About

Do algorithms embody value systems? What is feminist software design? How does the shipping and logistics industry cement racialized logics of space and labor? What is the role of expert knowledge in contemporary moments of crisis? These are among the questions that drive the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). Scholars working in STS draw on a range of humanistic and social scientific theories and approaches to analyze the conditions under which scientific knowledge and other forms of expertise are produced and technologies designed. Questions about the values and assumptions that are “built into” science and technology, as well as the effects of these assumptions, are central to the field.

These questions often draw on knowledge and methods that span one or more traditional fields of academic study. With this in mind, USC offers an interdisciplinary doctoral certificate that helps students to draw on the rich sources of inquiry that contribute to the field of STS. The certificate provides training in the core theories and methods used to analyze the forms of political, epistemological, and cultural authority that underpin scientific knowledge and technological systems, which students can then apply in their own research.

The graduate certificate is open to Ph.D. students in any USC program. In addition to the completion of course requirements, students must demonstrate a focus on STS as a meaningful component of their doctoral dissertation. This will include working with faculty with expertise in STS on the doctoral committee

Interested in the Graduate Certificate Program in Science and Technology Studies? Please visit our requirements page for more information or contact stpl@usc.edu.

For more about the Graduate Certificate Program, check out the recording of the most recent info session.