LIST 502: Science Literature and Social Issues
(Intellectual History)

Instructor:  Ed Risden

This course aims to introduce students to a few notable samples from the growing body of literary books about science directed to a popular audience with the intent to raise public awareness of social and scientific issues.  We will consider how some significant ideas develop and change over time and how they impact contemporary concerns.  We will use several films as supplementary texts to present or inflect the ideas we raise for discussion - particularly thesis days film can have considerable impact on public perceptions of science and social issues.  Students should improve as a reader, thinker, writer, and conversationalists through this course and only be a starting point for a more in-depth student of intellectual history.