IHPST Fall/Winter Courses for 2024-2025
Fall Term - 20249
HPS100H1 - Introduction to History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
Elise Burton and Jessie Hall
An investigation of some pivotal periods in the history of science with an emphasis on the influences of philosophy on the scientists of the period, and the philosophical and social implications of the scientific knowledge, theory and methodology that emerged.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS110H1 - The Science of Human Nature
Marga Vicedo and Mark Solovey
Why do we do what we do? What factors play a role in shaping our personality? What biological and social elements help configure a person's moral and emotional character? In this course, we examine landmark studies that shook standard beliefs about human nature in their time. We analyze those studies in their historical context and discuss their relevance to social, ethical, and policy debates. The studies may include research on obedience, conformity, prejudice, aggression, attachment, empathy, altruism, race and gender stereotypes, happiness, resilience.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS200H1 - Science and Values
Yiftach Fehige
An introduction to issues at the interface of science and society. Including the reciprocal influence of science and social norms, the relation of science and religion, dissemination of scientific knowledge, science and policy. Issues may include: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons; Genetic Engineering; The Human Genome Project; Climate Change.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS202H1 - Technology in the Modern World
Adrien Zakar
This course examines the reciprocal relationship between technology and society since 1800 from the perspectives of race, class, and gender. From the role of European imperial expansion in 19th-century industrialization and mechanization to the development of nuclear technology, smartphones, and digital computers in the 20th century, we consider cultural responses to new technologies, and the ways in which technology operates as an historical force in the history of the modern world.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS203H1 - Making Sense of Uncertainty
Chen-Pang Yeang
This course examines issues of uncertainty in various contexts of science, technology, and society since the 19th century. Topics may include randomized controlled trials, statistical identification of normal and pathological, biopolitics, philosophical interpretations of probability, Brownian motions, uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics, cybernetic mind, and chance in avant-garde arts.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
VIC207H1 - Genetic Technologies: Scientific Promises and Ethical Dilemmas
Marga Vicedo
This course examines the ethical dilemmas raised by new genetic technologies. It explores the scientific possibilities they open as well as the moral questions they raise. The topics covered might include: Eugenics, the human genome project, behavioral genetics, genetics and race, genetic screening, gene editing and therapy, gene doping in sports, animal and human cloning, and genetic enhancement.
HPS222H1 - Science, Paradoxes, and Knowledge
Joseph Berkovitz
What is the nature of science and scientific knowledge? What is the nature of space, time and motion? Does science tell us the truth about the world? What are scientific revolutions and how they occur? The course will address these and various other questions about science. It will focus on the bearings that philosophical views had on science in different periods in history, starting from ancient Greece and concluding in the 20th C.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS272H1 - Science against Religion? A Complex History
Yiftach Fehige
This course introduces students to the central topics arising from the encounter between modern science and religion. It aims to integrate historical and philosophical perspectives about science and religion. Did modern science arise because of Christianity or despite of it? Are science and religion necessarily in conflict? Have they factually always been in conflict throughout history? Are proofs of God's existence obsolete? Has science secularized society? What role should religions play in liberal democracies?
Exclusion: HPS326H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS301H1 - Topics in the HST
Global Natural Histories: From Ordering Nature to the Anthropocene (1400-present)
Constance De Font-Reaulx
This class explores the emergence of natural history as a discipline in Renaissance Europe and ends with the contemporary notion of the Anthropocene. This class will put natural history in its historical, cultural, spatial, and material contexts to understand how over the past five hundred years the practices, theories, and institutions of natural history have undergone many changes. Topics will include: debates over preservation; relations between natural histories and European colonial and commercial expansion; collecting and ordering the natural world; material, tools, and machines in the production of knowledge; natural history and ecology; environmental conservatism; Anthropocene.
Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Recommended Preparation: 1.0 HPS credit, of which a 0.5 credit must be at the 200+ level
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
HPS319H1 - History of Medicine II
Lucia Dacome
This course examines the development of medicine from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. It focuses on the historical development of western medicine in relation to societies, politics and culture and considers topics such as changing views of the body, the development of medical institutions such as hospitals, asylums and laboratories, the diversifies world of healing and the place of visual and material culture in the production and dissemination of medical knowledge.
Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Exclusion: HPS314Y1, HPS315H1
Recommended Preparation: 0.5 HPS/ HIS credit, or course with health care content
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS321H1 - Understanding Engineering Practice: From Design to Entrepreneurship
Chen-Pang Yeang
This course seeks to understand the nature of engineering practice, which comprises complex social, intellectual, and technical actions at various stages from design to entrepreneurship. Building upon the history and social studies of technology, philosophy of engineering, business history, and management science, we introduce ways to analyze such complex actions.
Prerequisite: 0.5 credit in BR=1/ BR=2 and 1.0 credit from any of AER, ANA, APS, AST, BCB, BCH, BIO, BME, CHE, CHM, CIV, ECE, EEB, ENV, ESC, ESS, FOR, GGR, HMB, LMP, MGT, MGY, MIE, MSE, PHY, RSM, TEP
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS390H1 - The Story of Number: Mathematics from the Babylonians to the Scientific Revolution
Sylvia Nickerson
A survey of ancient, medieval, and early modern mathematics with emphasis on historical issues.
Prerequisite: 1.0 credit at the 200+ level from CSC/ MAT/ STA
Exclusion: HPS310Y1; MAT220Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS422H1 - History of Data *NEW Course*
Ellen Abrahms
This seminar examines the meaning and value of data in a variety of historical contexts. Important moments in the history of science will be considered through scholars' attempts to catalog and quantify human lives, social dynamics, and natural phenomena. Course material will focus on the relationship between the production of data and different forms of knowledge, power, and governance.
Prerequisite: 9.0 credits
Recommended Preparation: 1.5 credits in the history and/or philosophy of science, of which a 0.5 credit is at the 300-level; HPS390H1/ HPS391H1 would be ideal.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS480H1 - Special Topics in History and Philosophy of Science and Technology:
Vegetarianism and Veganism: Science, Technology, Human Health, Animal Welfare, and the Environment
Mark Solovey
What is vegetarianism? What is veganism? Are these cultural fads, healthy lifestyle choices, moral imperatives, socio-cultural movements, religious commandments, commercial enterprises, all of the above, or something else?
This seminar examines the past, present, and future of vegetarianism and veganism, with a focus on five central themes: science, technology, human health, animal welfare, and the environment. Along the way, we will consider many other important issues and contexts as well. These may include: factory farming, capitalism, nutrition, social identities and inequalities associated with gender, race, and class, religious beliefs and practices, high-performance sports, cultural resources such as documentary films, environmental sustainability, and global warming.
Students will engage in discussions, make class presentations, and carry out original research projects.
Prerequisite: 9.0 credits, including 1.5 credits from courses that count toward the History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), Science, Technology and Society (STS), History, or Philosophy programs of study. Of these 1.5 credits, at least a 0.5 credit at the 300-level.
Winter Term - 20251
HPS100H1 - Introduction to History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
Jessie Hall and Andrew Jones
An investigation of some pivotal periods in the history of science with an emphasis on the influences of philosophy on the scientists of the period, and the philosophical and social implications of the scientific knowledge, theory and methodology that emerged.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS120H1 - How to Think about Science
Cory Lewis
This course addresses the nature of science and its importance to our understanding of ourselves. Questions include: What is a science? Is science objective? What is scientific reasoning? Has our conception of science changed through history? How does science shape our moral image? Does science reveal our natures as humans?
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS200H1 - Science and Values
Yiftach Fehige
An introduction to issues at the interface of science and society. Including the reciprocal influence of science and social norms, the relation of science and religion, dissemination of scientific knowledge, science and policy. Issues may include: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons; Genetic Engineering; The Human Genome Project; Climate Change.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS208H1 - How We Think About Life *NEW Course*
Cory Lewis
What is the difference between living and non-living things? How should living things be classified? How do various kinds of life relate to each other and to the non-living environment? These are perennial questions, dealt with by every culture throughout history, and still debated today. This course surveys historical and cultural contexts of efforts to understand life, taxonomy, and ecology, and modern questions in the philosophy of the life sciences. The historical and cultural approach will help us to understand changing views, similarities, and differences among various understandings of life. And our approach to philosophy will be critical, asking what the best arguments for various current views are. Topics covered may include ecology, evolution, heredity, natural history, taxonomy, and definitions of life.
