HSci3332/5332 Syllabus

Syllabus

SCIENCE AND AMERICAN CULTURE

Program in the History of Science and Technology
HSCI 3332/5332
Professor Sally Gregory Kohlstedt
Spring Semester, 2003 123 Pillsbury Hall
9:45-11:00 am, T Th 624-9368; sgk@umn.edu

Course Description:
The assignments, lectures, and discussions in this course constitute a survey of the history of science in the United States. We begin with indigenous and European ways of understanding nature as well as the challenges and opportunities provided by North America as a place and cultural nexus. Much of the course is dedicated to investigating 1) the perceptions and practices of science and technology as these played out over four centuries, 2) the establishment of an infrastructure for education and research in science, 3) the relationships among government, corporate, and academic scientists and engineers, and 4) the access by diverse groups to education in and practice of science. This course meets the requirement for diversity and will pay particular attention to issues of gender, ethnicity, and related topics in terms of both participation in and implications of science.

Course Format:
Class meetings will consist of lectures, on-line assignments, group discussions, and some class presentations. There will be assigned readings and films. During some periods, the class will be assembled into small groups and we will take advantage of the mix of students from technical and humanistic majors who take this class. The goal is to allow students to learn more by sharing knowledge with and listening to alternative ideas of others in the group, thus serving as consultants to each other. During discussion the professor should be there primarily to facilitate and help to focus group attention on key questions. Since readings will be the subject of questions and comments, students should be prepared to discuss all reading on the day the assignment is listed; a reading journal is strongly recommended.

Course Requirements:
Utilizing lecture materials and readings, discussion and written assignments are intended to increase student capacity to write independently and analytically about historical topics. Discussions are meant to enhance participation, deepen knowledge of the themes of the course, and identify problems in understanding the information. Attendance is therefore required. Five computer based assignments will bring primary source visual and textual materials together as another way of understanding specific aspects of science in American culture; three of these assignments are due as a paper copy at the beginning of class on the day designated. The midterm examination will be essay (one essay and some shorter identification subjects). The final examination (similar format) will be primarily based on the course work after the mid-term, although the essay portion may ask for some general reflections relating to the earlier period. See credit information below.

Office hours and Appointments: Professor Kohlstedt's office is in 123 Pillsbury Hall, Winchell School of Geology and Geophysics (4-9368; sgk@tc.umn.edu); her office hours will be immediately after class.

Readings and Texts:

The bookstore has on order the following books:

Daniel J. Kevles, The Physicists: A Scientific Community in Modern America (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1995).

Ronald Numbers and Charles Rosenberg, eds., The Scientific Enterprise in America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996).

Kenneth Manning, Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984).

Philip Pauly, Biologists and the Promise of American Life (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002

Margaret Rossiter, Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995).

Michael Crighton, Prey

Those books are also reserve in Walter Library, along with other readings that may be assigned; so you may want to read the assignments carefully before purchasing them for the course. Some source materials will also be distributed in class. The on-line assignments will be activated at www.umn.edu/scitech.

Topics and Assignments:

Jan. 21 Introduction: Old Worlds and New Worlds

Global and Local: Science in the Colonies and the New Nation

Jan. 23 The Dynamics of Science in Empire
Lisbet Koerner, "Carl Linnaeus in hist time and place" Handout

Jan. 28 Colonists's Participation in the Era of Scientific Revolutions

Jan. 30 Science and the American Revolution
Pauly, "Natural History and Manifest Destiny" (chapter 1)
Rossiter, Women Scientists, pp. 1-5

Coordinating Science on American Terms

Feb. 4 Natural Historians and Ingenious Yankees
Kohlstedt, "Parlors, Primers, and Public Schooling...." (N&R)
ON LINE Assignment I (natural history)

Feb. 6 Organizations for Science in a Democratic Culture
Daniels, "The Process of Professionalization...." (N&R)

Feb. 11 Science and the Government
Hugh Slotten, "The Dilemmas of Science in the U.S....." (N&R)
ON LINE Assignment II (Joseph Henry)

Feb. 13 The Regional Status of Science and the Impact of the Civil War

Framing a Scientific Culture

Feb. 18 Public Forums for Science
ON LINE Assignment III (museums)

Feb. 20 The Natural Sciences in Service
Pauly, "Culturing Fish" and "Conflicting Visions" (chapters 2 and 3)

