Science, Technology, and Society MS

Major: Science, Technology, and Society
Degree Awarded: Master of Science (MS)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 45.0
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 30.1501
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 11-9121

About the Program

Note - This program is not accepting applications for the 2026-27 Academic year. 

The Science, Technology, and Society (STS) program systemically investigates the social dimensions of science, technology, and medicine. Faculty from a range of disciplines contribute to a curriculum that features a broad set of perspectives, all grounded in a foundation of social theory, research methods, and writing and presentation skills. The STS program emphasizes three interrelated areas: environment and sustainability; health and medicine; and information, identities and networks. The STS Lab course is a unique feature of the curriculum—it prepares students to work as a team to address meaningful science- and technology-related topics. Working with a faculty advisor, graduate students develop an individualized plan of study that allows them to pursue their interests in depth. 

STS students are independent thinkers who are dedicated to understanding the intersections of society, science, medicine, and technology. While STS students vary widely in their professional and educational backgrounds and career ambitions, they share a common commitment to a critical approach to our world’s most pressing technoscientific challenges.

Prospective students for the MS in STS see this educational opportunity as a crucial factor in their skill development and career advancement. They are college graduates in engineering, the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences; professionals in businesses, city, and state government offices and area hospitals; and middle and high school teachers.

This is a full-time, low-residency program which means students must attend an in person residency during the first week of Fall quarter in Year 1 and Year 2. The remaining courses will be offered in an online format.

Additional Information

For more information, please contact:

Kristene Unsworth, PhD
Director, Center for Science, Technology and Society
ku26@drexel.edu

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the program must meet the general requirements for admission to graduate studies at Drexel University.

Prospective students must also submit a 500-word essay explaining why they want to enter the program and some of the issues related to science, technology, and society that they would like to study. These statements are read carefully by the faculty screening committee to evaluate each applicant’s sense of purpose. Entering students typically begin during the fall quarter; however, students are able to start the program during any quarter.

Visit the Graduate Admissions website for more information about requirements and deadlines, as well as instructions for applying online.

Degree Requirements 

The program requires 45.0 credits of coursework. Required courses total 24.0 credits. Remaining credits are chosen from a list of electives.

Basic Requirements
SCTS 501Introduction to Science, Technology and Society3.0
SCTS 502Research Methods3.0
SCTS 503Advanced Research Methods3.0
SCTS 504Science, Technology & Society Theories3.0
SCTS 700Graduate STS Residency 3.0
SCTS 701MS in STS Professional Residency 3.0
Advanced Requirements
Ethics, Values, Identities, and Culture
SCTS 612Medical and Healthcare Ethics3.0
SCTS 575Digital Power and Resistance3.0
Science, Technology & Society Lab
SCTS 550Special Topics in STS Lab3.0
Research
SCTS 798Master's Research6.0
Suggested Electives *12.0
History of Public Health
Overview of Issues in Global Health
Public Health Ethics
Global Health Ethics
Intersectional Perspectives
Sexual Orientations And Health
Migration and Health
Religion, Spirituality, and Health
Media Environments in a Digital World
Introduction to Urban Health
Global Air Pollution and Health
Healthy Housing & Built Environment
Historical Influences on the US Healthcare System
Innovation Management
Sustainability and Value Creation
Methods of Policy Analysis
History and Systems
STS Perspectives on Risk and Disaster
Risk and Disaster Policy
Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Science
Internship in Science, Technology and Society
Independent Study in Science, Technology and Society
Special Topics in Science Technology and Society
Sanctuary Cities
Total Credits45.0
*

Additional electives may be taken from other schools and colleges in the University with approval from the Director of the MS in Science, Technology & Society program.

Sample Plan of Study

Plan of Study Grid
First Year
FallCredits
SCTS 501 Introduction to Science, Technology and Society 3.0
SCTS 502 Research Methods 3.0
SCTS 700 Graduate STS Residency 3.0
 Credits9
Winter
SCTS 503 Advanced Research Methods 3.0
SCTS 504 Science, Technology & Society Theories 3.0
 Credits6
Spring
SCTS 550 Special Topics in STS Lab 3.0
Electives 6.0
 Credits9
Summer
VACATION  
 Credits0
Second Year
Fall
SCTS 575 Digital Power and Resistance 3.0
SCTS 612 Medical and Healthcare Ethics 3.0
SCTS 701 MS in STS Professional Residency 3.0
 Credits9
Winter
SCTS 798 Master's Research 3.0
Elective 3.0
 Credits6
Spring
SCTS 798 Master's Research 3.0
Elective 3.0
 Credits6
 Total Credits45

Program Learning Outcomes

  • Use interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological tools to systematically analyze the social dimensions of science, medicine and technology.
  • Investigate how individual, institutional and national values and cultural contexts impact technology and science innovation and use.
  • Understand which stakeholders help create particular science and technology policies, how policies are implemented, and the political effects of policy implementation.
  • Analyze the societal impact of new technologies and scientific knowledge, with the ability to identify differential impact on stakeholders (e.g. race, age, gender, class differences).
  • Work effectively in interdisciplinary teams to identify, research and address pressing issues in technology, medicine and science.
  • Communicate research findings in a clear, concise manner.

