Critical Approaches in Science, Technology, and Medicine (CAST-M) Masters Program

About Us

CAST-M is a fully-funded MA program which creates pathways for diverse, talented undergraduates to pursue PhDs in STEM-adjacent humanities. The program aims to advance work in these disciplines for the benefit of a more equitable society. We aim to help CAST-M students develop incisive analytical skills for research in fields such as science studies, medical humanities, medical anthropology, history of science and technology, and history of medicine.

Students engaging with the following subjects are strongly encouraged to apply: social dimensions of science, medicine, technology, and engineering; these fields’ intersections with questions of race, gender, sexuality, and colonialism; and their engagement with sites in the Global South and in communities subject to systemic discrimination. We especially welcome interdisciplinary exploration into these pressing issues. A focus on the relevance of these histories to STEM-adjacent humanities fields offers urgently-relevant insights into the production and reproduction of race, gender, sexuality, and colonialism in everyday life.

In addition to full stipend, tuition, and benefits, the program also offers personalized advising from dedicated faculty, small class sizes, strong links to other Hopkins departments such as Anthropology and History, as well as a close-knit, collegial program culture.

For more information and to speak to one of our faculty, attend one of our virtual open houses! Check back to find out when open houses for the 2026 application cycle will begin. For future open house dates, please click on our admissions tab.

CAST-M is not admitting any new students at the present time. For any further inquiries, please contact CAST_M@jhu.edu

Program Details

Courses

Requirements

Program Seminar

Program Seminar is a keystone of the CAST-M program. It is a weekly meeting where students learn the fundamentals of graduate work, facilitated by the CAST-M program director and postdoctoral fellow. Program Seminar’s curriculum is designed to guide students as they develop skills in scholarly reading, communication, and research. In students’ first semester, Program Seminar is a “Grad School 101” course as an on-ramp to graduate study. In the second semester, Pro Sem time is dedicated to developing and refining thesis research questions and methodologies. In students’ second year, it is a space to workshop doctoral applications, thesis chapters, and other in-progress work.

Program Seminar is also an important place to build CAST-M’s close-knit, collegial program culture. Meetings are small, informal, non-hierarchical, and geared to low-stress exploration in a rigorous environment. Examples of Program Seminar syllabi are available here.

Student Life & Program Culture

CAST-M is committed to education that recognizes the inherent dignity of all community members. As a new MA program, we are actively, consciously, and carefully building a robust internal culture. In Program Seminar and other program spaces, we consistently emphasize mutual respect, collaborative and interdisciplinary exploration, and open-minded personal growth. We also encourage all students to take active ownership of the program’s environment. For example, Program Seminar embraces consensus decision-making and other principles of collective governance. Our hope is that this kind of intentional community-building cultivates a program environment where all students can thrive and reach their full scholarly and personal potential.

In the CAST-M program’s first year, students and faculty put these ideals into practice when they collaboratively wrote the CAST-M Community Charter. The Charter lays out the program’s guiding norms and values. Each member of the CAST-M community is expected to uphold these values in their interactions with others. As a material representation of CAST-M’s values, the Charter is a living document: it can be amended and updated as the community feels necessary to encourage mutual collegiality, respect, and discovery.