History of Science, Technology, and Medicine

History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (HSTM) Major & Minor - Coming Fall 2025

Starting Fall 2025, Purdue Liberal Arts introduces the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (HSTM) major and minor. This program explores how science, technology, and medicine have evolved across history and cultures. Students will gain valuable skills in research and communication while examining contemporary issues like AI, genomics, and public health. The HSTM major bridges STEM and Liberal Arts, preparing graduates to apply historical insights to today’s challenges.

New Purdue degree to explore the history of science, technology, and medicine

A new History major will allow students to explore how science, technology, and medicine have shaped and been shaped in diverse contexts across time and geography. Developed by the Department of History, the new major in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM) will also be offered as an academic minor. Current students can enroll in the programs immediately.

The HSTM major equips students to understand the past and to shape the future through bringing historical insights to bear on today’s most urgent challenges across emerging technologies and scientific and medical discoveries.

“I am pleased that the History Department advanced this new degree program,” said David A. Reingold, Justin S. Morrill Dean of Liberal Arts and senior vice president for policy planning. “Our disciplines in the humanities and social sciences offer an important lens through which students can better understand the human and societal implications of science, technology, and medicine. As they consider the historic contexts and lessons across these domains, they are better prepared to create informed outcomes for the future.”

“As a department we’ve really worked to engage with university initiatives like artificial intelligence and computational genetics,” explained Frederick Rowe Davis, Head of History and the R. Mark Lubbers Chair in History of Science. “It’s really part of a larger effort by the College of Liberal Arts to create a bridge between STEM and Liberal Arts.”

“We designed the major around foundational and then specialized disciplinary skills development that is documentable and has immediate value in a variety of post degree markets,” said Yvonne Pitts Associate Professor of the Department of History and Director of Undergraduate Program.

HSTM’s comprehensive coursework emphasizes interactive learning and empirically driven analytical approaches that yield job-ready research and communication skills. From the ancient origins of artificial intelligence to public health crises and technological warfare, the HSTM curriculum empowers students to tackle pressing contemporary issues with historical insight.

“There is abundant evidence that Liberal Arts students can thrive in in a STEM environment,” Davis said. “We make technology for humans and apply science to Humanity. Science, technology, and humanity are fundamentally connected.