Faculty contact:
Karen Barad
Donna Haraway
Andrew S. Mathews
Matthew Wolf-Meyer
Campus center / program:
STS is not a department or program at UCSC but rather a virtual community of faculty and graduate students who share a common interest in science and technology studies. The faculty and graduate students hail from across the gamut of science-related research areas: science, technology, and society; history and philosophy of science; sociology of science; science and technology studies; and history of technology, among others. The group has a Science Studies Research Cluster to collaborate and converse around themes of science, technology, and culture. This year's theme, Risk and Play: Experiments in Knowing and Relating emphasizes continuing interrogation of kinds of relatings, the materiality of knowledge production, and the crafting of careful knowers.
History of consciousness is an interdisciplinary graduate program centered in the humanities with links to the social sciences, natural sciences, and the arts. It is concerned with forms of human expression and social action as they are manifested in specific historical, cultural, and political contexts. The program stresses flexibility and originality. Interest is focused on problems rather than disciplines. Although students are prepared to teach in particular fields, the emphasis is on questions that span a number of different approaches.
Over more than 40 years of existence, the history of consciousness program has won increasing recognition as a leader of interdisciplinary scholarship. Program graduates are prolific scholars at prominent universities, and dissertations have been published by major publishing houses and academic presses. Graduates currently find academic employment in a wide range of disciplines, including literature, women's studies, science studies, anthropology, sociology, geography, American studies, cultural studies, ethnic studies, communications, and philosophy. In addition, history of consciousness graduates can be found as filmmakers, museum researchers, freelance writers, postdoctoral researchers, and academic administrators.
Since the curriculum concentrates on methodological and theoretical issues and is concerned with the integration of disciplines, candidates for admission are expected to have a relatively clear idea of the project they wish to pursue. Experience of advanced work in one or more fields is preferred but not required.
Although history of consciousness does not have formal tracks, it does emphasize a variety of topics and approaches in its seminars and research pursuits. Reflecting a serious concern for social, historical, and cultural theories, these areas of research can be most succinctly identified as studies at the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender; global capitalism and cultural process; psychoanalytic and semiotic theories of the image; science and technology studies; theories and histories of religion; and social movements. Seminars are regularly offered in these and other areas of ongoing faculty research.
History of consciousness has strong cooperative relations with associated faculty from other campus programs, scholars who offer seminars and participate in advising, qualifying exams, and thesis committees for the department. Within the limits of seminar size and faculty time, cross-disciplinary work in graduate courses offered in other departments is encouraged. The formal list of associated faculty is a non-exhaustive indication of advising possibilities beyond the program's core faculty. Campus research organizations such as the Center for Cultural Studies, the Institute for Humanities Research, and the Chicano/Latino Research Center also provide venues for collaborative work.
News:
Coming soon!
More information:
Martha Kenney