The Philosophy of STS: Calendar
Spring 2009
January
T 1/20 What is STS? Philosophy?
Preparation
• Please review the course web site concentrating on the syllabus and calendar;
• Please sign up for the class wiki (look at the right-hand corner of the page) as soon as possible;
• If time or curiosity permit, please review "Editorial" (the editorial principles for Social Studies of Science, 1971) and Program on the Public Conceptions of Science : Bibliography #1" (Newsletter of the Program on Public Conceptions of Science, 1972).
In-Class Activities
• We will review the structure and goals of the course.
T 1/27 The Beginnings of Post-Positivism
Preparation
• Please read the Introduction and chapters 1-4 in Zammito's A Nice Derangement of Epistemes;
• Discussion Leader: Please post your questions on the readings to the Question 1 forum on the wiki by noon on 1/23 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 1 forum on the wiki by noon on 1/26 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
• Within 24 hours after class, please provide your assessment of the discussion leader.
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
February
T 2/3 The Turn to Constructivism
Preparation
• Please read chapters 5-8 and the Conclusion in Zammito's A Nice Derangement of Epistemes;
• Instructors will post questions on the readings to the Question 2 forum on the wiki by noon on 1/30 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 2 forum on the wiki by noon on 2/2 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
In-Class Activities
• We will discuss the assigned readings.
T 2/10 The Birth of STS
Preparation
• Please read The Structure of Scientific Revolutions;
• Discussion Leader: Please post your questions on the readings to the Question 3 forum on the wiki by noon on 2/6 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 3 forum on the wiki by noon on 2/9 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
• Within 24 hours after class, please provide your assessment of the discussion leader.
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
T 2/17 Postmodern Science Studies?
Preparation
• Please read "Scrutinizing Science Studies" and Part I (pgs. 3-56) in Koertge (ed.) A House Built on Sand;
• For reference, please survey "Introduction" (PDF; 3.3 MB) (Andrew Ross, Social Text, No. 46/47, Science Wars, Spring-Summer, 1996, pp. 1-13);"The Science Wars: Responses to a Marriage Failed" (PDF; 2.2 MB) (Dorothy Nelkin, Social Text, No. 46/47, Science Wars, Spring-Summer, 1996, pp. 93-100); "The Politics of the Science Wars" (PDF; 5.5 MB) (Stanley Aronowitz, Social Text, No. 46/47, Science Wars, Spring-Summer, 1996, pp. 177-197);"Transgressing the Boundaries" (Alan Sokal, Social Text, No. 46/47, Science Wars, Spring-Summer, 1996, pp. 217-252) and "Transgressing the Boundaries: An Afterword" (Alan Sokal, Philosophy and Literature 20.2 (1996) 338-346.);
• Instructors will post questions on the readings to the Question 4 forum on the wiki by noon on 2/13 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 4 forum on the wiki by noon on 2/16 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
• We will discuss the assigned readings.
T 2/24 Explaining Interests
Preparation
• Please read Parts II and III (pgs. 57-192) in Koertge (ed.) A House Built on Sand;
• Discussion Leader: Please post your questions on the readings to the Question 5 forum on the wiki by noon on 2/20 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 5 forum on the wiki by noon on 2/23 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
• Within 24 hours after class, please provide your assessment of the discussion leader.
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
March
T 3/3 Revisiting the Enlightenment
Preparation
• Essay One Due;
• Please read Parts IV and V (pgs. 193-311) in Koertge (ed.) A House Built on Sand;
In-Class Activities
• We will discuss the assigned readings.
T 3/17 Turn and Turn Again
Preparation
• Please read "Introduction" (Biagioli); "Trading Zone" (Galison); "Making Up People" (Hacking); "One More Turn After the Social Turn ..." (Latour) and "Was the Last Turn the Right Turn?" (Lenoir) in Biagioli (ed.) The Science Studies Reader;
In-Class Activities
• We will discuss the assigned readings.
T 3/24 Feminist Practices and STS
Preparation
• Please read "Agential Realism" (Barad); "Situated Knowledges" (Haraway); "The Gender/Science System" (Keller); "Objectivity and the Escape from Perspective" (Daston); and "The Engendering of Archaeology" (Wylie) in Biagioli (ed.) The Science Studies Reader;
• Discussion Leader: Please post your questions on the readings to the Question 6 forum on the wiki by noon on 3/20 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 6 forum on the wiki by noon on 3/23 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
• Within 24 hours after class, please provide your assessment of the discussion leader.
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
T 3/31 Reimagining Scientific Practice
Preparation
• Please read "Reading Science Studies Writing" (Cohen); "The Mangle of Practice" (Pickering); "Quantification and the Accounting Ideal in Science" (Porter); "Experimental Systems" (Rheinberger); and "Understanding Scientific Practices" (Rouse) in Biagioli (ed.) The Science Studies Reader;
• The instructors will post questions on the readings to the Question 7 forum on the wiki by noon on 3/27 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 7 forum on the wiki by noon on 3/30 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
In-Class Activities
• We will discuss the assigned readings.
April
T 4/7 Ceaseless Mixing
Preparation
• Please read chapters 1-3 in Latour's We Have Never Been Modern;
• Discussion Leader: Please post your questions on the readings to the Question 8 forum on the wiki by noon on 4/3 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 8 forum on the wiki by noon on 4/6 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
• Within 24 hours after class, please provide your assessment of the discussion leader.
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
T 4/14 Toward the Nonmodern
Preparation
• Please read chapters 4-5 in Latour's We Have Never Been Modern;
• Please read "A strong distinction between humans and non-humans is no longer required for research purposes: a debate between Bruno Latour and Steve Fuller" (PDF 137 KB) (Barron, ed. History of the Human Sciences, Vol. 16 No. 2, 2003, pp. 77-99).
In-Class Activities
• The instructors will post questions on the readings to the Question 9 forum on the wiki by noon on 4/10 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 9 forum on the wiki by noon on 4/13 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
T 4/21 Back to Philosophy
Preparation
• Please read chapters 1-2 in Fuller's The Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies;
• Please read "The Need for Public Intellectuals: A Space for STS" (PDF 78 KB) (Bijker, Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 28 No. 4, Autumn 2003 443-450 ).
In-Class Activities
• Discussion Leader: Please post your questions on the readings to the Question 10 forum on the wiki by noon on 4/17 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 10 forum on the wiki by noon on 4/20 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
• Within 24 hours after class, please provide your assessment of the discussion leader.
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
T 4/28 Thinking of Things
Preparation
• Please read chapters 3-4 in Fuller's The Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies;
In-Class Activities
• The instructors will post questions on the readings to the Question 11 forum on the wiki by noon on 4/24 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 11 forum on the wiki by noon on 4/27 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
May
T 5/5 Do We Study Science?
• Please read chapters 5-6 in Fuller's The Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies;
In-Class Activities
• Discussion Leader: Please post your questions on the readings to the Question 12 forum on the wiki by noon on 5/1 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment);
• Respondents: Please post your response to selected questions to the Question 12 forum on the wiki by noon on 5/4 (please consult the Essay Sequence assignment).
• Within 24 hours after class, please provide your assessment of the discussion leader.
In-Class Activities
• For the first 30-40 minutes of class, the discussion leader will direct the conversation on the assigned readings. Our later discussion will build on the ideas forwarded.
S 5/9 Final
Preparation
• Essay Two Due no later than 9:00 p.m. For reference, the exam schedule.
Well Done!