Recommended Preparation: 0.5 credit in HPS/ PHL/ VIC (Science, Technology, and Society courses)
Breadth Requirements: Living Things and Their Environment (4)
HPS212H1 - Global Digital: Information, Computing, and Communication in the Modern World
Chen-Pang Yeang
From integrated circuits and the internet to social media and machine learning, digital technologies are a crucial part of modern life. How have they been developed in the contexts of the Cold War, neoliberal economic order, mass media, and crowdsourcing? In what ways have they shaped sociability, governance, production, and reasoning? How have they intertwined with the changing scientific understandings of the worlds? In this course, we examine select digital technologies and their co-production with society. We emphasize their global aspects: international tech ecosystems, transnational research and development, and political or cultural transformations facilitated by digital devices or systems.
Exclusion: HPS301H1 (offered as "Global Digital: Information, Computing, and Communication in the Modern World") taken in Winter 2023
Recommended Preparation: 0.5 HPS credit
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS225H1 - Remaking the Past: The Re-creation and Re-enactment of Science and Technology *NEW Course*
Erich Weidenhammer
One path to understanding the knowledge of the past is by attempting to re-create it. From rebuilding and sailing ancient sea vessels to reenacting scientific experiments, re-creation is used to investigate past approaches to technology and science. Using such methods, researchers seek to understand what was known, and also to experience how it was known. But, a persistent question remains: are authentic experiences truly possible across distances of time and culture?
The course surveys several academic domains to explore how an array of approaches to re-creation are used and understood. As a term assignment, participants will design and share their own hypothetical re-creation project.
Recommended Preparation: 0.5 HPS credit
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS240H1 - The Influence of the Eugenics Movement on Contemporary Society
Liz Koester
This course explores present-day topics such as reproductive issues (including “designer babies” and genetic counselling), gender, racism/colonialism, disability and euthanasia through the lens of the history of eugenics. A “scientific” movement which became popular around the world in the early twentieth century, eugenics was based on the principle that certain undesirable human characteristics were hereditary and could be eliminated by controlled reproduction. It resulted in the enactment of laws in numerous places, including Canada, authorizing coerced reproductive sterilization of certain individuals, and other measures intended to “improve” humanity. Today, we see its influences woven through contemporary debates, a number of which we will consider.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS246H1 - Data and Society: What's Behind the Numbers? *NEW Course* **CANCELLED**
Ellen Abrams
"Big data" and "data-driven" approaches have become central to our modern scientific, cultural, and political landscapes. Yet rarely do we stop to think about what these notions mean or how they relate to ways of living in and knowing the world around us. Students in this course will consider what it means to produce data, who/what gets in/excluded, and how a critical examination of the data-making process can inform a more socially just and equitable future.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS250H1 - Introductory Philosophy of Science
Bobby Voss
This course introduces and explores central issues in the philosophy of science, including scientific inference, method, and explanation. Topics may include underdetermination, realism, empiricism, scientific revolutions, feminist epistemology, and laws of nature.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS270H1 - Science and Literature
Christine Lehleiter
This course will focus on the interplay between science and literature from ancient Greece to the present day. We’ll examine the impact of major scientific paradigm shifts on the literature of their time, and situate literary texts within the context of contemporary scientific discoveries and technological innovations.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS301H1 - Topics in the History of Science and Technology: Exploring Values in Science and Engineering Practice
Rachel Katz
In this course, we will first explore values in science, looking at how science develops and includes the values of the scientists who guide its progress. We will discuss how scientists — particularly engineers — contribute to the shaping of science and the values therein. During this time, students will join ESC204 students in the designing of a prototype, giving them first-hand experience seeing how engineers work, and how their values and beliefs shape that work. In the latter part of the semester, we will reflect on how those values are determined and how scientists and engineers are taught to understand the role of values in their work. (See ISTEP and IHPST's Synergy in Interdisciplinary Education on the Winter 2024 version of this course)
Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Recommended Preparation: 1.0 HPS credit, of which a 0.5 credit must be at the 200+ level
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
HPS316H1 - Environment, Technology, and Nature
Constance de Font-Réaulx
This course examines the intersection of technology and environment in the modern world. Whether simple or complex, whether designed for recreation, work, or warfare, our tools and how we use them filter our perceptions of, and engagements with, non-human nature.
