Frequently Asked Questions & Answers
- What is "STS"?
- What is the intellectual rationale for the STS Program?
- What kind of major is STS?
- Why should a Stanford student consider majoring in STS?
- What can one do with a degree in STS?
See also, the STS brochure (PDF)
4. Why should a Stanford student consider majoring in STS?
STS offers a form of undergraduate liberal education especially well suited to the technical character of the contemporary era. The STS Core exposes one to a number of traditional liberal arts disciplines in the humanities and social sciences (philosophy, history, sociology, anthropology, etc.) but in a nontraditional way: through bringing the perspectives and analytical resources of such disciplines to bear on subject matter of clear contemporary relevance: viz., issues and problems of science and technology in society. Students attracted to traditional fields of specialization such as history, political science, philosophy, or sociology, but who seek a major that, while intellectually challenging, is more closely linked to problems of contemporary industrial societies will find STS an option well worth considering.
One of the hallmarks of the STS B.A. curriculum--for that matter, of the STS B.S. curriculum as well--is balance . While comprised primarily of humanities and social science courses, the B.A. curriculum stands out from other B.A. programs at Stanford in requiring "literacy" in a field of science, or engineering, or mathematical sciences. This reflects the view of Program faculty that such literacy is an essential component of a liberal arts education suited to today's world. The B.A. also promotes uncommonly good balance in a second sense: between required courses and electives. While the STS Core is prescribed to a significant degree, the Thematic Concentration affords the student considerable latitude of choice, in both its intellectual focus and constituent courses.
Some students who once envisioned themselves as practicing scientists or engineers eventually conclude that they do not wish to follow such a career path. However, they often do not wish to completely abandon their past technical interests and course work, rightly seeing them as valuable intellectual resources. They imagine themselves, rather, as working in some kind of position at the interface between science and technology on the one hand and society on the other, e.g., in some kind of regulatory, policy, educational, development, law, or business work. The STS B.S. is a superb option for such students, one in which they make excellent use of their prior technical course work as complemented by the STS Core.
Other students, currently majoring in a field of science or engineering, decide to complement such study by also fulfilling the requirements for the B.A. major in STS. They thereby earn Stanford's B.A.S. degree. This has become an increasingly popular option for Stanford science and engineering majors in recent years.
An attractive feature of both the STS B.A. and B.S. majors is the fact that the STS Core emphasizes intensive development of indispensable academic skills: critical-analytical reading, thinking, and writing, as well as well-honed oral exposition skills. Such skills are portable and will serve the student well throughout life, regardless of career path. Further, STS is a relatively small program in which students can get to know their professors on a personal basis. STS professors take pride in their teaching as well as their research and are accessible to their students. Also, STS majors (as well as students from any other major) may apply for admission to the STS Honors Program, culminating in an original senior thesis on an important STS topic of personal interest carried out under the supervision of a faculty advisor.