Science, Technology and Society Faculty

Lloyd Ackert, PhD (Johns Hopkins University). Associate Teaching Professor. History of science and technology; ecology; Russian science.
Peter Amato, PhD (Fordham University) Director, Philosophy. Teaching Professor. Ethics, Marxism, Continental philosophy.
Jesse Ballenger, PhD (Case Western Reserve University). Associate Teaching Professor. Healthcare, medicine and ethics; aging and neurodegenerative diseases; Science and Technology Studies.
Robert J. Brulle, PhD (George Washington University). Professor. Environmental policy and politics, critical theory, marine risk, social movements, environmental sociology.
Robert D'Ovidio, PhD (Temple University) Associate Dean for Humanities and Social Science Research and Graduate Education. Associate Professor. The intersection of computer technology, crime, and the criminal justice system; criminological theory; policing; transnational crime.
Mary Ebeling, PhD (University of Surrey) Director, Women's and Gender Studies. Associate Professor. Science and technology studies; emerging technologies and biocapital; media and democratic cultures; radical social movements; sociology of markets; political sociology; and ethnographic methodologies.
Christian Hunold, PhD (University of Pittsburgh). Associate Professor. Environmental policy; comparative politics; urban wildlife; political theory.
Krik Jalbert, PhD (Rensslaer Polytechnic Institute). Visiting Research Professor. Social studies of science and technology, citizen science, environmental justice, information transparency, knowledge infrastructures, energy policy
Kelly Joyce, PhD (Boston College) Director, Master's Program in Science Technology & Society. Professor. Science, medicine and technology; aging and technology; qualitative social science methods; healthcare and medicine.
Alison Kenner, PhD (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). Assistant Professor. Science, technology, and health; environmental health problems; cities and place; feminist theory; medical anthropology; digital humanities
Michael Khoo, PhD (University of Colorado at Boulder). Assistant Teaching Professor. The understandings and practices that users bring to their interactions with information systems, with a focus on the evaluation of digital libraries and educational technologies.
Scott G. Knowles, PhD (Johns Hopkins University) Interim Department Head, History. Associate Professor. Urban history, history of technology, history of disasters, modern history.
Brent Luvaas, PhD (UCLA). Associate Professor. DIY and independent media production; transnational consumer culture; popular music; new media and mediated subjectivities; youth culture in the US and Indonesia.
Jonson Miller, PhD (Virginia Tech). Associate Professor. Science and technology, American history, military history.
Gwen Ottinger, PhD (University of California, Berkeley). Assistant Professor. Social studies of science and technology, environmental justice, science and engineering ethics, citizen science, environmental ethics.
Flavia Padovani, PhD (University of Geneva). Assistant Professor. History and philosophy of science, philosophy of science, epistemology, logic.
Jody A. Roberts, PhD (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) Director, Center for Contemporary History and Policy, Chemical Heritage Foundation. Assistant Professor. Intersections of emerging molecular sciences and public policy and the ways in which tensions brought about between the two get resolved.
John Rossi, VMD, MBE (University of Pennsylvania). Assistant Professor. Department of Community Health and Prevention. Bioethics and public health ethics, including moral theory, research ethics, ethics of risk & health communication, pediatric ethics, animal ethics.
Tiago Saraiva, PhD (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid). Assistant Professor. History of science and technology; transnational history; environmental history
Jonathan Seitz, PhD (University of Wisconsin) Assistant Department Head, History. Associate Teaching Professor. History of religion, science, medicine, witchcraft, early modern Europe, Italy.
Nicholas Shapiro, PhD (University of Oxford). Visiting Research Professor. Everyday infrastructure; DIY scientific instrumentation; biopolitics; critical theory; multispecies ethnography.
Mimi Sheller, PhD (New School for Social Research) Director, Center for Mobilities Research and Policy. Professor. Sustainable mobility and mobility justice: new cultures and infrastructures of travel, transport, mobile communication, and urbanism; Caribbean Studies: history, culture and political theory of the region, including intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and class.
Chloe Silverman, PhD (University of Pennsylvania). Associate Professor. Parent advocacy for autism, neurodiversity, and pollinator health research.
Amy Slaton, PhD (University of Pennsylvania). Professor. History of science and technology; history of standards and metrology; intersectionality, race, labor.
Andrew Smith, PhD (SUNY, Stony Brook). Assistant Professor. Social and political philosophy, ethics, American philosophy.
Kathryn Steen, PhD (University of Delaware). Associate Professor. History of technology, history of industry and business, and comparative history.
Kristene Unsworth, PhD (University of Washington). Assistant Professor. Information policy, ethics, government information.
Michael Yudell, MPH, MPhil, PhD (Columbia University) Chair, Department of Community Health and Prevention. Associate Professor. Public health genomics; bioethics; history of public health; addiction.