New Academic Center Bridging Cultural Gap

New Academic Center Bridging Cultural Gap
RICE NEWS OFFICE
April 16, 1998

A new Rice academic center is bridging the cultural gap between the humanities
and science by hosting an April 25 workshop on the uses of history and philosophy
of science in general-education courses and by preparing new science courses
for undergraduates in the fall.

Last summer, the Provost’s Office created the Center for the Study of Science
and Technology as an interdivisional center reporting directly to the provost.
The center is the brainchild of Albert Van Helden, the Lynette S. Autrey Professor
of History and the center’s director, and Richard E. Grandy, the Carolyn and
Fred McManis Professor of Philosophy.

The center’s mission is to promote the uses of the history and philosophy of
science and technology in general-education courses, focusing on science and
engineering courses designed for nontechnical majors, Van Helden said.

"The center will help facilitate conversations between the sciences, humanities
and social sciences in concrete ways, initially through these undergraduate
courses and in other ways as projects unfold," said Randel Hanson, coordinator
for the center and an environmental historian.

One of the center’s first visible acts on campus will be to host a workshop
on the uses of history and philosophy of science in general-education courses
at Rice.

The workshop will be held 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 25, in 1070 Duncan
Hall. Garland Allen, a historian of biology from Washington University in St.
Louis, and James Evans, a historian of astronomy from the University of Puget
Sound in Washington, will give presentations. Richard Duschl, an expert on science
education from Vanderbilt University, will serve as the commentator. The event
is open to Rice faculty, staff and students.

"Allen, Evans and Duschl are going to be talking about how to use the
history and philosophy of science in science education," Van Helden said.

The morning workshop will focus on biological sciences, while the afternoon
workshop will address the physical sciences, Van Helden said.

During the 1998-99 academic year, the center will offer several undergraduate
courses taught by two post-doctoral fellows specifically hired for the purpose.

The new postdoctoral candidates are Gregory Mikkelson, whose dissertation dealt
with the problem of defining ecological stability, and Yuri Balashov, whose
specialty is 20th century cosmology.

The scientific content of the new courses will be designed in consultation
with faculty members in science departments, so that the courses will meet the
requirements for nonscience majors, who must complete at least 12 hours in natural
sciences and engineering.

For more information on the workshop or the Center for the Study of Science
and Technology, call Hanson at (713) 737-5881, Van Helden at (713) 527-8101,
ext. 2556, or visit http://csst.rice.edu/.