STS Senior Capstones (Spring 2025)

As a graduation requirement, all STS students must complete a senior capstone course during their final year. All capstones satisfy the Applied Learning and Writing Intensive College graduation requirements. Students can either take STS 400W - Senior Seminar or STS 401W - Internship. Students who wish to register for either capstone must have completed at least 90 credits. Students cannot register for the capstone on their own. If interested in registering for STS 400W - Senior Seminar, please contact Kathy and she can help you register for the course. If interested in registering for STS 401W - Internship, please contact STS Internship Coordinator, Prof Karin Huijgens.

Senior Seminars

STS 400W - Senior Seminar - Human Services (tw0 sections offered)
Prof. Karin Huijgens | On Campus | Mon/Wed 10:50am - 12:05pm | 3 credits | CRN: 26134
Prof. Karin Huijgens | On Campus | Mon/Wed 1:40pm - 2:55pm | 3 credits | CRN: 21387 
In this capstone course students will integrate STS skills and knowledge learned, and apply this to the field of human services. The course will address the current multidisciplinary problems facing this field. Topics will include homelessness, food insecurity, structure of social service programs and insurances, mental health, and legal issues including immigration. Students will evaluate the application of personal ethics, setting of boundaries, and dealing with stress for providers of human services. In addition, the course will assist students in preparing for their career after graduation. This will include resume writing and interview skills. 

STS 400W - Senior Seminar - Qualitative Methods in STS Research (two sections offered) 
Dr. Emma Stamm | On Campus | Tue/Thu 1:40pm - 2:55pm | 3 credits | CRN: 25968
Dr. Emma Stamm | On Campus | Tue/Thu 3:05pm - 4:20pm | 3 credits | CRN: 21655
In this capstone course, students will integrate skills and knowledge from their previous courses in an intensive exploration of qualitative methods in STS scholarship. We will cover three overarching approaches to STS research initiatives: first, historical; second, ethnographic; third, research focused on sociotechnical imaginaries (as a subset of theoretical research). Students will be introduced to methods associated with each, including but not limited to archival research; interviewing; surveying; fieldwork; critical discourse analysis; rhetorical analysis; thematic coding; and more. Work for this course includes close reading and discussion of STS research based on qualitative methods, in addition to hands-on practice with methods and investigation of theoretical informants to practical/applied research. Throughout the semester, students will work on their own self-designed research project, culminating in the submission of a paper and class presentation. Students will be encouraged to direct their research project towards their future profession, taking an aspect of their envisioned career as the object of their qualitative study.

STS 400W - Senior Seminar - Academic Research & Report Writing (two sections offered) 
Prof. Michael Passero | ONLINE | 3 credits | CRN: 24485
Prof. Michael Passero | ONLINE | 3 credits | CRN: 21928
This capstone seminar serves as a culminating experience for the Science, Technology, and Society program. The final goal of this course will be for students to conduct academic research and generate research abstracts, sentence outlines, a professional oral presentation, and professional report on a topic of their choosing. While the curriculum is broad-based in scope, lectures will pay particular attention to the fundamental concepts of academic research, oral communication, and written communication.

Internship

STS 401W - Internship 
Prof. Francesca Polo | ONLINE | 3 credits | CRN: 21403
This course is designed for Science, Technology and Society (STS) majors who wish to complete a semester-long (or equivalent) internship as part of their course of study. Students may choose an internship at a corporation or a civic, educational, governmental, or not-for- profit organization after consultation with and permission of the department chair. Any internship should support learning outcomes and/or career development in the sciences, technology, and/or society. Enrollment in this course is restricted to students with senior status in the STS Program. Students enrolled in an internship will meet periodically with their advisor and will be required to submit internship notes and both a draft and final report of the internship experience at the end of the semester. This is a writing-intensive course. Prerequisite(s): Senior status in STS program and approval of Department Chair

Students who wish to pursue an internship must contact the STS Internship Coordinator, Prof Karin Huijgens