INSCITES flyer (pdf) & INSCITES Application - Can be found in the 'other documents ' section of our file repository. 

Using NSF funds, the CNSI, in collaboration with researchers at the CNS, are starting a program this fall that will give graduate students the opportunity to design and teach new modular courses that integrate ‘real’ science and engineering within a societal context: history, economics, politics, etc. The program is called “INSCITES”: INsights on SCIence and TEchnology for Society. The proposed title of the course for the first year is “Understanding Today’s Technology.”

The course will include important mathematical and conceptual building blocks of understanding, and hands-on involvement through illustrative labs. The societal context would bring scientific invention out of the lab and into common usage, examining how science and technology transforms people’s lives and visa versa.

The class will be collaboratively designed, and is intended for lower division undergraduates, without any pre-requisites. Each year, a particular science or technology theme will be identified by those developing the course. In time, it is hoped that different modular themes will serve as the base for a ‘liberal arts of science and engineering’.

During the fall, the Graduate Student Teaching Scholars will meet twice a week (academic credit will be given) and determine the syllabus of the course: the format, the content, labs, projects, and requirements. Discussions of effective teaching methods will be undertaken. The goal of the Fall quarter is the finalization of a curriculum to be team-taught during Winter quarter. Finally, the Spring quarter will be a once-a-week meeting (academic credit given) to discuss, evaluate and perhaps redesign some elements of the class.