About the Program

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This 15 credit Graduate Certificate in Science in a Changing World prepares students to focus on science in the context of social change or individual intellectual development.

Course material, classroom activities, teaching/learning interactions, and projects focused on real-world problems provide students opportunities to:

• learn about science and its social and historical context
• gain a set of models for work in education, policy, and other areas of civic engagement
• discuss practices and philosophies of science, education, and social change; and
• undertake research with a view to engaging with science in a changing social and personal world.

Students with diverse backgrounds and career paths — from laboratories to field research, journalism to policy formulation, teaching to activism — are welcome to join the track. In addition to examining Science and its Social Context, students develop valuable professional skills in Research, Writing, and Evaluation for Civic Engagement and in Collaborative Processes and Problem-Based Teaching around current controversies involving science and technology.

Science in a Changing World students graduate well prepared to move across the persistent divide between sciences and humanities. They are able to participate in questioning and shaping the direction of scientific and social changes, as well as to teach and engage others to participate in this important endeavor.