Biology and Society

The Biology & Society major provides the skills and perspectives necessary to confront problems with biological, social, and ethical dimensions. The Biology & Society major is suited for students who wish to combine training in biology with perspectives from the social sciences and humanities aspects of modern biology. Because the Biology & Society major is multidisciplinary, students must attain a basic understanding of each of the several disciplines it comprises, by including courses in the fields of biology, humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. In addition, majors take core courses in Biology & Society, and a set of electives, and a special senior seminar that comprises their theme. Students are expected to select their theme courses to meet their own goals and interests in consultation with a faculty advisor. Some areas of interest might include genetic engineering, the right to medical care, health and society,  biology and public policy, food and population, and environment and society.
 
Course work in the College of Arts and Sciences may be selected from theme concentrations in Biology & Public Policy; Health and Society; Biology, Behavior and Society, to name a few.  Students may also develop their own individually tailored theme, in consultation with a faculty advisor.
 
The Biology & Society major, which involves faculty from throughout the university, is offered by the Department of Science & Technology Studies.  Students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are eligible for the major.  The major is coordinated for students in both colleges through the Biology & Society Office.
 
Students who are admitted to Biology & Society as their major field of study graduate from Cornell with well-developed writing and analytical skills and a knowledge base that can lead to employment in a variety of fields.  Many graduates have accepted positions as health counselors, writers, policy analysts and researchers for government organizations, medical institutions, consumer or environmental groups, or scientific research institutes.  Students have found that Biology & Society is also excellent preparation for professional training in medicine, law, and health services administration and for graduate programs in such fields as genetic counseling, nutrition, clinical psychology, public health, environmental studies, anthropology, sociology, and other related fields.

No single course may satisfy more than one major requirement. All courses must be taken for a letter grade and at least 3 credits. For a course to count towards the major, students must receive at least a C- as a final grade.

I. Prerequisite and Basic Courses:

a. Introductory Biology:

Starting with the Class of 2014, AP credit will no longer be accepted by the Biology & Society major to fulfill the Intro Bio requirement. See the DUS or Advising Staff in 3003 Morrill Hall (sms252@cornell.edu) for other options.

• two of the following:

• BIOG 1440 - Introductory Biology: Comparative Physiology or
• BIOG 1445 - Introduction to Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, Individualized Instruction

•  

• BIOEE 1610 - Introductory Biology: Ecology and the Environment or
• BIOSM 1610 - Ecology and the Marine Environment

•  

• BIOMG 1350 - Introductory Biology: Cell and Developmental Biology

•  

• BIOEE 1780 - An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and Diversity or
• BIOSM 1780 - Evolution and Marine Diversity

b. College calculus (one course:)

• MATH 1106 - Calculus for the Life and Social Sciences
• MATH 1110 - Calculus I
• MATH 1120 - Calculus II
• or any higher-level calculus course.

c. Recommended but not required:

General chemistry (one-year sequence) (prerequisite to biochemistry and other chemistry courses):

• CHEM 2070 - General Chemistry I and CHEM 2080 - General Chemistry II

• or

• CHEM 2150 - Honors General and Inorganic Chemistry

II. Foundation Courses:

(Should be completed by end of junior year.) Foundation courses are intended to provide a broad introduction to methodology and theory in their area.

All courses must be above the 1000-level, at least 3 credit hours, and taken for a letter grade. For a course to count towards the major, students must receive at least a C- as a final grade.

a. Ethics:

One course (should be completed by end of junior year).

b. Social sciences/humanities foundation:

Two courses; one from any two of the following subject areas:

• History of science
• Philosophy of science
• Sociology of science
• Politics of science
• Science communication
• Literature and Science

c. Biology foundation (breadth requirement):

Three courses; one each from three of the following subject areas:

• Anatomy and physiology
• Animal behavior
• Biochemistry, molecular and cell biology
• Biological diversity
• Ecology
• Genetics and development
• Neurobiology
• Nutrition

d. Biology foundation (Depth requirement):

One biology course for which one of the above (2c) is a prerequisite. (Contact dept for list of approved nutrition depth courses)

e. Statistics:

One course.

III. Core Course:

One course. Should be completed by end of junior year.

IV. Theme:

(Five courses that correspond to the theme selected by the student). These courses must be above the 1000-level, at least 3 credit hours, and taken for a letter grade. For a course to count towards the major, students must receive at least a C- as a final grade. Choose these courses as follows:

• Natural science issues/biology elective (two courses). Select from the list of BSOC approved natural science issues courses or choose course(s) with introductory biology as a prerequisite.
• Humanities/social sciences electives (two courses). Courses from the list of senior seminars may be used as theme electives if not used to meet another requirement, or select humanities or social sciences courses in consultation with the faculty advisor.
• Senior seminar (one course taken junior or senior year). Courses change yearly.

Note:

Students may petition to take a second statistics course (an advanced course, in sequence with the statistics course taken in the foundation) in place of the calculus requirement.

A list of approved depth courses using NS 1150 and NS 1220 as a prerequisite is available in 306 Rockefeller Hall.  (Courses are subject to change.)

First-year writing seminars and introductory courses may not be used to fulfill major requirements.

Independent Study:

Projects under the direction of a Biology & Society faculty member are encouraged as part of the program of study in the student’s theme area. Applications for research projects are accepted by individual faculty members. Students may enroll for 1–4 credits in BSOC 3751 - Independent Studywith written permission of the faculty supervisor and may elect either the letter grade or the S–U option. Applications and information on faculty research, scholarly activities, and undergraduate opportunities are available in the Biology & Society office.

Requirements

• SAT or the ACT —CALS does not have SAT/ACT score requirements
• Landscape Architecture: Portfolio required
• International Students: TOEFL (score of 100 or better) or IELTS (score of 7) required
• The Common Application (CA) or Universal College Application (UCA)
• The School Report
• Counselor Recommendation
• Two Teacher Evaluations
• The Midyear Report, when your mid-year grades are available
• $80 application fee or fee waiver
• Official secondary/high school transcript
• Cornell University Questions and Writing Supplement (CA) or Cornell Supplement (UCA)

Scholarships

• Cornell University Grant
• Endowed Scholarships