So... What do I do after graduation?
Students who concentrate in Science and Technology Studies have many options available to them. Some will undoubtedly be on a Premed track. Some have become science and technology communicators, journalists, writers and teachers.
Others may immediately or eventually pursue graduate education in science and technology studies or the history and philosophy of science, since PhD Programs now exist at a fair number of respected institutions. Many of our concentrators have already chosen this route. Still others may choose law school or graduate training in public policy.
The background gained from an undergraduate Science and Society concentration will prepare them to follow, guide and shape scientific knowledge as it travels from the laboratory into the public arena.
Science and Society Alum
Emily Underwood ’07
“STS allowed me to combine writing and other humanities courses with science courses, which helped me develop concrete skills that I have been able to apply to the workplace. For example, my first jobs out of college were a position as a composition tutor at a community college, and a freelance editor for UCSB Master's and Ph.D. candidates.
“Next is a journalism internship for High Country News in Paonia, Colorado. I'm excited to apply many of the ideas I learned in STS to issues I was immersed in growing up in the West – water rights, mining, endangered species, drought. Hydrological predictions and the Bureau of Reclamation – now there's an imbroglio fit for Bruno Latour!”
Blanche Greene-Cramer '07
With a primary interest in the intersection of public nutrition, human rights, and health law as it pertains to the obesity pandemic both in the U.S. and in emerging economies, Blanche Greene-Cramer ‘07 is in her second year of a public health masters program at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. She is focusing on Global Health, Public Nutrition. Read more
Emma Zuroski '06
“I took the course “Introduction to Science Studies” with Chris Amirault in my junior year. Now studying for my Masters in Science, Technology, Medicine and Society, I return to the ideas and discussions I first encountered in that course. Particularly, I feel as if that class introduced me to a new language with which to talk about science and scientific knowledge."
Emma is now studying at the London Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology, a program jointly run by Imperial College London, University College London and the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine.
Addie Goss '06
"I was part of the first official S&S graduating class - the class of '06, consisting of me and Emma Zuroski. STS became extremely useful within months. In the fall of 2006, I interned at National Public Radio, then began work as a production assistant for All Things Considered. I worked closely with the Science Desk and eventually began reporting my own science stories -- on everything from taxonomy to the chemical structure of Splenda. It was extremely helpful to have a handle on a wide range of scientific fields, while having practiced again and again how to write about those fields for a general audience. I can thank STS for both of these tools.
"I later freelanced for NPR from Bamako, Mali, where most of my stories were about health. Now, as a reporter at Wyoming Public Radio, my reporting interests have broadened out. But the tricks I learned in science writing - tight sentences, strong images, the perfect metaphor - serve me every single day."
Roger Turner ‘01
Roger Turner graduated in 2001 – a few years before Brown developed its official Science and Society concentration. With advisor Joan Richards, Professor of History, he developed an independent concentration in the History of Science.
His studies at Brown culminated in a thesis on “cloud seeding,” a scientific technique for modifying the weather. This early work led Turner to the University of Pennsylvania, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the History and Sociology of Science Department. Read more
