In this class, we will be examining the intersections of science, technology, culture, and politics in a nuanced and critical way. We will be drawing on work from the interdisciplinary social science field of science and technology studies (STS), which means we will be asking questions, like: Who gains and who is hurt by particular technologies, and who should have a say in how or whether they are implemented? Are science and technology distinct from, or examples of, culture and politics? How does expertise limit, support, or transform movements and other forms of public participation? Does your smartphone and social media help connect you to your communities, does it make you into a lonely zombie, or is it complicated? How has science and technology both created and challenged inequality and oppression? How is identity mediated and transformed by science and technology? What science doesn’t get done, and why?
Despite the title of the course, we will end up with more questions than answers. Our first core task will be learning about some of the thoughtful approaches to these issues provided by STS scholars. The second will be to engage in discussions, activities, and assignments that will help us develop our own informed perspectives on these important questions. We will be working towards the following learning outcomes:
• Understanding some of the key concepts, theories, and methodologies of STS
• Evaluating the social, cultural, and environmental implications of particular technologies, policies, and forms of knowledge production
• Analyzing cultural and political assumption about technoscientific progress, governance, and ethics
• Identifying the ways diversity, difference, and inequality shape and are shaped by science and technology
Despite the title of the course, we will end up with more questions than answers. Our first core task will be learning about some of the thoughtful approaches to these issues provided by STS scholars. The second will be to engage in discussions, activities, and assignments that will help us develop our own informed perspectives on these important questions. We will be working towards the following learning outcomes:
• Understanding some of the key concepts, theories, and methodologies of STS
• Evaluating the social, cultural, and environmental implications of particular technologies, policies, and forms of knowledge production
• Analyzing cultural and political assumption about technoscientific progress, governance, and ethics
• Identifying the ways diversity, difference, and inequality shape and are shaped by science and technology
- Teacher: Pedro de la Torre III