Science, Technology, & International Affairs

Science, Technology, & International Affairs (STIA) is the study of how science and technology affect diplomacy and international relations, especially in the areas of security, environment, energy, health, business, and development.

As a university subject STIA is found primarily at the graduate level in master's degree programs. One notable exception is Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service where there is an undergraduate major in STIA. The mission statement of the Georgetown STIA Program reads:

Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA) is an interdisciplinary academic Program of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. The Program’s educational and research missions focus on the interactions of science, technology, society, and international affairs within the areas of business, development, security, international health, energy, and the environment. Since 1982 the School of Foreign Service has offered an undergraduate major and certificate in STIA in the liberal arts tradition.

STIA approaches its mission through the integration of multiple academic perspectives, drawing from the theory and practice of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and science and technology studies (STS). STIA’s goal is to link these perspectives to policy and practice as a resource for the next generation of ethically and socially conscious leaders in science, business, government, medicine, and civil society. To achieve this goal, the Program draws upon the rich resources of the Washington, DC area for courses, internships, lectures, and research opportunities.

STIA’s mission is to develop and transmit critical knowledge needed to meet the challenges of a global future in which economic development, improved human health, international security, energy efficiency, and the environment are sustainable and equitably achieved.

("Mission Statement: Program in Science, Technology & International Affairs," Georgetown University, Nov. 15, 2006).

Graduate Programs

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Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government

George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs

MIT

Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz School, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, and Department of Social and Decision Sciences

Georgia Tech

[www.cspo.org]

University of Sussex

References

John Krige & Kai-Henrik Barth, eds., "Global Power Knowledge: Science and Technology in International Affairs." Vol. 21. "Osiris". Chicago, 2006.

National Research Council (U.S.) Committee on Science Technology and Health Aspects of the Foreign Policy Agenda of the United States, "The Pervasive Role of Science, Technology, and Health in Foreign Policy: Imperatives for the Department of State." Washington, DC, 1999.

Eugene Skolnikoff, "The Elusive Transformation: Science, Technology, and the Evolution of International Politics." Princeton, 1993.

Ronald E. Doel and Zuoyue Wang, "Science and Technology," in "Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy," ed. Alexander DeConde, Richard Dean Burnes, and Fredrik Logevall, rev. ed. New York, 2001; 443-59.