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Leerdoel
The aim of this course is to introduce students to the major issues and problems of science and technology studies. Students learn to examine scientific and technological developments in the contexts of social and cultural environment in which these developments take place, and to formulate researchable questions regarding the mutual interactions between science, technology and society. The course will also introduce students to the major theoretical approaches in the area of Science and Technology Studies and to the attempts to integrate sociological, philosophical and historical methods of examining the role of science and technology in society.
Inhoud
Using the discovery of the double helix, the molecular revolution in biology, and current public discussions about the uses of genetics as a case study, this introduction to science and technology studies examines how scientific and technological developments can be analyzed as social and cultural phenomena. Among the questions to be discussed are the following: How do philosophers, historians, sociologists, and anthropologists account for new scientific discoveries? Are their accounts different from those of the scientists themselves? Is scientific research governed by a special set of rules and norms? Is the development of science linear or does it proceed through revolutions? How does the wider culture-for example our beliefs about such matters as the nature of life or the role of women-shape the culture of science? Can new technologies, such as genetic engineering, be regulated? Do social interests affect the content of scientific knowledge? How can the social and ethical implications of new technologies and scientific findings be understood? What role does scientific expertise play in society? How does scientific knowledge-for example, the knowledge about our genes-transform the way in which we understand the world around us and construct our own identities?
Aanmelden
see general regulations on studyweb
Onderwijsvorm
seminar and lecture
Studie-materiaal
J.D. Watson,
The Double Helix, ed. by G. Stent, Norton Critical Edition (NY: Norton, 1980); articles will be made available to students. The texts include writings by Richard Lewontin, Thomas Kuhn, Robert Merton, Donald MacKenzie, Bruno Latour, Joan Fujimura, Michael Lynch, Donna Haraway, and others. Complete list of readings is available on the blackboard or from the lecturer.
Kosten
costs of copying articles
Toetsvorm
assignments, take home examination
Bijzonderheden
This course provides an introduction to the sociology of science and is part of the Minor in Science and Technology Studies:
Minor Science and Technology Studies
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