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Courses (2023-24)

Science, Technology, and Society courses for the 2023-24 academic year. Please note: course listings change from year to year. Should you have any questions, please contact vic.academics@utoronto.ca.

CRE210H1S | Holography for 3D Visualization

CRE210H1S
Holography for 3D Visualization
Prof Emanuel Istrate
T 10-12

An introduction to the theory and practice of holography. Human perception & 3D visualization; fundamentals of 3D modeling; ray and wave optics; interference, diffraction, coherence; transmission and reflection holograms; colour perception; stereograms. Applications of holography in art, medicine, and technology. Computer simulation, design, and construction of holograms. This course does not require specific background or preparation in the sciences or arts. This course has a mandatory Materials Fee of $80 to cover non-reusable materials. The fee will be included on students' ACORN invoice.

Exclusion: JOP210H1, IVP210H1
Distribution Requirements: Science
Breadth Requirements: The Physical and Mathematical Universes (5)

CRE235H1F | Innovation in Society

CRE235H1F
Innovation in Society
Professor Sunil Johal
R 6-8

This course investigates innovation as it relates to emerging social, scientific, and environmental trends. Students will acquire key frameworks for understanding the evolution of innovation, the place of creativity, and the social impacts of disruption. Through case studies of innovation (such as the sharing economy and cryptocurrencies) and considering related issues (such as ethics and inclusion) students will develop approaches to understanding the societal impacts of creative disruption.

Exclusion: VIC235H1MUN101H1MUN102H1
Distribution Requirement Status: Social Science
Breadth Requirement: Society and its Institutions (3)

CRE247H1F | Creativity in the Sciences

CRE247H1F
Creativity in the Sciences
Professor Emanuel Istrate
T 10-12

This seminar course explores various aspects of creativity in the sciences. We will discuss how to define the term “creativity” and will use the definition to compare creativity in the sciences to creativity in the arts, business and engineering. Using as examples major developments in the history of science, we will consider factors that enable creativity in scientists. We will also contrast the kinds of creative work scientists do in different areas of science, and at various stages of a project. To better understand creativity, we will use results from psychological and neuroscience studies of creativity. We will discuss various ways in which the creativity of a scientist can be evaluated, and will use this as a starting point to evaluate the importance of scientific discoveries more generally, in both fundamental and applied science areas. We will consider the timing of scientific discoveries, looking at “ideas whose time has come,” to discuss whether creative discoveries happen at random, or if they occur at predictable times. Students will perform research on the major developments in an area of science, analyzing the types of creative work that were done, along with factors that enabled the developments. They will be encouraged to “represent” that area of science in class discussions during the term.

Prerequisite: Any 1.0 credit combination of courses carrying a breadth requirement (BR) category of 4 or 5.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)

CRE335H1S | Creativity and Collaboration in Social Enterprise

CRE335H1S
Creativity and Collaboration in Social Enterprise
Professor Sunil Johal
R 6-8

The course reflects critically on the role of a wide range of new enterprises and entrepreneurs in driving innovation and dynamism. Whether social enterprises, start-ups, community-based organizations, or for-profits, a variety of organizational forms are approaching thorny societal challenges such as driving economic inclusion or combating climate change. Students will explore how the public, private and community sectors can work together to develop creative, ethical and effective approaches to tackling ‘wicked’ problems.

Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Exclusion: VIC335H1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
CRE371H1F | Documenting Reality

CRE371H1F
Documenting Reality
Professor Adrien Zakar
R 12-1

This seminar course explores methods of capturing, representing, and constructing reality through documentary media. Emphases will include opportunities and challenges brought by technical developments in the digital era, and the history and evolution of documentary work in print and/or photography. Students consider methods and innovations of major practitioners; ethical issues such as privacy, subjectivity, and objectivity; and partisanship and the effects of artificial intelligence and other automatic tools.

Prerequisite: Completion of 4.0 credits
Exclusion: VIC371H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)
REN242H1S | Scientific Worldviews of the Renaissance

REN242H1S
Scientific Worldviews of the Renaissance
Professor Hakob Barseghyan
F 11-1

An in-depth study of late medieval and early modern scientific worldviews, with a focus on interconnections between natural philosophy, cosmology, theology, astronomy, optics, medicine, natural history, and ethics. Through a consideration of early modern ideas including free will and determinism, the finite and infinite universe, teleology and mechanism, theism and deism, and deduction and intuition, this course investigates some of the period’s key metaphysical and methodological assumptions, and reveals how an evolving scientific understanding informed the Renaissance worldview.

Exclusion: VIC242H1, HPS309H1
Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
REN343H1S | Sex and Gender

REN343H1S
Sex and Gender
Professor Andrea Walkden
W 1-3

Our course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the workings and representation of gender and sexuality in early modern Europe. Our range of topics will include courtly love, marriage, same-sex friendship and intimacy, cross-gender identification and performance, hermaphroditism, and the contested or “monstrous” body. To explore these topics, we will be reading works by Boccaccio, Christine de Pizan, Castiglione, Marguerite de Navarre, Montaigne, Marlowe, Isabella Whitney, John Lyly, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Margaret Cavendish, although our archive will also include anatomy treatises, conduct books, popular pamphlet literature, map illustrations, works of art, travel narratives, and ethnographic writing. Throughout the term, we will be considering Renaissance understandings of sex and gender in relation to the conceptual frameworks offered by recent scholars of feminism, queerness, disability, and the history of sexuality.

Exclusion: VIC343H1VIC343Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

VIC207H1F | Genetic Technologies: Scientific Promises and Ethical Dilemmas

VIC207H1F
Genetic Technologies: Scientific Promises and Ethical Dilemmas
Professor Marga Vicedo
Not offered in 2023-2024

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.

Distribution Requirements: Social Science
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

VIC245H1F | Science Wars: Society and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge

VIC245H1F
Science Wars: Society and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge
Professor Hakob Barseghyan
F 11-1

An introduction to competing conceptions of scientific knowledge and the role of sociocultural factors in shaping scientific methods, theories, and evidence. Can science provide objective knowledge of the external mind-independent world, or are the empirical aspirations of science limited by the social, cultural, economic, political, and religious contexts that shape “science” itself? Can scientific knowledge reach certainty? How do sociocultural factors affect the process of theory acceptance? This course considers “science” as an epistemological battleground from 17th century debates on inductive reasoning to contemporary arguments about “alternative” science.

Breadth Requirement: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)

HPS Courses

HPS courses are offered by the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST).

Eligible HPS courses are listed under the Science, Technology, and Society program requirements.

Course descriptions and information (including class times) may be found on the IHPST website.

 

Internships

The goal of this internship is to give students an opportunity to get hands-on experience in science policy, governance, funding, popularization, advocacy, journalism, or a closely related field in a professional setting. The internship experience can help deepen the students’ expertise in these fields and play a vital role in achieving their personal and professional goals. The interns will apply their interdisciplinary knowledge acquired though their courses at the University of Toronto in real work environments and link their learning to the reality of various science-related settings. The internship experience can also help the students to learn more about possible career paths and give them an invaluable opportunity to create strong professional networks. The interns will be required to complete 100 hours (typically 8 hours/week) with an industry partner during the Fall term and will also participate in monthly group meetings with the Course Instructor and other interns.

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