments and tensions by examining the key moments in the history of the exact sciences.
[History of Science 238. Rethinking the Darwinian Revolution: Seminar]
Catalog Number: 9533
Janet Browne
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–4.
Taking Charles Darwin as a well-documented case study, we will explore the historiography of evolutionary ideas from 1900 on, covering the political , social, and scientific commitments involved in the concept of a "Darwinian Revolution."
Note: Expected to be given in 2014–15.
[History of Science 245. The Changing Concept of Race in Science and Medicine in the United States: From Jefferson to Genomics (Graduate Seminar in General Education)] - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 57429
Evelynn M. Hammonds
Half course (fall term). Th., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 18
This course explores the history of the concept of "race" as used by biologists, anthropologists, and physicians from the 17th century to the present and social and political responses to the concept of race in these fields.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14. The seminar will design and develop a General Education course on these themes for undergraduates.
*History of Science 246. History and Anthropology of Medicine and Biology - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 19559
David Shumway Jones
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Explores recent historical and anthropological approaches to the study of life in both medicine and biology. Topics include: natural history and medicine before the emergence of biology; the history of heredity and molecular biology; race and medicine in the colonies and the metropole; bioeconomic exchange; old and new forms of biopower at molecular, organismic, and global scales. The seminar trains students to engage in scholarly debates in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences about the nature of life, the body, and biomedicine. Co-taught with Professor Stefan Helmreich (MIT Anthropology); the class will meet at Harvard.
[History of Science 247. Current Issues in the History of Medicine: Seminar ]
Catalog Number: 28251
Allan M. Brandt
Half course (fall term). M., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
Explores new methods for understanding disease, medicine, and society, ranging from historical demography to cultural studies. Topics include patterns of health and disease, changes in medical science and clinical practice, the doctor-patient relationship, health care systems, alternative healing, and representations of the human body. The course will focus on historical problem-framing, research strategies, and writing.
Note: Expected to be given in 2014–15.
[History of Science 248. Ethics and Judgment in the History of Science and Medicine]
Catalog Number: 61433
David Shumway Jones
Half course (spring term). M., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
Examines the tensions felt by historians and physicians between historicizing past ethical behaviors and norms and wanting to pass judgment on past actors and actions. Topics include contested diseases, controversial therapies, and accusations of unethical research.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
*History of Science 250. Readings in Women’s Bodies in Medicine - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 72868
Chin Jou
Half course (spring term). Th., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 18
For graduate students and advanced undergraduates. Topics will be similar to those covered in History of Science 146, "Introduction to Women’s Bodies in Medicine," but with additional readings and a focus on historiography. Students will complete a 20-25 page paper based on original research.
[*History of Science 253. Bioethics, Law, and the Life Sciences ]
Catalog Number: 4500
Sheila Jasanoff
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30.
Seeks to identify and explore salient ethical, legal, and policy issues – and possible solutions – associated with developments in biotechnology and the life sciences.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14. Offered jointly with the Kennedy School as IGA-515. May not be taken for credit by students who have already taken IGA-515 (KSG).
*History of Science 259. The History of the History of Science
Catalog Number: 68494
Steven Shapin
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
A critical survey of conceptions of the history of science over the past hundred years or so and an interpretative engagement with why what’s been said about science and its history have mattered so much.
*History of Science 261. Ethnography of Science and Technology - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 21346
Sophia Roosth
Half course (fall term). W., 2–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
This course surveys monographs in the ethnography of science, both canonical and current. How have the methods and tools of the interpretive social sciences been applied to cultures of science and technology? What is the relation of description to analysis in ethnographies of science? How do such ethnographies approach theory-building and interpretation? Beginning with early work in the sociology of scientific knowledge and laboratory studies, students will read work in feminist science studies, field and environmental studies, multi-sited ethnography, sensory ethnography, and ethnographic accounts of digital worlds. Throughout, pressure will be placed on issues of method, style, and representation.
[History of Science 265. Science in/as/of Culture]
Catalog Number: 43494
Sophia Roosth
Half course (spring term). M., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
This seminar introduces students to Science and Technology Studies (STS), an interdisciplinary field seeking to understand the natural sciences as cultural and social practices. STS increasingly draws upon a diverse methodological and analytic toolkit: not only sociology, anthropology, and philosophy, but cultural studies, critical theory, gender, race, and postcolonial studies, and laboratory studies. Each unit in this course combines theories and methods in the social study of science with a series of cross-cutting themes including: proof, controversy, practice, actants and agency, post-humanism. Students will investigate the relation of STS to the History of Science and explore recent trends and theories in STS.
Note: Expected to be given in 2014–15.
