Whatever their course of study, all Penn State graduate students have the opportunity to enrich their education and research through the interdisciplinary study of the overlaps between science, technology, and society. The STS program involves students in an integrative general education designed to bridge non-technical and technical communities, providing a basis for informed and responsible citizenship in contemporary society.

Enriching your graduate studies with an interdisciplinary education in STS has added practical benefits: many careers increasingly require both scientific and technical literacy as well as an understanding of the intersections between science, technology, and society. This is especially apparent in broad range of areas such as business, management, journalism, government, education, agriculture, law, health care, science, engineering, and economics.

STS offers a wide variety of courses that appeal to diverse educational backgrounds. Typical courses focus on:

• environmental pollution and conservation;
• the social and material history of science and technology;
• global climate change and world food problems;
• energy usage and resource management;
• biomedical and engineering ethics;
• research ethics;
• science and technology policy;
• religion and socio-technical culture;
• information and media technologies.