The Nott Memorial

(technology - Gr. art; skill; craft - the study of)

© 1999 Robert Balmer, Dean of Engineering

The F. W. Olin Center

The dominant reality of the entire twentieth century is technology. The first half of the century saw massive technological growth in machines and manufacturing. The second half saw a similar growth in electronics and computers. Virtually nothing we do, think, or possess tody can escape a direct link with technology. Technological themes weave throughout our daily lives in ways that we are only beginning to understand. Like it or not, technology has now moved us to the point in human development where we are closer to fulfilling the ancient dream of adequate food, good health, prosperity and peace for all, than at any other point in human history.

Technology is a truly impressive force on human development, and as such is too important to be left to the business community, engineering, and innovative technologists alone. Every person that wishes to live a productive and creative life today must begin to understand the influence of this massive force. Understanding the complex relationship between technology and society may, in fact, be crucial to the survival of our culture.

The purpose of the Union College Science, Technology and Society Program is to explore and gain an understanding of the relation between the three components: science, technology, and culture. We are particularly concerned with the impact of science and technology on human values and how it can best be used to satisfy human needs. The development and integration of a sustainable interdisciplinary undergraduate program in STS is an enormous undertaking. It has been tried at several universities in the past with little lasting impact on the curriculum. However, Union College, an institution that has embraced the co-existence of the traditional liberal arts with engineering for more than 150 years, is now poised to accomplish what no other university could do, or can do to develop a sustainable program that will become a role model for all institutions of higher education.

The Program:

The Union College Science, Technology and Society (STS) Program, which could evolve toward a minor or an interdisciplinary major, does not have a separate teaching staff. It encompasses existing, and develops new STS courses around traditional liberal arts programs and departments. The new courses will enrich the undergraduate instruction of the entire College by providing a wide selection of science/technology/culture offering which have few if any prerequisites. However, there are three key elements in this program that must be implemented to assure success. They are:

1. There must be an integrated student base, with both engineering and liberal arts students in all STS classes, and

2. Many STS courses must be co-taught by enthusiastic faculty form engineering and the liberal arts. Having both engineering and liberal arts faculty in the same classroom at the same time is essential in cross-training each to the others professional point of view, and will give STS at Union a credibility not possible in other Liberal Arts Colleges. After a sufficient amount of co-teaching experience, the faculty participants could be expected to be sensitive enough to represent both points of view as single instructors.

3. That the STS courses be limited to providing students with:

a)   a basic understanding of the technology that surrounds them (teaming engineering and science faculty), and

b)  a historical and cultural "context" of the influence of technology (teaming engineering and humanist or social sciences faculty).

In this format technologist and non-technologists, scientists and non-scientists, can come together as equals to evaluate problems that transcend traditional academic boundaries.

1. Physics and engineering: How Things Work, An Introduction to Technology - An description of the workings of various forms of modern technology such as the automobile, television, radio, microwave ovens, and so forth from a vary basic point of view. Associated laboratory experiences with the technology to reinforce understanding.
2. Anthropology and engineering: Energy and Cultural Systems - The impact of energy conversion technology on social organization. Introduction to change and stability in cultural systems; the basic laws of energy flow; theories of the effect of technology and energy use on creating and changing cultural systems; the effects of industrialization in underdeveloped countries; future directions.
3. Biology and engineering: Frankenstein Revisited - A study of the cultural, ethical, and aesthetic implications of biological technology (bioengineering, genetic engineering, population control, exotic health care systems, etc.).
4. History and engineering: Men, Women, and American Technology - Critical biographical studies of notable male and female inventors, industrialists, and engineers (Galbraith, Steinmetz, Edison, Westinghouse, Ford, etc.) with emphasis on their value systems and how it influenced the technologies they spanned.
5. philosophy and engineering: Technology, Culture and Society - An investigation of the extent to which technology contributes to social progress, to the expansion of freedom and power, and to the lessening of pain, suffering, and exploitation. Also, to what extent is technology to blame for social alienation and environmental degradation.
6. English and engineering: Human Communication and Technology - An examination of the actual and potential role of technology in facilitating, enhancing, and embellishing human communication. The sequential impact of oral, written, electronic, and graphical communication modes on the human transmission of thoughts and ideas. Includes the impact of mathematical representations of complex concepts and the impact of computer technology (e.g., the internet) on human communication.
7. English and engineering: Technology in Science Fiction - A critical reading of various classical science fiction forms to investigate how well science fiction writers projected and predicted technological advances. To what extent is actual technological advancement driven by young future engineers and scientists reading and embracing science fiction literature?
8. Art and engineering: Literature. Art and Technology - An interdisciplinary view of the impact of technological change on the development of new forms of literature (e.g., the impact of the typewriter, word processor, internet, etc.) and art (e.g., the impact of photography on impressionism; computer graphics yields fractal art; the many facets of film and TV on the arts).
9. History, physics, and engineering: Steinmetz, Edison, and the Electrical Revolution - A historical study of the technological developments that produced the electrical revolution. Historians provide the cultural context on the mid to late 19^th century, physicists provide a discussion of basic electrical phenomena, and engineers discuss the processes of mass industrialization and distribution of these new technologies.