Society & Technology Residential College

Examine the possibilities inherent in technology and the related ethical, economic and policy challenges these innovations pose. Consider the ways technology contributes to and detracts from society. Work together to design technological solutions in a creative environment.

The "SoTech'' Residential College dives into the fascinating ways that technology, economics, science and public policy shape society. Explore topics such as "fake news" and skills for identifying, obtaining and valuing good information; how technology will shape the future; the positive and negative aspects of "big data"; and the most pressing "grand challenges" facing humankind today. You'll join students from all majors as you engage in wide-ranging discussions of these and many other issues with faculty from across the natural sciences, engineering and the social sciences.

SoTech members experience a variety of activities, with field trips ranging from the Bucknell Farm to destinations such as the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. They roll up their sleeves with hands-on work, too — in one recent laboratory experiment, students took water samples from the Susquehanna River and made them drinkable by removing particulates, filtering and purifying.