Feb. 25 Emerging Professions and Higher Education
Kohler, "The Ph.D. Machine" (N&R)
Rossiter, Women Scientists, chapters 1-2
ON LINE Assignment IV (astrophysics)

Feb. 27 NO CLASS- work on in-class project assignments

Mar. 4 Science: Defined by Methods and Practitioners
Rossiter, Women Scientists, chapter 3
Kevles, The Physicists, chapter 1-5, 13, 14, & 15

Mar 6 Progressive Aspirations
Rossiter, Women Scientists, chapters 4-5
Pauly, Biologists and Promise, part 2 (chapters 4-6)

Mar. 11 MIDTERM EXAM

Science in Early 20th Century America

Mar. 13 Issues in the Age of Biology
Pauly, Biologists and Promise, chapters 7-8

SPRING BREAK

Mar. 25 DISCUSSION: Manning, Black Apollo

Mar. 27 Philanthropy and Reconfiguration of the Sciences in the Early Twentieth Century

Apr. 1 Industrial Science
Wise, "Ionists in Industry..." (N&R)
Owens, "MIT and the Federal Angel..." (N&R)
Microtheme I

Apr. 3 Ambiguity about Science, Technology, and Culture
Charlie Chaplin film, Modern Times
Gregg Mitman, "Cinematic Nature" (N&R)

SPRING BREAK !!

The Century of Science and Technology

Apr. 8 Science in the Interwar Years
Owens, AMIT and the Federal Angel...@ (R&R)
Rossiter, Women Scientists, chapters 6-10

Apr. 10 Science and the World Wars
Kevles, The Physicists, chapters 20 and 21
Microtheme II

Apr. 15 The Atomic Age
Goldberg, AInventing a Climate of Opinion...@ (N&R)
Film: The Decision to Drop the Bomb

Apr. 17 DISCUSSION
Kevles. The Physicists, chapters 22 and 23

Apr. 22 Global Sensibilities in the 1950s

Apr. 24 NASA and the Space Race
ON LINE Assignment V (the space program)

Apr. 29 International Science in National Settings

May 1 Scientists Create and Deflect Criticism
Lederer, "Political Animals" (N&R)

May 6 Changing Priorities in Science Policy and Practice
Kevles, The Physicists, chapter 25 and "Preface: 1995"

May 8 The Challenges of Science in the 21st Century
Creighton, Prey

Please read carefully the attached Standard Statement on Course Requirements developed by the University of Minnesota. You will not be allowed to do make-up work or take and incomplete grade for the course without a compelling reason.

Class Assignments

Evaluation of your work for this class will be based on several assignments and tests. The assignments follow:

1. Discussion. There will be considerable opportunities for discussion in this class and participation will account for 20% of the final evaluation. Discussion may the informal questions and answers that flow from lectures but will also include more systematic group discussion as well.

2. Presentation. Each student should participate in at least one in-class presentation. These
will be about twenty minutes, involve a short research paper and bibliography submitted to the instructor, and a handout for the class. This might involve a topical lecture, participation in a debate or dramatic reading, or some other kind of activity. Potential topics include Benjamin Franklin (Jan. 27), Maria Mitchell (Feb.8), science on the western surveys (Feb/ 8), science journalism in the mid-nineteenth century (Feb. 15), the Agassiz- Gray debate on evolution (Feb.22), the Johns Hopkins University and Bryn Mawr College (Feb. 24), Veblen and the new economics (Mar.2), modern art and its science connections in the 1910s and 1920s (Mar.9), Andrew Carnegie or John D. Rockefeller foundations (Mar. 21), Cold Spring Harbor and eugenics (Apr. 4), chemistry during and after WW I (April. 6), the International Geophysical Year (Apr. 18), the Green Revolution (Apr. 25), or Rachel Carson or any commentator on the public issues raised by science (Apr. 27). This presentation will constitute 15% of the final evaluation. While you may draw on this list of possibilities, you are strongly encouraged to come up with some other topic or project and discuss it with me during the first two weeks of the class.

3) Short assignments. You will Aread@ five on-line assignments and write a one or two page response paper for at least three of them. You may chose which of these you wish to do or you may do them all, and then select the grades you want me to use. There will also be two other microthemes. Each of these assignments will constitute 5% for a total of 25% of your total evaluation.

4) Exams. There will be a mid-term and a final examination. They will each constitute 20% of the final grade. Each exam will consist of both essays and short answer identifications.

