By its very nature, the social science study of space is an interdisciplinary endeavor, drawing on technical material, traditional humanities disciplines, and the variety of social science disciplines that evolved during the 19th and 20th centuries. Consequently, a single course or activity incorporating many social science disciplines requires careful structuring. Maintaining coherence is a genuine challenge in the face of the centrifugal forces inherent in any discussion of space topics.
Generally, instructors develop coherence by selecting a theme or analytical tool to serve as an "integrator." For example, future studies or intercollegiate debate (both discussed subsequently in this chapter) can act as such a theme (as well as serve as an interdisciplinary analytical tool). The Space Transportation System represents a technological integrator; in general, primary space technological systems are useful foundations for building an interdisciplinary approach to space into a single course or activity without succumbing to overly narrow issues. Additionally, a particular type of space activity, such as exploration or economic utilization of space, can provide course focus.
Any integrating theme must be carefully defined beforehand. Such care is vital because college students‹usually approaching space for the first time in a systematic, academic way‹tend to have broad-brush images and impressions of the space program, merging disparate space projects and technologies that should be clearly differentiated. For instance, a space-based, high-energy astronomical observatory and a communication satellite represent significantly different technologies arrd purposes despite the fact that both employ the space environment. Activities such as scientific exploration and economic utilization of space serve fundamentally different roles in society; however, these activities often are grouped together in the mind of a student new to space studies.
The utility of an integrating theme is illustrated in Appendix Three through a case study of a course taught at Georgetown University. Moreover, the genesis of the case study suggests that careful planning must precede a course which successfully interweaves complex technologies and a variety of social science disciplines.
This chapter also can provide insights useful to instructors whose courses have a predominant focus in one discipline but of necessity must incorporate interdisciplinary analyses for full understanding.
The analytical tools described by Joels (future studies) and Snider (debate) encompass several interesting approaches to teaching interdisciplinary topics (exclusively or as a subsection of a course). Moreover, both future studies and debate tools can be adapted successfully for classroom use and can be used to focus discussions of the social science implications of Shuttle, Shuttle-related, and longer-term technology. Appendix Three provides more specific materials: several scenario topics, a brief reading list, and several course descriptions supplement the Joels paper; instructors' observations and guidelines for in-class use of debate complement the Snider paper.
Case Study: The Teaching of an Interdisciplinary Course in the Social Science Aspects of Space and the Course Syllabus
T. Stephen Cheston
I. The Course
In Spring 1978, Georgetown University offered an undergraduate interdisciplinary social science course on space, "The High Frontier: Technology, Diplomacy, and Human Values." A year prior to the course, Georgetown established a faculty coordinating committee comprising professors in physics, history, philosophy, political science, business administration, and theology. Following careful deliberation, the group chose as an integrating theme a space technological system with major economic implications, specifically, an Earth-Moon industrial operation drawing raw materials from the Moon or asteroids parked in Earth orbit and generating energy from solar arrays in space. With the technological integrator in place, the committee decided to provide further focus by em