Summer II (July 1 – Aug 1, 2019): Online

This is an accelerated 4.5-week online summer course. Students will study the history of science in modern society, from the scientific revolution to the present.

The course is divided in five units in line with our textbook:

Unit 1: Scientific Revolution: Contested Territory
Unit 2: The Enlightenment & Enterprise/Science & Empire
Unit 3: Entering the Atomic Age/Science & War
Unit 4: The Death of Certainty/The Year Earth Became a Planet
Unit 5: Man on the Moon, Microwave in the Kitchen/New Frontiers

In addition, students will watch films each week pertaining to what they are reading in the textbook. As they read the textbook, online quizzes help you situate the scientific ideas and technologies being studied in relation to social, political, and cultural contexts.

The aim of the course is efficient and engaging learning. There is on average about 12-15/hours of work per week. About 50 pages of reading per week from the textbook. Short, interactive activities throughout the course and a final exam fortify learning.

Textbook:
Andrew Ede and Lesley B. Cormack, A History of Science in Society, Volume II: From the Scientific Revolution to the Present, Third Edition (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016).
* Available as e-textbook or print book.
* Available through online sellers or UNCW Bookstore.

From this course, students should be able to:

• identify important ideas and people in the development of the sciences since the eighteenth century
• contextualize scientific ideas within their social, political, and cultural contexts
• examine the ways science can have profound impacts on social and cultural attitudes
• evaluate and analyze relevant source materials

Last updated: 15 November 2018