Standard Statement on Course Requirements

1. The two major grading systems used are the A-F and S-N. Departmental majors must take major courses on the A-F system; non-majors may use either system.
The instructor will specify criteria and achievement levels required for each grade. All students, regardless of the system used, will be expected to do all work
assigned in the course, or its equivalent as determined by the instructor. Any changes you wish to make in the grading base must be done in the first two weeks of the
semester.
2. The instructor will specify the conditions, if any, under which an "Incomplete" will be assigned instead of a grade. The instructor may set dates and conditions for
makeup work, if it is to be allowed. "I" grades will automatically lapse to "F"s at the end of the next semester of a student's registration, unless an instructor agrees to
submit a change of grade for a student during a subsequent semester to maintain the grade as an "I".
3. Inquiries regarding any changes of grade should be directed to the instructor of the course; you may wish to contact the Student Dispute Resolution Center(SDRC) in 321 CMU (625-5900) for assistance.
4. Students are responsible for all information disseminated in class and all course requirements, including deadlines and examinations. The instructor will specify
whether class attendance is required or counted in the grade for a class.
5. A student is not permitted to submit extra work in an attempt to raise his or her grade, unless the instructor has specified at the outset of the class such
opportunities will be afforded to all students.
6. Scholastic misconduct is broadly defined as "any act that violates the right of another student in academic work or that involves misrepresentation of your own
work. Scholastic dishonesty includes, (but is not necessarily limited to): cheating on assignments or examinations; plagiarizing, which means misrepresenting as your
own work any part of work done by another; submitting the same paper, or substantially similar papers, to meet the requirements of more than one course without
the approval and consent of all instructors concerned; depriving another student of necessary course materials; or interfering with another student's work."
7. Students with disabilities that affect their ability to participate fully in class or to meet all course requirements are encouraged to bring this to the attention of the
instructor so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged. Further information is available from Disabilities Services (30 Nicholson Hall).
8. University policy prohibits sexual harassment as defined in the December 1998 policy statement, available at the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative
Action. Questions or concerns about sexual harassment should be directed to this office, located in 419 Morrill Hall.

Please contact SDRC at 625-5900 for more information on the above services, or to find out if any would be helpful in solving your problem.



