Science, Technology, & World
MIT's introduction to Science, Technology, and Society (STS) examines how technical systems intersect with law, politics, and culture through a series of case studies. This iteration builds units around the Aaron Swartz case, the history and politics of photography, and competing visions of utopia and dystopia in technological thought. The course draws on guest speakers from relevant fields and includes field trips meant to ground the theoretical material in hands-on encounters with real institutions and objects. Materials on MIT OpenCourseWare include the syllabus, reading lists, and assignment descriptions, licensed under Creative Commons for free use. There is no instructor interaction or certificate, but the course structure, with its rotating case-study units and outside speakers, gives a workable framework for anyone wanting to think systematically about how science and technology shape, and are shaped by, society.