Science, Technology and Public Policy

From RealCTY
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Science, Technology and Public Policy
Special Course
Course CodeSPUB
Year Opened2013
Sites OfferedPRN
Part of a series on
Realcty logo 20060831.png
CTY Courses
Category · Template · CAA Courses
Sites
Baltimore · Carlisle · Lancaster · Los Angeles · Saratoga Springs · Seattle
Humanities
Logic: PoR
International Politics ·
Ethics · Existentialism
Philosophy of Mind
Cognitive Psychology · Linguistics
Dissent
Newton, Darwin, and Einstein
The Art and Science of Filmmaking
Beyond the Binary: A Cultural History of Gender
Laws and Orders: Legal Systems Around the World
Writing
Writing Your World
Fiction and Poetry
Utopias and Dystopias
Persuasion and Propaganda
The Art of Fiction
Math
Probability and Game Theory
Number Theory · Mathematical Logic
Cryptology · Combinatorics and Graph Theory
Topology
Economics
Macroeconomics and the Global Economy
Fundamentals of Microeconomics
Computer Science
Data Structures and Algorithms
Fundamentals of Computer Science
Science
FPHS Biology · FPHS Chemistry · FPHS Physics
Astrophysics
Paleobiology · Genetics · Neuroscience
Investigations in Engineering
Introduction to Biomedical Sciences · Electrical Engineering
Special Relativity
Princeton & Berkeley
Global Politics: Human Rights and Justice
Human Nature and Technology
Politics and Film · Epidemiology
The Mathematics of Competitive Behavior
Science, Technology and Public Policy
Race and Politics · Politics in the Middle East
The Global Environment
Playing God: The Ethics of Human Subjects Research
You Will Be Offended: Satire, Comedy, and Public Discourse
Defunct Courses
Beginning Ancient Greek · German 1
German 2
Latin 2
French 1 · French 2
Great Revolutions
American History
Modern European History · Eastern European History
Music Theory
History of Western Art
Renaissance Art
Introduction to American Studies: Race and Class
Medieval Art
Twentieth Century Art · Gandhi's India
American Studies: The Sixties · Women and US Social Reform
American Studies: The Harlem Renaissance
Intermediate Ancient Greek
Islam · The Asian Pacific Rim
Russian History
TCE: Literature and the Arts · TCE: Popular Culture
The Crafting of Drama
The Crafting of Poetry · TCE: Shakespeare
TCE: Science Fiction
TCE: Beyond the Ring and the Wardrobe
Advanced Mathematical Modeling
Advanced Mathematical Reasoning
Statistics · Calculus: A Conceptual Approach
Topics in Precalculus
Set Theory · Digital Logic
Theoretical Foundations of Computer Science
Introduction to Laboratory Sciences · Archaeology
Ecology
Microbiology · Selected Topics in Advanced Biology
Selected Topics in Advanced Chemistry
Selected Topics in Advanced Physics · Physical Anthropology
Advanced Physics: Mechanics
Scientific Investigations: St. Mary's River · Genomics
Volcanoes
Etymologies · Oceanography: The Hawaiian Pacific
Life Cycle of an Island: Hawaii
The History of Disease · The Critical Essay: Film
Wicked Art: Pictures, Pixels, and Pens
Latin I
Goodwives and Witches: Women in Colonial America
Freaks and Geeks in Popular Media
The Digital Revolution
Advanced Robotics
Theory of Computation
Individually Paced Mathematics Sequence
Service, Leadership & Community Transformation
Advanced Cryptology
Law and Politics in US History
Intro to Organic Chemistry

Course Description

From the CTY Course Catalog (2017):

Governments around the world must wrestle with crucial questions about how their policies affect science and technology and, in turn, how advances in science and technology affect their domestic and international affairs. Is global climate change a real concern, and, if so, how can it be slowed without disrupting economic activity? Is funding fetal stem cell research in an effort to cure diseases ethical? Should we spend vast sums to build the enormous particle accelerators required to make the next great advances in physics? How should scarce vaccines be distributed to prevent a possible epidemic? Answering these questions requires an interdisciplinary knowledge of science, philosophy, political science, and public policy.

In this course, students explore the nexus of science and public policy. They investigate the tools and methods policy analysts and science advisors use to assess these issues. They learn about how governments solicit expertise, determine funding, and regulate science research and technological industries. Students then work through a number of real-life case studies. They take on the role of government policy makers, deciding, for example, whether to build a new nuclear power plant and how to dispose of the radioactive waste, whether to invest in space exploration, or whether to require costly prenatal testing for birth defects. Students leave with an understanding of how science and technology affect national agendas and the public interest.

Sessions Past

SPUB 2k19 of Session 1 quickly became the greatest class in the history of classes. Consisting of members such as Ron Gneezy, Leo and David Antonevich, the absolutely legendary Waluigi clone called Andy Truss (god of Outback Steakhouse himself), Ryan Vuono, Annabel Coplan, and several others who would make this list too long, totaling at 15 students. Taught by TA Allegra Kuney and the ever so amazing Instructor Dr. Hang Ryeol "Always Hot" Na, this class engaged in some of the most brain hurting reading in human history, which somehow led to some semi-logical discussions. Thanks to the combination of Andy's jokes and Dr. Na's singing, alongside frisbee-based antics during breaks, this class managed to bring some of the most enjoyment imaginable. Many brain cells were lost to reading, many more gained in discussions, Ron never put down his phone, and it all culminated with a series of presentations on the final Thursday. Ultimately, the heart breaking realization of the end of this class hit everybody very hard, and some of the most heartfelt goodbyes were had between members of this class, many of who were on either their first or second years, nearly all on their last.