“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
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Are you curious about the intersection between science and society, but from a historical perspective? The Department of History has a number of 2025/2026 course offerings that may pique your interest! Scroll down to read through the course descriptions and scheduling info.
HIST 240: Health, Illness and Medicine I: From the Ancient World to the Early Modern Period
- Instructor: Dr. John Christopolous
- Term 1
- Schedule: Thursdays, 3:30 to 5:00 pm + Hybrid Learning
Course Description: This course provides an overview of the history of western medicine from the Ancient World to the Enlightenment. Students will focus in particular on social and cultural ideas surrounding the body, health, and disease, and the development of medical institutions.
HIST 259: Science, Medicine, and Technology in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds
- Instructor: Dr. Alexei Kojevnikov
- Term 1
- Schedule: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:00 to 3:30 pm
Course Description: This course provides an overview of how knowledge about nature originated in various ancient civilizations and cultures. Students will learn about historical knowledge of the stars and planets, earth, geography, calendars, mathematics, plants, animals, agriculture, tools, technology, diseases and the human body. Regions of study include the Middle East, Africa, China and India. Students will also learn about the forms in which these knowledge systems could exist and how they developed in close relationship with various cultures’ religious, mythological, and philosophical traditions. Even before advanced methods of transportation, there were broad possibilities and opportunities for the transmission, reception, and transformation of these forms of knowledge across vast distances between different countries and continents. Because of multicultural exchanges, more complex scientific systems developed in the Ancient Mediterranean, in the Arabic-speaking Muslim world, and in medieval Europe prior to the 16th century. Trade and informational exchanges encompassed the entire Earth, resulting in the first globalization of scientific knowledge: the scientific revolution.
Selected Readings:
- The Beginnings of Western Science, Prehistory to 1450 by David C. Lindberg
- The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance by Jim Al-Khalili
HIST 260: Science and Society in the Contemporary World
- Instructor: Dr. Robert Brain
- Term 1
- Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 am to 12:30 pm
Course Description: This course provides an introduction to the historical development, conceptual foundations, and cultural significance of contemporary science.
