FAK3150 Perspectives on the History of Science, Technology and Environment

Eligible applicants are students who meet the requirements for admission to graduate studies in history or other humanities and social sciences.

The course is divided into a dozen seminars. At each of these seminars, a classic is read, contextualised and discussed, also paying attention to the legacy and critique of that particular monograph. The specific list of classics is revisited regularly and the decision on which titles that should be included takes place in the collective of the faculty. Titles that have been the object of study in a recent course for a specific cohort might for example be exchange for others.

Teaching takes the form of seminars, with shorter introduction and contextualisation of the classic done by the teacher. Particular weight is put on students’ active discussion of the course material. Students will write text reflections on the readings which together with active participation is the basis of examination.

The aim of this course is to provide students with an overview and knowledge about established as well as recent research in the fields of history of science, technology, and environment, and neighboring fields. It is thus a course aimed at broadening the understanding of the field through the reading and contextualisation of classics, broadly understood. After completing the course, students should be able to account for, discuss, analyze and apply important themes and problems in the fields of history of science, history of technology, environmental history and related disciplinary fields, based on a solid understanding of the history of the field. Moreover, the focus on reading and discussing monographs will develop the art of reading monographs and understanding the role of monographs in the humanities. The students are encouraged to reflect on these perspectives in relation to their own ongoing research.