[*History of Science 267. Science and Social Thought] - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 10653
Alex Csiszar and Sophia Roosth
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
How does social theory serve as a toolkit for historians and anthropologists of science? How can we appropriate, reinterpret, extend, or query theory in order to ground and drive our own analyses of scientific practice and culture? This course examines critical history and social theory and its impact on recent studies of science, technology, and medicine. Each unit pairs theoretical and methodological texts with empirical studies in history and ethnography of science that apply those theories. Students will be introduced to classic texts in social and critical theory, including Marx, Weber, Geertz, Foucault, Derrida, and White. Weekly discussion focuses on the relation of empiricism to theory, encouraging students to read theory as a means of generating their own understandings of science and technology.
[History of Science 270. Sciences of the Self]
Catalog Number: 58523
Rebecca M. Lemov
Half course (spring term). Th., 12–2. EXAM GROUP: 14, 15
How social, human and behavioral scientists pursued a science of the self from French-revolution-era theories of the "bourgeois self" to Freud’s insights about hysterics to mid-twentieth-century American theories of "personality" to biological and computational models of the late-twentieth century (e.g., the "quantified self" movement). What is the relationship of self to soul and self to society? Some attention to the historiography of the psychological and social sciences will also be given.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
History of Science 271. Self as Data - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 72536
Rebecca M. Lemov
Half course (fall term). Th., 10–12. EXAM GROUP: 14, 15
Many scholars have considered how the modern self became an object of expert knowledge, scientific experimentation, and institutional discipline. This seminar focuses on cases, past and present, in which individuals treat their own habits, bodies, moods, and thoughts as objects of scrutiny, analysis, and intervention. Ranging from 19th century diary writing and the Buckminster Fuller Chronofiles to contemporary diet techniques, Benjamin Franklin’s self-monitoring practices to the Quantified Self movement’s digital data collection apps, the seminar explores what shifting modes of self-tracking, self-care, and self-governance reveal about changing understandings of the self, and how they remake subjectivity.
Note: This course will be co-taught with Prof. Natasha Schull (MIT Program in Science, Technology, and Society).
*History of Science 274v. Topics in the History of Psychoanalysis - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 87975
Elizabeth Lunbeck
Half course (spring term). M., 12–2. EXAM GROUP: 5, 6
An introduction to issues and concepts in psychoanalysis, considered clinically in cultural, historical, and contemporary contexts. Major texts, figures, and controversies from Freud to the present. The course will focus on conceptualizations of theory creation and change, and on research and writing strategies.
*History of Science 285 (formerly *History of Science 285a). Science, Power and Politics I
Catalog Number: 5124
Sheila Jasanoff
Half course (fall term). W., 2:10–4. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
This seminar introduces students to the major contributions of the field of science and technology studies (STS) to the understanding of politics and policymaking in democratic societies.
Note: Offered jointly with the Kennedy School as IGA-513.
[History of Science 286. History of Technology: Reformation to the Present]
Catalog Number: 0767
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Survey of history of technology during early modern and modern periods in Europe, North America, and Asia. Readings include social and cultural histories of technology, classics in the theory of technological modernity, and primary sources.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
[History of Science 288. History and Philosophy of Technology]
Catalog Number: 6645
Adelheid Voskuhl
Half course (spring term). Th., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 18
Graduate-level seminar on classic and recent influential works in the history and philosophy of technology, covering the early modern, modern, and late modern periods; industrial-technological, information-technological, and bio-technological systems; as well as philosophical accounts from the analytical and the continental traditions. Literature covers authors such as Karl Marx, Martin Heidegger, Jurgen Habermas, Thomas Hughes, Donna Haraway, Donald MacKenzie, David Landes, Hayden White, Emily Thompson, and Ken Alder.
Note: Expected to be given in 2013–14.
History of Science 289. Entangled Objects: Or the Stuff of Science, Culture, and Society
Catalog Number: 84196 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Jean-francois Gauvin
Half course (spring term). W., 4–6. EXAM GROUP: 9
This course focuses on things: from the Indian sari to the iPod. Its aim is to look at objects from a variety of angles (science, anthropology, art, cultural studies) and to investigate what makes them such powerful anchors--actors--of our daily lives. The readings and discussions will provide a strong theoretical background to the final assignment: designing and mounting a temporary exhibit.
*History of Science 297. Digital Power, Digital Interpretation, Digital Making - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 67917
Peter L. Galison, Martha L. Minow (Law School), Jeffrey Schnapp, and Jonathan L. Zittrain
Half course (fall term). M., 1:10–3:10. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7, 8
Harvard is beginning a new initiative to explore the intersection of digital power, digital making and digital interpretation. This is a working seminar designed to explore these questions through a cluster of projects designed to cross theorizing with making. For example: What is the health of the internet and how could we construct ways to measure it? What might the next generation of digital humanities look like as it explores the crossover between digital and physical objects? How can digital filmmaking connect with new forms of interactive design and exhibition?