	Syllabus SCIENCE AND AMERICAN CULTURE *Program in the History of Science and Technology* HSCI 3332/5332 Professor Sally Gregory Kohlstedt Spring Semester, 2003 123 Pillsbury Hall 9:45-11:00 am, T Th 624-9368; sgk@umn.edu Course Description: The assignments, lectures, and discussions in this course constitute a survey of the history of science in the United States. We begin with indigenous and European ways of understanding nature as well as the challenges and opportunities provided by North America as a place and cultural nexus. Much of the course is dedicated to investigating 1) the perceptions and practices of science and technology as these played out over four centuries, 2) the establishment of an infrastructure for education and research in science, 3) the relationships among government, corporate, and academic scientists and engineers, and 4) the access by diverse groups to education in and practice of science. This course meets the requirement for diversity and will pay particular attention to issues of gender, ethnicity, and related topics in terms of both participation in and implications of science. Course Format: Class meetings will consist of lectures, on-line assignments, group discussions, and some class presentations. There will be assigned readings and films. During some periods, the class will be assembled into small groups and we will take advantage of the mix of students from technical and humanistic majors who take this class. The goal is to allow students to learn more by sharing knowledge with and listening to alternative ideas of others in the group, thus serving as consultants to each other. During discussion the professor should be there primarily to facilitate and help to focus group attention on key questions. Since readings will be the subject of questions and comments, students should be prepared to discuss all reading on the day the assignment is listed; a reading journal is strongly recommended. Course Requirements: Utilizing lecture materials and readings, discussion and written assignments are intended to increase student capacity to write independently and analytically about historical topics. Discussions are meant to enhance participation, deepen knowledge of the themes of the course, and identify problems in understanding the information. Attendance is therefore required. Five computer based assignments will bring primary source visual and textual materials together as another way of understanding specific aspects of science in American culture; three of these assignments are due as a paper copy at the beginning of class on the day designated. The midterm examination will be essay (one essay and some shorter identification subjects). The final examination (similar format) will be primarily based on the course work after the mid-term, although the essay portion may ask for some general reflections relating to the earlier period. See credit information below. Office hours and Appointments: Professor Kohlstedt's office is in 123 Pillsbury Hall, Winchell School of Geology and Geophysics (4-9368; sgk@tc.umn.edu); her office hours will be immediately after class. Readings and Texts: The bookstore has on order the following books: Daniel J. Kevles, The Physicists: A Scientific Community in Modern America (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1995). Ronald Numbers and Charles Rosenberg, eds., The Scientific Enterprise in America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996). Kenneth Manning, Black Apollo of Science: The Life of Ernest Everett Just (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984). Philip Pauly, Biologists and the Promise of American Life (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002 Margaret Rossiter, Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995). Michael Crighton, Prey Those books are also reserve in Walter Library, along with other readings that may be assigned; so you may want to read the assignments carefully before purchasing them for the course. Some source materials will also be distributed in class. The on-line assignments will be activated at www.umn.edu/scitech. Topics and Assignments: Jan. 21 Introduction: Old Worlds and New Worlds Global and Local: Science in the Colonies and the New Nation Jan. 23 The Dynamics of Science in Empire Lisbet Koerner, "Carl Linnaeus in hist time and place" Handout Jan. 28 Colonists's Participation in the Era of Scientific Revolutions Jan. 30 Science and the American Revolution Pauly, "Natural History and Manifest Destiny" (chapter 1) Rossiter, Women Scientists, pp. 1-5 Coordinating Science on American Terms Feb. 4 Natural Historians and Ingenious Yankees Kohlstedt, "Parlors, Primers, and Public Schooling...." (N&R) ON LINE Assignment I (natural history) Feb. 6 Organizations for Science in a Democratic Culture Daniels, "The Process of Professionalization...." (N&R) Feb. 11 Science and the Government Hugh Slotten, "The Dilemmas of Science in the U.S....." (N&R) ON LINE Assignment II (Joseph Henry) Feb. 13 The Regional Status of Science and the Impact of the Civil War Framing a Scientific Culture Feb. 18 Public Forums for Science ON LINE Assignment III (museums) Feb. 20 The Natural Sciences in Service Pauly, "Culturing Fish" and "Conflicting Visions" (chapters 2 and 3) Feb. 25 Emerging Professions and Higher Education Kohler, "The Ph.D. Machine" (N&R) Rossiter, Women Scientists, chapters 1-2 ON LINE Assignment IV (astrophysics) Feb. 27 NO CLASS- work on in-class project assignments Mar. 4 Science: Defined by Methods and Practitioners Rossiter, Women Scientists, chapter 3 Kevles, The Physicists, chapter 1-5, 13, 14, & 15 Mar 6 Progressive Aspirations Rossiter, Women Scientists, chapters 4-5 Pauly, Biologists and Promise, part 2 (chapters 4-6) Mar. 11 MIDTERM EXAM Science in Early 20th Century America Mar. 13 Issues in the Age of Biology Pauly, Biologists and Promise, chapters 7-8 SPRING BREAK Mar. 25 DISCUSSION: Manning, Black Apollo Mar. 27 Philanthropy and Reconfiguration of the Sciences in the Early Twentieth Century Apr. 1 Industrial Science Wise, "Ionists in Industry..." (N&R) Owens, "MIT and the Federal Angel..." (N&R) Microtheme I Apr. 3 Ambiguity about Science, Technology, and Culture Charlie Chaplin film, Modern Times Gregg Mitman, "Cinematic Nature" (N&R) SPRING BREAK !! The Century of Science and Technology Apr. 8 Science in the Interwar Years Owens, AMIT and the Federal Angel...