Prerequisite: 0.5 credit in HPS/HIS
Recommended Preparation: 1.0 HPS/ HIS credit. HPS202H1/ HPS205H1/ HPS220H1 would be especially useful.
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
HPS322H1 - Complexity, Order, and Emergence
Cory Lewis
A survey of the history of and recent developments in the scientific study of complex systems and emergent order. There will be particular emphasis on the biological and cognitive sciences. Topics covered may include: mechanism and teleology in the history of science, 19th and 20th century emergentism, complex systems dynamics, order and adaptiveness, self-organization in biology and cognitive development.
Prerequisite: 4.0 credits, including a 0.5 credit in HPS/ PHL
Recommended Preparation: 1.0 HPS/ PHL credit. PHL232H1 or any course in the philosophy of science or in the history and philosophy of biology would be especially useful.
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS324H1 - Natural Science and Social Issues
Yiftach Fehige
Historical examination of the interactions of science (both as body of knowledge and as enterprise) with ideological, political and social issues. The impact of science; attacks on and critiques of scientific expertise as background to contemporary conflicts. Subjects may vary according to students' interests. (offered irregularly)
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS391H1 - Rebels Who Count: The History of Mathematics from 1700 to the Present
Sylvia Nickerson
A survey of the development of mathematics from 1700 to the present with emphasis on historical issues.
Prerequisite: 1.0 credit at the 200+ level from CSC/ MAT/ STA
Exclusion: HPS310Y1; MAT220Y1, MAT391H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS412H1 - History of the Biological Sciences
Jonathan Basile
Historical examination of the biological sciences, focusing on certain themes and time periods.
Prerequisite: 9.0 credits including a 0.5 HPS credit
Recommended Preparation: 2.0 HPS credits including a 0.5 HPS credit in the biological sciences (e.g. HPS240H1, HPS346H1, HPS351H1, or JHE353H1)
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HPS413H1 - Reading and Writing about Physics
Chen-Pang Yeang
Historians, philosophers, and sociologists have produced a wealth of literature on the analysis and examination of physics from the early modern period to the present. In this seminar, we read and discuss in depth a collection of recent classics and cutting-edge works on the historical studies of physics. Students also conduct research based on this literature. We aim to use physics as a lens to understanding key themes in the making of modern science, from incommensurability, epistemic cultures, and historical ontology, to materiality, social construction, pedagogy, and countercultures.
Prerequisite: 9.0 credits including a 0.5 HPS credit
Recommended Preparation: 2.0 HPS credits including a 0.5 credit at the 300+ level
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
HPS442H1 - Sciences of Whiteness in the Middle East & Its Diasporas
Elise Burton
This research seminar traces the historical response of Middle Eastern societies and diasporas to Western scientific discourses of race and ethnicity from the 19th century to the present. We examine notions of racial classification and hierarchy as they emerged in Islamicate and European imperial contexts and their scientific application to Middle Eastern populations. We further investigate how the nationalist ideologies of modern Middle Eastern nation-states relied on and perpetuated race science. Finally, we consider the experience of Middle Eastern migrants to Europe and North America and their engagement with scientific definitions of Aryan, Caucasian and white racial identity.
Prerequisite: 9.0 credits including a 0.5 credit HPS/ HIS/ NMC course at the 300+ level
Recommended Preparation: 2.0 HPS/ HIS/ NMC credits including a 0.5 credit at the 300+ level
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)