Note: Interested students must complete an application form, which can be found on the course website.
Cross-listed Courses
East Asian Film and Media Studies 200 (formerly East Asian Studies 200). The Uses and Meaning of the New Arts of Presentation
[History 2462. Readings in the U.S. in the 20th Century: Proseminar]
[Japanese History 260r. Topics in Japanese Cultural History]
[*Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality 2010. Science, Nature, and Gender (Graduate Seminar in General Education)]
Graduate Courses of Reading and Research
*History of Science 300. Direction of Doctoral Dissertations
Catalog Number: 3388
Allan M. Brandt 3031, Janet Browne 5511 (on leave 2012-13), Jimena Canales 5070, Alex Csiszar 2475, Peter L. Galison 3239, Jean-francois Gauvin 3205, Jeremy Alan Greene 6155, Evelynn M. Hammonds 4545, Anne Harrington 1895, Sheila Jasanoff (Kennedy School) 2248, David Shumway Jones 3111, Shigehisa Kuriyama 5269, Rebecca M. Lemov 5570, Katharine Park 2974 (on leave 2012-13),
Scott Harris Podolsky (Medical School) 6984,
Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School) 6263, Sarah S. Richardson 6730 (on leave 2012-13), Sophia Roosth 2722, Charles E. Rosenberg 3784, Mark Schiefsky 2354, Steven Shapin 3984, and Adelheid Voskuhl 5569 (on leave 2012-13)
Note: Under special circumstances arrangements may be made for other instruction in guidance for doctoral dissertations.
*History of Science 301. Reading and Research
Catalog Number: 5641
Allan M. Brandt 3031, Janet Browne 5511 (on leave 2012-13), Jimena Canales 5070, Alex Csiszar 2475, Peter L. Galison 3239, Jean-francois Gauvin 3205, Owen Gingerich 1159, Jeremy Alan Greene 6155, Evelynn M. Hammonds 4545, Anne Harrington 1895, Erwin N. Hiebert 1187, Gerald Holton 1883, Sheila Jasanoff (Kennedy School) 2248, David Shumway Jones 3111, Shigehisa Kuriyama 5269, Rebecca M. Lemov 5570, Everett I. Mendelsohn 2700, Martha L. Minow (Law School) 2617, Katharine Park 2974 (on leave 2012-13), Antoine Picon (Design School) 4295,
Scott Harris Podolsky (Medical School) 6984,
Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School) 6263, Sarah S. Richardson 6730 (on leave 2012-13), Sophia Roosth 2722, Charles E. Rosenberg 3784, Mark Schiefsky 2354, Steven Shapin 3984, and Adelheid Voskuhl 5569 (on leave 2012-13)
Individual work in preparation for the General Examination for the PhD degree.
*History of Science 302. Guided Research
Catalog Number: 5282
Allan M. Brandt 3031, Janet Browne 5511 (on leave 2012-13), Jimena Canales 5070, Alex Csiszar 2475, Peter L. Galison 3239, Jean-francois Gauvin 3205, Owen Gingerich 1159, Jeremy Alan Greene 6155, Evelynn M. Hammonds 4545, Anne Harrington 1895, Erwin N. Hiebert 1187, Gerald Holton 1883, Sheila Jasanoff (Kennedy School) 2248, David Shumway Jones 3111, Shigehisa Kuriyama 5269, Rebecca M. Lemov 5570, Everett I. Mendelsohn 2700, Martha L. Minow (Law School) 2617, Robb Moss 1392, Katharine Park 2974 (on leave 2012-13), Antoine Picon (Design School) 4295,
Scott Harris Podolsky (Medical School) 6984,
Ahmed Ragab (Divinity School) 6263, Sarah S. Richardson 6730 (on leave 2012-13), Sophia Roosth 2722, Charles E. Rosenberg 3784, Mark Schiefsky 2354, Steven Shapin 3984, and Adelheid Voskuhl 5569 (on leave 2012-13)
Through regular meetings with faculty advisor, each student will focus on research and writing with the purpose of developing a publishable research paper.
*History of Science 310hf (formerly *History of Science 310). History of Science Salon
Catalog Number: 1047
Anne Harrington 1895
Half course (throughout the year). Hours to be arranged.
What is history of science about as a discipline and profession? This half-course meets evenings throughout the academic year to introduce first-year graduate students to the range of debates, questions, and research practices currently shaping the field.
Note: The course is required for first year students in the PhD program and students in the AM program in the History of Science. For the purpose of degree requirements for these students, HS 310 fulfills the HS 201 requirement, as HS 201 has been withdrawn.
