History of Science and Technology Minor

The History of Science and Technology Minor is open to all UVA undergraduates. 

For engineering students, the minor offers an occasion for placing his or her professional education in a larger social and intellectual context.

For liberal arts students, the minor provides a better understanding of science and technology as key components in human culture.

Curriculum

To qualify to earn the History of Science and Technology minor, the student must complete 18 credit hours of qualifying courses, all with a grade of C or better.

It is the student’s responsibility to determine which classes are likely to qualify as classes in the history of science or technology, and to refer them to a faculty member in the Department of Engineering and Society for approval as qualifying courses. The faculty member then judges if the proposed classes indeed qualify.  In many cases a course title with a course description will suffice, but in nonobvious cases the student will provide the faculty member with a course syllabus.

Major history survey courses, the kind typically offered by the History Department over two successive semesters, may account for up to two of the six qualifying courses (or 6 credits of the 18).  Examples of survey courses include American or U.S. History to 1865, U.S. History since 1865, and comparable 2-course sequences that review over a century of history at a national or continental scale anywhere in the world.  Such courses may be mixed; i.e. the student need not take both survey courses in a two-course sequence.

The information contained on this website is for informational purposes only.  The Undergraduate Record and Graduate Record represent the official repository for academic program requirements. These publications may be found here.