History of Science, Technology, & Medicine Minor

Please click here for the Graduate Program in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology

Introduction

Thank you for your interest in UCLA’s Minor in the History of Science and Medicine, based in the Department of History. If you wish to learn more about the minor, or if you would like to declare the minor, please email one the History Department Counselors at Undergrad@history.ucla.edu.

The Nature of the Subject

The minor in History of Science, Technology, and Medicine takes as its subject matter the ideas, practices, and people concerned with the knowledge of the natural and social world. Using the tools of historical analysis it explores the development, significance and impact of science, technology, and medicine around the world. The goal of the minor is to give undergraduates majoring in fields other than history the opportunity to pursue a rigorous program in the historical dimensions of science, technology, and medicine and their place in society. Students will learn to think critically and write analytically about these subjects.

The minor at UCLA aims to give undergraduates majoring in fields other than history the opportunity to pursue a rigorous program of analysis of the historical dimensions of science and medicine. For students thinking of pursuing a career in science or medicine, studying the historical and cultural embedding of scientific disciplines can contribute to students’ understanding of their undergraduate major field and of themselves as practitioners of science or medicine. For all students, studying the role of science and medicine in culture and society contributes to the ability to think critically about how science does and should function.

Organization of the Minor

Requirements for the minor include two lower-division and five upper-division courses.

The History of Science, Technology, Medicine Minor Checklist

The lower-division requirement is designed to give the student a broad base in time and space for understanding the development of science and medicine, while still allowing some choice of topics. Some students might have a particular interest in the ideas and techniques of physics and mathematics; others might be more drawn towards medicine and its social interactions. These courses are medium-sized lecture classes with discussion sections led by TAs. Students in good academic standing (2.0 grade-point average), who have completed 45 units, may declare the minor anytime after they have completed one of the lower-division courses. Please note that all lower-division courses that can count for the minor also carry GE credit in Social Sciences C1 (Historical Analysis), or Social Sciences C2 (Social Analysis), or Humanities. It is thus possible for a student to satisfy the requirement of two lower-division courses for the minor, and also have these courses count as two courses to satisfy GE requirements.

The upper-division requirement of five courses allows students to choose from an array of more focused classes. These courses are usually smaller, with 10 – 45 students. In upper-division history classes, students may give oral reports, engage in the discussion and analysis of historical scholarship, and do individual research projects. Some of these classes will be seminars, limited in enrollment to 15 and usually requiring a longer research paper or interpretive essay. Students in the minor are required to take one such course with a research paper as a way of refining critical skills and developing talents of analysis and argument. Alternatively, the research paper may, with the approval of History Department undergraduate advisor, or the appropriate faculty member in the course, be written in conjunction with an upper-division lecture class or an independent study course (History 199). In addition to the extensive resources of the Young Research Library, students carrying out such research can draw on the world-class holdings of rare books and first editions in the History and Special Collections Division of the Biomedical Library.

Catalog Description

The Minor in History of Science, Technology, & Medicine

Students must take seven classes to satisfy requirements for the minor. The lower-division requirement is designed to give the student a broad understanding (in time and space) of the historical development of science, technology, and medicine. The upper-division requirement allows students to choose from an array of more focused classes.

To enter the minor, students must be in good academic standing (2.0 grade-point average), have completed 45 units and at least one lower division course in the history of science, technology, and medicine for a letter grade, and email the History Department undergraduate counseling office at undergrad@history.ucla.edu with your name and UID.

Lower-division requirement: 2 courses (10 units) from among the following:

History 2B. Social Knowledge and Social Power
History 3A. Introduction to the History of Science: The Scientific Revolution
History 3B. Introduction to the History of Science: Science from Newton to Darwin
History 3C. Introduction to the History of Science: Science Since 1870
History 3D. The History of Medicine

Upper-division requirements: 5 courses from among the following:

Any course in the sequence History 179A-C, 180A-C and 187I or 191I
Any upper division Honors Collegium course with history of science or history of medicine content

Students may also petition to have other relevant courses, including those from other departments, applied toward the upper-division requirements of the minor.

At least one of the upper-division courses, to be selected and approved in consultation with the undergraduate advisor for the minor, must involve writing a research or interpretative paper of significant length and intellectual content.

Only one course applied toward the student’s major may also be applied toward this minor. One course may be taken P/NP; the others must be taken for letter grades, with an overall C (2.0) average or better. Transfer credit for courses may be subject to departmental approval. Successful completion of the minor is indicated on the transcript and diploma.

Faculty

The faculty teaching in the minor is one of international distinction. The core members of the group, who offer more than one course in the history of science and medicine per year, are designated in the following list with * . The list also contains a brief description of each faculty member’s research interests.

Amir Alexander (History, Adjunct Associate Professor): cultural history of mathematics, early modern science, religion and science
Soraya de Chadarevian* (History, Professor): history of the biological and biomedical sciences in the 20th century; material and visual practices; biology in the nuclear age
Elizabeth O’Brien, Assistant Professor
eobrien@history.ucla.edu
Bharat Venkat (Department Institute for Society and Genetics) Ph.D., Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 2014. Cultural Anthropology; bvenkat@ucla.edu.

This permanent faculty is also frequently supplemented by visiting scholars who teach courses within the minor.

Additional History of Science, Technology, & Medicine Resources

The group of historians of science and medicine at UCLA brings guest speakers to campus for lectures and symposia on a regular basis. The History of Science Colloquium takes place most Monday afternoons and the UCLA Program in Medical Classics hosts well-known speakers on a variety of medically related topics once a month. The Southern California Colloquium in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology, sponsors occasional all-day conferences on special themes. Undergraduates who are minoring in the history of science and medicine are welcome to attend these events.

In addition, the History Department offers the Franklin D. Murphy, M.D. Prize for the best undergraduate paper related to the history of medicine.