MIT | Program in Science, Technology, and Society

MIT | Program in Science, Technology, and Society The STS Program was founded at MIT in 1976 to address this unprecedented and momentous integration of science, technology, and society. degrees.

The primary activity of the STS program is research, which takes many forms: individual faculty members pursuing intellectual inquiry, teaching in our graduate program, organizing and hosting conferences, colloquia, and other types of publications. Faculty and students in the Program address two basic, interrelated questions: how did science and technology evolve as human activities, and what role

do they play in the larger civilization? The STS perspective is crucial to understanding major events of our time (war and conflict, the economy, health, the environment) and to addressing these and other major public issues (privacy, democracy, education). The STS Program is part of MIT's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS). In 1980 STS began to offer undergraduate subjects, which typically attract students with broad interests who seek an interdisciplinary approach to their education. Undergraduates can concentrate or minor in STS. While STS does not offer an independent major, students can join an STS program to any science or engineering major to form a joint major, leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Humanities and Science or Humanities and Engineering. They can also double major in STS and a science or engineering discipline, receiving two B.S. In 1988 STS joined MIT's Anthropology Program and History Faculty to offer a doctoral degree program in the History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS). Since then HASTS has developed into one of the world's preeminent graduate programs in STS-related studies. It attracts students from around the world who seek an interdisciplinary program that will prepare them for careers in the academy, law, business, journalism, and museum work, among other possibilities.

Congratulations to Professor Dwai Banerjee on his new book!
05/05/2026

Congratulations to Professor Dwai Banerjee on his new book!

MIT Assistant Professor Dwai Banerjee’s new book, “Computing in the Age of Decolonization,” looks at the historical trajectory of the computing industry in India.

http://disq.us/t/4u23onpProfessor David Kaiser has published an article in Physics Today in honor of the hundredth anniv...
05/05/2025

http://disq.us/t/4u23onp

Professor David Kaiser has published an article in Physics Today in honor of the hundredth anniversary of Quantum Mechanics.

Investigating a group of maverick physicists who studied the foundations of quantum mechanics in the 1970s led one physicist-historian to help create a new test of entanglement.

https://dana.org/article/how-neuroscience-is-shaping-justice/What happens when brain science enters the courtroom? And h...
05/05/2025

https://dana.org/article/how-neuroscience-is-shaping-justice/

What happens when brain science enters the courtroom? And how do we make sense of new technologies that claim to detect, or even predict, criminal intent or mental state? In a recent conversation for NeuroSociety Stories, sociologist and MIT professor Oliver Rollins sheds light on how scientific discoveries are not only reshaping legal thinking, but also challenging how we define concepts like culpability, responsibility, and rehabilitation.

Sociologist and MIT professor Oliver Rollins sheds light on how scientific discoveries are reshaping legal thinking.

Professor Robin Scheffler is featured in MIT News! MIT historian Robin Scheffler’s research shows how local regulations ...
04/16/2025

Professor Robin Scheffler is featured in MIT News! MIT historian Robin Scheffler’s research shows how local regulations helped create certainty and safety principles that enabled an industry’s massive growth.

MIT historian Robin Scheffler’s research shows how local regulations helped create certainty and safety principles that enabled the biotech industry’s massive growth.

Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra to discuss Market/Making at 2/5 at 4pm in Nexus, 14-130. To Market, to market!
01/29/2024

Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra to discuss Market/Making at 2/5 at 4pm in Nexus, 14-130. To Market, to market!

Dec. 5, 2023 A panel to discuss Paradigm Shift in Infectious Diseases. Held in Building 14S-130, Nexus Room. Registratio...
11/30/2023

Dec. 5, 2023 A panel to discuss Paradigm Shift in Infectious Diseases. Held in Building 14S-130, Nexus Room. Registration is recommended! See QR code below.

11/30/2023
Reminder! Please join us for the very first speaker series with Alyssa Parades. This coming Monday at 4 pm.
02/08/2023

Reminder! Please join us for the very first speaker series with Alyssa Parades. This coming Monday at 4 pm.

Announcing the 2023 Spring Speaker Series!! STS is excited to have our first speaker, Alyssa Paredes join us On Monday, ...
02/02/2023

Announcing the 2023 Spring Speaker Series!! STS is excited to have
our first speaker, Alyssa Paredes join us On Monday, February 13th. Save the date.

Jennifer L. Mnookin, MIT HASTS '99, new chancellor of University of Wisconsin, Madison
05/19/2022

Jennifer L. Mnookin, MIT HASTS '99, new chancellor of University of Wisconsin, Madison

MADISON, Wis.—Dr. Jennifer L. Mnookin, Dean of the School of Law and Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, has been named the [...]

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