@ (R&R) Rossiter, Women Scientists, chapters 6-10 Apr. 10 Science and the World Wars Kevles, The Physicists, chapters 20 and 21 Microtheme II Apr. 15 The Atomic Age Goldberg, AInventing a Climate of Opinion...@ (N&R) Film: The Decision to Drop the Bomb Apr. 17 DISCUSSION Kevles. The Physicists, chapters 22 and 23 Apr. 22 Global Sensibilities in the 1950s Apr. 24 NASA and the Space Race ON LINE Assignment V (the space program) Apr. 29 International Science in National Settings May 1 Scientists Create and Deflect Criticism Lederer, "Political Animals" (N&R) May 6 Changing Priorities in Science Policy and Practice Kevles, The Physicists, chapter 25 and "Preface: 1995" May 8 The Challenges of Science in the 21st Century Creighton, Prey Please read carefully the attached Standard Statement on Course Requirements developed by the University of Minnesota. You will not be allowed to do make-up work or take and incomplete grade for the course without a compelling reason. Class Assignments Evaluation of your work for this class will be based on several assignments and tests. The assignments follow: 1. Discussion. There will be considerable opportunities for discussion in this class and participation will account for 20% of the final evaluation. Discussion may the informal questions and answers that flow from lectures but will also include more systematic group discussion as well. 2. Presentation. Each student should participate in at least one in-class presentation. These will be about twenty minutes, involve a short research paper and bibliography submitted to the instructor, and a handout for the class. This might involve a topical lecture, participation in a debate or dramatic reading, or some other kind of activity. Potential topics include Benjamin Franklin (Jan. 27), Maria Mitchell (Feb.8), science on the western surveys (Feb/ 8), science journalism in the mid-nineteenth century (Feb. 15), the Agassiz- Gray debate on evolution (Feb.22), the Johns Hopkins University and Bryn Mawr College (Feb. 24), Veblen and the new economics (Mar.2), modern art and its science connections in the 1910s and 1920s (Mar.9), Andrew Carnegie or John D. Rockefeller foundations (Mar. 21), Cold Spring Harbor and eugenics (Apr. 4), chemistry during and after WW I (April. 6), the International Geophysical Year (Apr. 18), the Green Revolution (Apr. 25), or Rachel Carson or any commentator on the public issues raised by science (Apr. 27). This presentation will constitute 15% of the final evaluation. While you may draw on this list of possibilities, you are strongly encouraged to come up with some other topic or project and discuss it with me during the first two weeks of the class. 3) Short assignments. You will Aread@ five on-line assignments and write a one or two page response paper for at least three of them. You may chose which of these you wish to do or you may do them all, and then select the grades you want me to use. There will also be two other microthemes. Each of these assignments will constitute 5% for a total of 25% of your total evaluation. 4) Exams. There will be a mid-term and a final examination. They will each constitute 20% of the final grade. Each exam will consist of both essays and short answer identifications. Standard Statement on Course Requirements 1. The two major grading systems used are the A-F and S-N. Departmental majors must take major courses on the A-F system; non-majors may use either system. The instructor will specify criteria and achievement levels required for each grade. All students, regardless of the system used, will be expected to do all work assigned in the course, or its equivalent as determined by the instructor. Any changes you wish to make in the grading base must be done in the first two weeks of the semester. 2. The instructor will specify the conditions, if any, under which an "Incomplete" will be assigned instead of a grade. The instructor may set dates and conditions for makeup work, if it is to be allowed. "I" grades will automatically lapse to "F"s at the end of the next semester of a student's registration, unless an instructor agrees to submit a change of grade for a student during a subsequent semester to maintain the grade as an "I". 3. Inquiries regarding any changes of grade should be directed to the instructor of the course; you may wish to contact the Student Dispute Resolution Center(SDRC) in 321 CMU (625-5900) for assistance. 4. Students are responsible for all information disseminated in class and all course requirements, including deadlines and examinations. The instructor will specify whether class attendance is required or counted in the grade for a class. 5. A student is not permitted to submit extra work in an attempt to raise his or her grade, unless the instructor has specified at the outset of the class such opportunities will be afforded to all students. 6. Scholastic misconduct is broadly defined as "any act that violates the right of another student in academic work or that involves misrepresentation of your own work. Scholastic dishonesty includes, (but is not necessarily limited to): cheating on assignments or examinations; plagiarizing, which means misrepresenting as your own work any part of work done by another; submitting the same paper, or substantially similar papers, to meet the requirements of more than one course without the approval and consent of all instructors concerned; depriving another student of necessary course materials; or interfering with another student's work." 7. Students with disabilities that affect their ability to participate fully in class or to meet all course requirements are encouraged to bring this to the attention of the instructor so that appropriate accommodations can be arranged. Further information is available from Disabilities Services (30 Nicholson Hall). 8. University policy prohibits sexual harassment as defined in the December 1998 policy statement, available at the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. Questions or concerns about sexual harassment should be directed to this office, located in 419 Morrill Hall. Please contact SDRC at 625-5900 for more information on the above services, or to find out if any would be helpful in solving your problem.
	Copyright 2003 - Sally Gregory Kohlstedt Program in the History of Science and Technology University of Minnesota