Goals

There are many goals of this course.  The classes are oriented to give you the tools to investigate the assumptions, unintended consequences, inequalities, design flaws, institutional arrangements, and sociopolitical context surrounding the interaction of people, society, and technoscience.  I will begin with a brief reintroduction to core ideas in STS and common beliefs pervading our perceptions of science and technology.  I will build many assignments around establishing the core literature, data, and methods of your eventual projects.  I would prefer you be far along the path of a coherent research project before we leave 4500.  In other words, a Prospectus that if vaguely about some random idea you have won't be sufficient.  Trust me when I say that 4600 will be much more fulfilling this way.

Content (Here is what I can offer)

Because I can't cover every single possible aspect of those who overlap with the world of STS I will qualify that I have expertise in some areas that will naturally be emphasized if for no other reason than I have active working knowledge of some empirical and conceptual tools than others.  In other words, if you like any of the following you are probably in the correct section:

• Policy and discourse analysis
• Sustainable technoscience
• Localism and democratic governance
• Waste, recycling, compost
• Biomaterials
• Renewables
• Water technology and policy
• Historical methods
• Energy technology and politics
• DIY movements (3D printing and DIYbio)
• Emerging technology and governance
• Environmental knowledge and policy
• Institutions, isomorphism, organizational context, systems thinking
• Standards, labels, certifications
• Market centered governance, public/private partnerships
• Social movements and civil society activities
• Agriculture, GMOs, chemicals, organic movement
• Empirically driven scholarship
• Qualitative methods
• Indigenous Knowledge and Appropriation

Pedagogy

The first part of the course will be methodological in orientation.  Thinking as an STS scholar requires seeing knowledge and technological artifacts forming within complex networks of social and material arrangements.  This includes not just the politicized nature of research—funding issues for example—but also how we might improve technoscience and our built environment by reconstructing who is involved, who is harmed or benefits, and what do we miss by relying upon taken for granted assumptions.  We will consider the historical, social, cultural, and institutional contexts shaping technosocial decision making as well as how the existence of certain forms of technology have reciprocal effects on our understanding of and interaction with the world around us.  The theories and concepts in STS will be explored through group and individual application to case studies and your own interests.  I hope in this way we can bridge the often confusing rift I often see between reading articles, understanding the methods and conceptual frameworks they use, and applying these in novel ways (in other words what you will be doing with your STS research paper). 

Assignments

I do a great deal of writing and rewriting, often within class.  Assignments are designed to help you improve your writing and reading skills by introducing several techniques you might employ in developing your prospectus and thesis.  You need to become better at constructing a research project, framing the essay, and tying all the components together into a coherent narrative.  This takes time and repetition.  You will also be reviewing each other’s work and contributions during discussions.  Engaging with your peers will be personally rewarding to learn how others think and communicate differently than yourself.  These interactions might be challenging, but they are critical to learn how to work in teams comprised of diverse personalities and backgrounds or engaging on issues that will range far beyond the technical merits of a project.  

Participation

You will have to talk in class and likely on some online forums.  Your world is going to be filled with sharing knowledge and learning with others, you might as well get used to it know.  The engineer working in isolation simply doesn't happen that often.  Teams are the norm and effectively engaging with people who have different ideas and opinions is a critical life skill I emphasize.