STS Main Page | Science and Technology Studies

Graduate Program in Science and Technology Studies

Heather Douglas – STS/Trust in Science talks, March 27 & 28
Heather Douglas will be visiting UBC next week and will give two presentations as a speaker in the ‘Trust in Science’/STS series. The flyers are attached; please forward them to all who might be interested! Trust in Science I: March 27, 5:00-6:30 (BuTo 1112): “Responsible Innovation within the Social Contract for Science” Trust in Science II: March 28, 3:00-5:00 […] Read More
March 13, 2025 Stephen Straker Memorial Lecture (Alison Li)
Alison Li: “Science, Hormones and Transformation: Harry Benjamin and the Early History of Transgender Medicine” March 13, 5:00-6:30, K. C. Choi Building / Liu Institute, 1855 West Mall – Room 120 Reception to follow in the K. C. Choi Building Lounge Straker lectures: https://sts.arts.ubc.ca/colloquium-events/stephen-straker-memorial-lecture/ This annual STS Lecture honours Stephen Straker who was an historian of science at […] Read More
Jan 16, STS colloquium – Robert Brain
Thursday, Jan 16 5:00 – 6:30 PM, Buchanan Tower 1112 Robert Brain, Professor of History https://history.ubc.ca/profile/robert-brain/ | https://sts.arts.ubc.ca/dr-robert-brain/ “A Cold War Quest for Soil-Less Food: Warren Weaver and Rockefeller Foundation Techno-Futurism” In 1952, John D. Rockefeller III convened an advisory meeting of distinguished experts in energy, soil, demography, food, economics, and reproductive physiology in […] Read More
(Cancelled) Nov 28, STS Colloquium – Alberto Lusoli
Cancelled! Thursday, Nov 28 5:00 – 6:30 PM, Buchanan Tower 1112 Alberto Lusoli, Deputy Director, Digital Democracies Institute, Simon Fraser University “Conflict, Authenticity, and the Circulation of Mis- and Dis-information Biomanufactured Products” Public trust is vital to the uptake of biomanufactured products such as vaccines. Trust in such […] Read More
Nov 21, STS Colloquium – Alan Richardson
Thursday, Nov 21 5:00 – 6:30 PM, Buchanan Tower 1112 Alan Richardson Professor of Philosophy This talk will, through a series of vignettes and using resources from a variety of researchers across several disciplines, argue that the current foregrounding of mis/disinformation in the trust in science literature is (a) a lingering after-effect of the […] Read More
Logan Smilges
Thursday, October 10 5:00 – 6:30 PM, Buchanan Tower 1112 Logan Smilges Assistant Professor of English Language and Literatures https://english.ubc.ca/profile/j‐logansmilges/ “Toward a Crip Metaphysics” To ask about disability at the end of the world is tautological because, in the public imaginary, disability is the end of the world. Broken bodies. Missing limbs. Scattered […] Read More
Angela Potochnik, Sep 26
Thursday, Sep 26 5:00 – 6:30 PM, Buchanan Tower 1112 Angela Potochnik Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Public Engagement with Science, University of Cincinnati https://www.angelapotochnik.com/ Science and the Public Abstract: Science is a product of society: in its funding, its participation, and its application. In this talk, I outline […] Read More
Judy Z. Segal Straker lecture March 7
Judy Z. Segal Professor Emeritus, Department of English Language and Literatures, University of British Columbia March 7, 2024, 5 to 6:30 PM Location: MATH 100 Still Listening to Prozac: STS, Rhetoric, and “Mental Health” Since the launch of STS at UBC—and with the wisdom of Stephen Straker—rhetorical studies of science, technology, and medicine have been central […] Read More
Amber Benezra Colloquium – February 29
Thursday, Feb 29, 5:00 – 6:30 PM, Buchanan Tower 1112 Dr. Amber Benezra Associate Professor, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Stevens Institute of Technology. https://www.stevens.edu/profile/abenezra Title: The Social Microbiome: What Anthropology, Equity, and Transdisciplinary Collaboration Has To Do With Microbes Abstract: The trillions of microbes in and on our bodies are […] Read More
Heidi Lawrence Colloquium Jan 25
Dr. Heidi Lawrence Associate Professor, English / Director Professional & Technical Writing Graduate Programs at George Mason University https://english.gmu.edu/people/hlawren2 Title: Resisting Medicine: Considering Consent, Ethics, and Rhetoric in a Post-COVID Era Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant social upheaval and a revolution in the ways that publics were asked to engage with science and medicine. […] Read More

ABOUT STS

UBC offers coursework leading either to an MA in Science and Technology Studies, or to an MA or PhD in English, History, Philosophy, and Geography with a Research Emphasis in Science and Technology Studies. STS students at UBC can choose from a wide variety of courses that bear on the conceptual foundations, practices, institutions, social significance, and values of science and technology. Designed to give students opportunities to develop their understanding of the roles of science and technology in the contemporary world, our graduates work in fields such as science and technology policy, science journalism and communication, or curatorial positions in science and technology museums. Our MA graduates also pursue further studies in a Ph.D. program; recent graduates have gone on to York, Cornell, Harvard, and Cambridge.

UBC is especially strong in history and philosophy of science and technology; rhetoric and communication of science and technology; science, technology and values; and science and technology policy. In addition to these opportunities, the STS Colloquium features prominent scholars from around the world (e.g., Stephen Shapin, Bruno Latour, Lorraine Daston, Isabelle Stengers, and many more; see “Colloquium and Events” in the navigation bar).

UBC is a world-class educational and research institution, located in one of the world’s great cosmopolitan cities, Vancouver, British Columbia. We enjoy a vibrant arts and cultural scene, in a beautiful ocean and mountain setting, with a temperate climate. Vancouver is on Canada’s Pacific Coast, just north of the Canada-US border (two and a half hours from Seattle).

Join the UBC STS Mailing List