Science and Public Policy in the U.S.A.
Issues of global climate change, nanotechnology, immunization, genomic sequencing, and alternative energy have become hot topics in scientific policy debates. In this course we will explore how science and technology influence, and are in turn influenced by, U.S. public policy. We will analyze scientific policies pre-and post-WWII, while working to understand the impact of these policies on the development of science as well as that of the nation. At the end of the course we will divide into groups and debate current scientific policies such as current funding for NASA, state mandated immunization, and clean energy incentives.