The interdisciplinary minor in Genetic Engineering and Society (GES) examines the technological, societal and ecological issues surrounding the development and potential use of genetically engineered organisms. Participants in the minor will learn the basic concepts and principles underlying genetic engineering and the methods used for evaluating the technology’s social, cultural and environmental dimensions. The graduate minor is available to students pursuing either an MS or a Ph.D. degree.

Requirements

In order to complete the minor, coursework must be taken in relevant areas of natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences. 9 credit hours from a list of approved courses (see below) are required, 6 of which must be two of the core GES courses. The remaining 3 credit hours must be fulfilled by a course from the list of approved courses that are outside the students’ home discipline. A grade of B or higher must be achieved in each course counted towards the minor. In addition, a student must have a GES faculty member on his or her committee, and this faculty member should be from a discipline other than the student’s major, ensuring that there is representation from both humanities/social science and natural science.

The choice of courses must be consistent with the interdisciplinary outlook of this minor, namely that students will learn the basic concepts and principles underlying genetic engineering and the methods used for evaluating the technology’s social, cultural and environmental dimensions. The minor representative will be responsible for ensuring that the courses taken are appropriate and balance the student’s major. Students in the biological sciences will be encouraged to take hands-on courses, such as those offered by the BIT program.

More Information

Program Website

Application Deadlines

March 15: Application due for preferred consideration

Plan Requirements

Course List

Code	Title	Hours	Counts towards
Core Courses		9
GES/COM/HI 508	Emerging Technologies and Society
GES 591	Special Topics in Genetic Engineering and Society (Governance, Systems & Modeling)
GES 591	Special Topics in Genetic Engineering and Society (Genetic Engineering for Sustainable Crop Development)
Select one additional course below:		3
GES 506	Principles of Genetic Pest Management
ANT 550	Culture, Ecology, and Sustainable Living
BIT 410/510	Manipulation of Recombinant DNA
COM 536	Seminar in Environmental Communication
ECG 540	Economic Development
ENG 515	Rhetoric Of Science and Technology
FW 411/511	Human Dimensions of Wildlife and Fisheries
GN 735	Functional Genomics
HI 540	American Environmental History
HI 581	History of the Life Sciences
HI 585	History of American Technology
NR 571	Current Issues in Natural Resource Policy
REL 571	Darwinism and Christianity
PA 598/798	Special Topics in Public Administration (Science and Technology Policy)
PHI 475/575	Ethical Theory
PSY 757	Innovation and Technology
ST 590	Special Topics (Bioinformatics I/II)
Total Hours		12