Indicative Syllabus Information
Introduction: What is Science and Technology?
While we may take for granted what science and technology are, this introductory lecture will interrogate these two core concepts – how they have developed and what these implications of these developments have been. This lecture will also provide an overview of the rest of the module.
Social Construction of Science and Technology
Are science and technology neutral? Can their development be explained by paying attention to technical aspects alone? Scholars in the social sciences have advanced the notion that science and technology are socially constructed – we cannot explain the impacts of science and technology in society without understanding the social and cultural factors that have shaped and continue to shape their development and use.
Week Actor Network Theory
This lecture will introduce students to one of the most influential schools of thought in STS, which has had an influence on many other fields of study in the social sciences and humanities – Actor Network Theory (ANT). ANT scholars are interested in explaining how scientific and technological facts are socially constructed – how various actors (both human and non-human) are part of assemblages and networks which can align, converge, coordinate, struggle or stabilize around certain kinds of explanations and arrangements which have material effects in the world.
Classification
Categories play a key role in shaping our world – categories like race, class, gender shape people’s experiences in society; classifying an infection as bacterial or viral has massive implications for the treatment of individuals and populations; how we classify data shapes how algorithmic systems operate. In this session, we will explore the important role classification plays in our lives, and why it is important to make what are often invisible practices visible.
Feminist STS
Feminist scholars were some of the key founders of the discipline of STS. In this session, we will explore concepts like ‘situated knowledge’, ‘partial perspectives’, as well as question what it means to say that science and technology are gendered.
Reading Week
During the reading week, students will work on their case studies.
Science, Technology and Democracy
It is difficult to understand the role of science and technology in society without paying attention to the political and economic systems they are embedded in. This session will explore how science and technology have been used to further certain political goals. It will also examine the role of citizens as well as various governmental, non-governmental, and corporate institutions in the development and governance of science and technology.
Agnotology
We tend to think of science and technology as knowledge building. However, the institutions that fund and develop new knowledge can be secretive about research, hide certain information, deliberately obfuscate findings, or deliberately choose to remain ignorant in order to achieve certain aims. What role, then does ignorance and secrecy play in science and technology and what impact does this have on our social world?
Expectations, Imaginaries and Futures
Scientists and engineers are often engaged in future-building – they hope that their innovations will help to build better worlds for people. However, these promises are often not achieved or have very different outcomes than their developers initially intended. This session will give us conceptual tools to think about the role of hope and hype in science and technology, and what responsibilities scientists and engineers have in imagining society.
Case Studies Workshop
This session will provide students with an opportunity to workshop their case study essays.