Schedule, Reading List, & Assignments:

The schedule and assignments are subject to change during the semester. If you rely on a printed version of this schedule, please check back here regularly to make sure you have the most current version.

Last revised: December 2, 2013

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Date Topic Reading Assignment (* indicates reading is available on Moodle) Writing Assignment
       
Tues 8/27 Introductions    
Thurs 8/29 Introductions II 1. Explore the STSWiki
2. Explore Society for Social Studies of Science
In-class exercise: What is STS, and what do we do with it?
       
Tues 9/3 Foundations 1. SEP article on Ludwik Fleck
2. Selections from Mumford, Technics and Civilization (1934)*
3. Selections from Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (1942)*
Reading Response 1 due: Foundational Ideas
Thurs 9/5 Foundations II 1. Nye, "Michael Polanyi and the Social Construction of Science" (2011)
2. Shapin, "An Example of the Good Life" (2011)
 
       
Tues 9/10 Foundations III 1. Merton, "The Normative Structure of Science" (1942)
2. Mulkay, "Norms and Ideology in Science" (1976)*
 
Thurs 9/12 Revolutions 1. Selections from Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962)*  
       
Tues 9/17 Determinism   Essay 1 due: Does Technology Drive History?
Thurs 9/19 Concerns 1. Eisenhower, "Farewell Address to the Nation" (1961) (video and text; see also related documents)
2. "The Pest War" (1944-1989)*

Optional reading: Sethi, "Information, Education, and Indoctrination" (2012)*
Reading Response 2 due - see Moodle (Week 4) for instructions
       
Tues 9/24 Laboratories 1. Latour, "Give Me A Laboratory and I will Raise the World" (1983) Submit ideas for STS projects to Moodle Forum
Thurs 9/26 Laboratories II 1. Galison, "History, Philosophy, and the Central Metaphor" (1988) * Reading Response 3 due - see Moodle (Week 5) for instructions
       
Tues 10/1 Systems 1. Selections from Bijker, Hughes, and Pinch, eds., The Social Construction of Technological Systems (1987) *  
Thurs 10/3 Systems II 1. Nissenbaum, "How Computer Systems Embody Values" (2001) Reading Response 4 due
       
Tues 10/8 Politics 1. Mumford, "Authoritarian and Democratic Technics" (1964)
2. Winner, "Do Artifacts Have Politics?" (1977) *
Group Project Subject and Scope statement due
Thurs 10/10 Politics II 1. Kasson, Civilizing the Machine (1977), pages 3-6 *
2. Carlson, "The Telephone as Political Instrument" (2001) *
Essay 2 due: Do Artifacts Have Politics?
       
Tues 10/15      
Thurs 10/17 Politics III STS in the News - Groups 1 and 2
       
Tues 10/22 Organizations 1. Galambos, "Technology, Political Economy, and Professionalization: Central Themes of the Organizational Synthesis" (1983) Reading Response 5 due

Group Project Outline due

Thurs 10/24 Regulations STS in the News - Groups 3 and 4

1. Lessig, "The New Chicago School" (1998) *

 
       
Tues 10/29 Users 1. Cowan, Introduction to More Work for Mother (1983) *
2. Oudshoorn and Pinch, "How Users and Non-Users Matter" (2003) *
3. Kline, "Resisting Consumer Technology in Rural America" (2003) *
Reading Response 6 due - see Moodle (week 10) for instructions.
Thurs 10/31 Users II STS in the News - Groups 5 and 6  
       
Tues 11/5 Publics 1. Review articles in Science's special issue, "Communication in Science: Pressures and Predators"
2. See also AAAS, Communicating Science
Group Project Progress Report due
Thurs 11/7 Publics II STS in the News - Groups 7 and 1  
       
Tues 11/12 Religions 1. