Combined Honours
Students who intend to apply to graduate school or professional programs (such as medicine, law, or journalism) are encouraged to take an honours degree which requires a higher quality of work than other undergraduate programs.
In HOST you must pursue a Combined Honours degree (that is a degree integrating courses from two disciplines) by combining your HOST degree with a program from Dalhousie’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (for a BA), a program from Dalhousie’s Faculty of Science (for a BSc), or a degree in Journalism (for a BJH).
To complete a combined honours in the History of Science and Technology, BA students must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours to a maximum of 48 credit hours in HSTC. BSc students may complete a minimum of 30 credit hours (or a minimum of 24, with the program’s approval) to a maximum of 54 credit hours in HSTC.
Within these credit hours, the program’s four 3 credit hours “core” courses must be included:
- HSTC 2001.03 or equivalent
- HSTC 3001.03 or equivalent
- HSTC 4001.03 or equivalent
- Note: With special permission from the Program Director, HSTC 3031.03 may be substituted for HSTC 2001, HSTC 3001 or HSTC 4001.
The requirements for the second honours subject are dependent on that department, and vary from program to program. In total, a minimum of 66 credit hours to a maximum of 84 credit hours in the two allied honours subjects must be completed. Students may fulfil the honours requirement in either of the two honours subjects. Usually this subject will be the one in which the student has taken more classes. In the HOST program, completion of the honours thesis (HSTC 4650.03 and HSTC 4651.03) fulfils the requirement of the honours qualifying examination.
MINOR
You can take a minor in HOST to complement your degree. Studying science through this humanities-based approach demonstrates your ability to think about science ‘outside the box’.
The Minor in HOST requires a minimum of 18 to a maximum of 27 credit hours taken at the 2000 level or above. This must include (updated January 2022):
- any one of the following three core courses
- HSTC 2001.03: Beginnings of Wisdom: Science in the Pre-modern World (or equivalent)
- HSTC 3001.03: The Scientific Revolution (or equivalent)
- HSTC 4001.03: Science and Nature in the Modern Period (or equivalent
- six credit hours at the 3000 or 4000 level.
Explore courses
Core Courses
-
Introduction to the History of Science I: from the Ancients to the Birth of the Modern
-
HSTC 1201.03/HSTC 2211.03/SCIE 2001.03/HIST 2075.03
Fall
-
Alumni Hall (Lectures)
Lecture: MW 1435-1525 (Alumni Hall)
Tutorial 1: T 1305-1355 (Classroom 1)
Tutorial 2: T 1305-1355 (Seminar Room)
Tutorial 3: R 1435-1525 (Seminar Room)
Tutorial 4: R 1435-1525 (Classroom 1)
Tutorial 5: F 1435-1525 (Classroom 1)
-
Introduction to the History of Science II: From The Birth of the Modern to the Present
-
HSTC 1202.03/HSTC 2212.03/SCIE 2002.03/HIST 2076.03
Winter
-
Alumni Hall (Lectures)
Lecture: MW 1435-1525 (Alumni Hall)
Tutorial 1: T 1305-1355 (Classroom 1)
Tutorial 2: T 1305-1355 (Seminar Room)
Tutorial 3: R 1435-1525 (Seminar Room)
Tutorial 4: R 1435-1525 (Classroom 1)
Tutorial 5: F 1435-1525 (Classroom 1)
-
Beginnings of Wisdom: Science in the Pre-modern World
-
HSTC 2001.03/CLAS 2001.03
Fall
-
Archibald Room
TR 1605-1725
-
Medieval Natural Philosophy: from the Roman Empire to the Age of Dante
-
HSTC 2002.03/CLAS 2002.03
Winter
Summer
-
Winter: Archibald Room / Summer: Online-Asynchronous and Synchronous
TR 1605-1725
-
The Scientific Revolution
-
HSTC 3001.03
Winter
-
Scotiabank Room
M 1235-1425
W 1235-1325
-
Science and Nature in the Modern Period
-
HSTC 4001.03
Fall
-
Seminar Room
TR 1005-1125
Summer 2026
-
Origins of Modern Medicine
-
HSTC 2102.03
Fall
Summer
-
Fall: Alumni Hall | Summer: Online/Asynchronous
Fall: R 1735-2025
-
Science in the Media
-
HSTC 2400.03/JOUR 2400.03
Winter
Summer
-
Winter: KTS Lecture Hall | Summer: Online/Asynchronous
M 1735-2025
-
Imagining Artificial Intelligence
-
HSTC 2410.03
Fall
Summer
-
Online/Asynchronous
-
History of the Marine Sciences
-
HSTC 3331.03 / HIST 3073.03 / BIOL 4664.03 / MARI 4664.03 / OCEA 4331.03 / SCIE 4001.03
Summer
-
Seminar 7
MTWR 0935-1155
-
Brewing Civilization: The History, Culture and Science of Beer
-
HSTC 3415.03
Winter
Summer
-
ONLINE/ASYNCHRONOUS
Electives
-
Introduction to the History of Science I: from the Ancients to the Birth of the Modern
-
HSTC 1201.03/HSTC 2211.03/SCIE 2001.03/HIST 2075.03
Fall
-
Alumni Hall (Lectures)
Lecture: MW 1435-1525 (Alumni Hall)
Tutorial 1: T 1305-1355 (Classroom 1)
Tutorial 2: T 1305-1355 (Seminar Room)
Tutorial 3: R 1435-1525 (Seminar Room)
Tutorial 4: R 1435-1525 (Classroom 1)
Tutorial 5: F 1435-1525 (Classroom 1)
-
Introduction to the History of Science II: From The Birth of the Modern to the Present
-
HSTC 1202.03/HSTC 2212.03/SCIE 2002.03/HIST 2076.03
Winter
-
Alumni Hall (Lectures)
Lecture: MW 1435-1525 (Alumni Hall)
Tutorial 1: T 1305-1355 (Classroom 1)
Tutorial 2: T 1305-1355 (Seminar Room)
Tutorial 3: R 1435-1525 (Seminar Room)
Tutorial 4: R 1435-1525 (Classroom 1)
Tutorial 5: F 1435-1525 (Classroom 1)
-
Beginnings of Wisdom: Science in the Pre-modern World
-
HSTC 2001.03/CLAS 2001.03
Fall
-
Archibald Room
TR 1605-1725
-
Medieval Natural Philosophy: from the Roman Empire to the Age of Dante
-
HSTC 2002.03/CLAS 2002.03
Winter
Summer
-
Winter: Archibald Room / Summer: Online-Asynchronous and Synchronous
TR 1605-1725
-
Origins of Modern Medicine
-
HSTC 2102.03
Fall
Summer
-
Fall: Alumni Hall | Summer: Online/Asynchronous
Fall: R 1735-2025
-
Magic, Science and the Occult: from Antiquity to Postmodernity
-
HSTC 2120.03/EMSP 2360.03/HIST 2990.03/RELS 2120.03
Fall
-
KTS Lecture Hall
TR 1305-1425
-
Engineering the Planet: the Anthropocene Era, from Prehistory to Today's Global Crisis
-
HSTC 2210.03
Fall
-
Seminar Room
M 1735-2025
-
Ideas of the Sea and Seafaring: Intercultural Perspectives
-
EMSP 2490.03/CTMP 2207.03/HSTC 2220.03
Fall
-
KTS Lecture Hall
TR 1435-1555
-
The Science of Disaster
-
HSTC 2301.03
Winter
-
Classroom 1
TR 1605-1725
-
The Origins of Science Fiction in Early Modern Europe
-
EMSP 2340.03/HSTC 2340.03
Winter
-
Scotiabank Room
TR 1305-1425
-
Science in the Media
-
HSTC 2400.03/JOUR 2400.03
Winter
Summer
-
Winter: KTS Lecture Hall | Summer: Online/Asynchronous
M 1735-2025
-
Imagining Artificial Intelligence
-
HSTC 2410.03
Fall
Summer
-
Online/Asynchronous
-
Science Fiction in Film
-
HSTC 2500.03/ CMTP 2202
Fall
-
Alumni Hall
M 1735-2055
-
The Scientific Revolution
-
HSTC 3001.03
Winter
-
Scotiabank Room
M 1235-1425
W 1235-1325
-
Science and Culture I: The Discourses of Modernity
-
CTMP 3001.03/HSTC 3031.03
Fall
-
Archibald Room
M 1535-1725
W 1535-1625
-
Science and Culture II: Resetting the Modern
-
CTMP 3002.03/HSTC 3032.03
Winter
-
Archibald Room
M 1535-1725
W 1535-1625
-
Human Experiments
-
HSTC 3101.03/CTMP 3204.03
Winter
-
Archibald Room
TR 1005-1125
-
Plagues, Pandemics and People: A Global History of Epidemics
-
HSTC 3102.03
Winter
-
Scotiabank Room
MW 1005-1125
-
In Search of the Philosopher's Stone: The History of European Alchemy
-
HSTC 3121.03/EMSP 3321.03 / HIST 3990.03 / RELS 3121.03
Winter
-
Archibald Room
TR 1305-1425
-
Magic and Materiality in the Ancient World
-
HSTC 3122.03
Fall
-
Scotiabank Room
MW 1135-1255
-
Body and Embodiment in Greco-Roman Medicine
-
HSTC 3140.03/CLAS 3140.03
Winter
-
Seminar Room
MW 1605-1725
-
Science and Religion: Historical Perspectives
-
HSTC 3200.03/EMSP 3330.03/RELS 3200.03/HIST 3075.03
Fall
-
Seminar 7
TR 1605-1725
-
Science and Religion: Contemporary Perspectives
-
HSTC 3201.03/CTMP 3201.03/RELS 3201.03/HIST 3076.03
Winter
-
Alumni Hall
TR 1605-1725
-
The Biosphere: Global perspectives in science and philosophy
-
HSTC 3212.03
Fall
-
Seminar Room
W 1735-2025
-
Drugs in Antiquity: Medicine, Magic and Religious Experience
-
HSTC 3220.03/CLAS 3220.03
Winter
-
Archibald Room
TR 1435-1555
-
History of Biology
-
HSTC 3302.03/BIOL 3602.03
Fall
-
Scotiabank Room
MW 1005-1125
-
Oracles, Omens and Astrology in the Ancient World
-
HSTC 3320.03/CLAS 3320.03
Winter
-
KTS Lecture Hall
MW 1135-1255
-
The History of Prediction
-
HSTC 3333.03
Winter
-
Seminar Room
TR 1605-1725
-
Art, Optics, and Technologies of Illusion
-
EMSP 3350.03/HSTC 3350.03
Winter
-
Scotiabank Room
TR 1435-1555
-
Anti-Colonial Science
-
HSTC 3403.03/CTMP 3205/HIST 3304
Winter
-
Seminar Room
TR 1005-1125
-
Women in Medicine: A History of Healing, Experience, and Knowledge
-
HSTC 3413.03/GSWT 3413
Fall
-
Seminar 7
MW 1435-1555
-
Brewing Civilization: The History, Culture and Science of Beer
-
HSTC 3415.03
Winter
Summer
-
ONLINE/ASYNCHRONOUS
-
Science and Nature in the Modern Period
-
HSTC 4001.03
Fall
-
Seminar Room
TR 1005-1125
Honours Thesis & Colloquium
-
History of Science and Technology Honours Thesis
-
HSTC4650.03
Fall
Winter
-
Archibald Room
DALHOUSIE SELECTIVES
Students enrolled in the Combined Honours or Minor program in HOST can opt to take a maximum of one 3-credit hour “selective” course at Dalhousie University to count toward the HOST part of their degree. The Registrar’s Office at King’s should be notified if students wish to pursue this option. Not all selectives are offered each year. Please consult the current timetable for this year’s offering.
Approved selectives are:
- BIOL 4004/INDG 4004 Principles of Indigenous Medicine
- HIST 3916 Health and Disease in Medieval Society
- INDG 3052/SOSA 3052/ CANA 3052 Indigenous Social Health and Environmental Issues
- PHIL 3420/BIOL 3580/PHIL 5420 Philosophy of Biology
- PHIL 4700/PHIL 5700 Philosophy of Race
- SOSA 2503 Health and Society
- SOSA 2933 Health and Culture
- SOSA 3148 The Sociology of Addiction: Drugs, Health and Society
Discover more
Discover the history of engineering. Learn about science fiction in film, science and the media, or science and religion. These are just some of the topics of elective courses open to students pursuing a King’s Honours degree or any program in King’s and Dalhousie shared Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Faculty of Science.
Using the combined resources of philosophical, historical and sociological methods, HOST traces the roots and trajectories of primary conceptions of nature and our place within it.
