John L. Heilbron, Professor Emeritus of History of Science and former Vice Chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley, passed on November 5, 2023, in Padua, Italy, at the age of 89. In recognition of his critical and enduring contributions to HSNS, Professor Cathryn Carson honors his life and legacy in the obituary, “John L.… Read more

Nina Beguš, current lecturer at UC Berkeley’s School of Information and Department of History and former CSTMS Postdoctoral Scholar, has published an article, “Experimental Narratives: A Comparison of Human Crowdsourced Storytelling and AI Storytelling,” in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. Her study, released today, October 28th, compares storytelling by human writers and AI models like GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, revealing… Read more

We are pleased to share that Ximeng Chen, CSTMS Visiting Scholar and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Xi’an Jiaotong University, represented the University of California, Berkeley at the 15th Annual Machine Learning Symposium organized by the New York Academy of Sciences. Professor Chen participated as a poster presenter highlighting her latest research on Moral AI. For… Read more

Course: ISF 100J (Spring 2025)Course Title: The Social Life of ComputingInstructor: Shreeharsh KelkarTime: MWF 1-2 pm in Physics 1 We live in a time which some characterize as the “second machine age” of automation, artificial intelligence, and big data.  This course introduces students to the technical, social, business, and political entanglements of computing from its… Read more

Dr. Melina Packer, former STS DE student, is collaborating with biologist Dr. Ambika Kamath on her forthcoming second book, Feminism in the Wild (MIT Press, Spring 2025). In Feminism in the Wild, Dr. Ambika Kamath and Dr. Melina Packer reveal how scientists studying animal behavior have long projected human norms and values onto animals while seeking to understand them.… Read more

Available for pre-order Former STS DE student, Dr. Melina Packer’s first book, Toxic Sexual Politics (forthcoming spring 2025, from NYU Press) shows how the founding fathers of U.S. toxicology were ideologically aligned with the chemical industry, inventing a science that could “make chemicals safe,” as opposed to one that could adequately protect planetary health from toxicants’ hazards.… Read more

Applications for the STS Undergraduate Minor are now open. The deadline to apply is October 15th, 2024! As our students enter into a world of accelerating change, it has become ever more important that these future scientists, engineers, computer and data scientists, health care practitioners, social scientists, teachers, policymakers, and more be able to reason… Read more

This course is a STS DE student requirement. Graduate students must take at least one semester of the CSTMS Thursday colloquium (HIST/STS 290) as the third required class. Colloquium Dates in Fall 2024:October 3rdOctober 10thOctober 24thNovember 14th TH 4:00 pm – 5:29 pmLocation: Stephens 470 Instructor: Sandra Eder, Director of CSTMS Class #:19299Units:1 Course Catalog Description Colloquium… Read more

Fall 2024 : DATA C104 / STS C104/ HIS C184D Human Contexts and Ethics of Data Aug 28 2024 – Dec 13 2024Undergraduate section: M, W, F from 3:00 pm – 3:59 pmInstructors: Cathryn Carson, Ari EdmundsonLocation: Dwinelle 155, UC Berkeley Campus Class #: 24482 This course teaches you to use the tools of applied… Read more