The office of Dr. Angela Vergara, the undergrad director of sociology department, is located in Howard Philips Hall. Dr. Vergara is a big advocate for the Science, Technology and Society (STS) certificate available this fall.
Ganna Mahmoud
A new sociology certificate is launching this fall, inviting students from all majors to examine how technology and science shape society to supplement their degree.
The certificate is known as Science, Technology, and Society, and is the first certificate to be launched in the sociology department.
“What makes it unique is its approach through an interdisciplinary lens, combining various courses from the humanities and social sciences such as English, history, writing and anthropology That will help students learn multiple perspectives,” said Dr. Angela Vergara, undergraduate director of sociology.
Vergara said the certificate is a “way of conceptualizing, and organizing themes that we already have included in our different types of classes that we have in terms of science, technology human interaction, ethics.”
In the certificate curriculum, the focus will be on critical thinking, writing, understanding history, the relationship between society and technology, social demographics, policy and the relationship between variables.
“The idea behind STS also helps students understand how scientific knowledge gets generated, how to conduct research and how scientists do their jobs,” said Dr. Jason Ford, sociology department chair.
“When we talk about technology, we kind of think that humans are removed from the equation, but science and technology are fundamentally human activities,” Ford added.
Howard Philips Hall is where the sociology department and other social sciences are located. A new certificate called Science, Technology and Society (STS) will be available starting this fall.
Ganna Mahmoud
Students will also learn the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in the field.
”We don’t want to be over-reliant on it [AI] where we are plagiarizing or doing something that violates the UCF code,” said Ford.
The department hopes students understand the value of the sociology degree and the courses they take.
“Our hope is for students to graduate with holistic knowledge and just more understanding of the people’s side and the social side of science and technology,” Vergara said.