Minor in STEM in Society (CHSS)

Catalog Year: 2023-2024

Banner Code: LA-MINOR-HIST-STEM

The STEM in Society minor develops strategic and critical thinking capabilities to better understand how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as medicine, impact the human experience - past, present, and future. It provides a broad perspective of the STEM fields, to include how advances are developed, how they fit into the wider context of society and culture, and how historical contexts have in turn shaped advances in these fields. 

The skills and competencies gained from this minor are useful to those seeking work in the tech and health care industries, as well as fields like international development and public policy or in non-profits, the government, or think tanks.

The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on program requirements and courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes. Requirements may be different for earlier catalog years. See the University Catalog archives.

Minor Requirements

Total credits: 15

Required Course

HIST 315 STEM and Society: A History (Mason Core) 3
Total Credits 3

Electives

Select 12 credits from any of the following courses 12
Historical  
Biology and Society (Mason Core)  
Great Ideas in Science (Mason Core)  
Freshman/Sophomore Seminar in Global History  
History of Aviation  
The Digital Past (Mason Core)  
Medicine and Health  
Humans, Disease, and Death (Mason Core)  
Scientific Racism and Human Variation  
Medical Anthropology  
Global Health (Mason Core)  
Health and Environment  
Social Determinants of Health  
Social Determinants of Health
Global Health and Development  
Ethical Issues in Global Health  
Environment  
Environment and Culture  
Environmental Engineering around the World (Mason Core)  
Global Warming: Weather, Climate, and Society (Mason Core)  
Politics of Climate Change Governance  
Geographic Approaches for Sustainable Development  
Global Environmental Ethics (Mason Core)  
Science and Technology  
Zombies  
Work, Technology, and Society: An IT Perspective (Mason Core)  
Problem Solving and Leadership in STEAM  
Science in the News (Mason Core)  
Digital Futures  
IT in the Global Economy  
How Science Works (Mason Core)  
Philosophy of the Natural Sciences  
Topics in Philosophy of Technology  
The Darwinian Revolution in Modern Thought  
Big Data, Technology, and Society  
Policy  
Introduction to Environmental Policy  
Energy Policy  
Global Nutrition and Food Security  
Nutrition Policy  
Intellectual Property, Regulatory Concepts and Product Development  
Special Topics Courses (with permission of minor director when topic is related to STEM in Society)  
Issues in Anthropology: Social Sciences (Mason Core)  
Issues in Anthropology  
Special Topics in Engineering  
Special Topics in Global and Community Health  
Global Affairs Capstone (Mason Core)  
Topics in Global Affairs  
Topics in Global History (Mason Core)  
Special Topics  
Special Topics  
Nutrition and Food Studies Capstone  
Special Topics in Sociology  
Total Credits 12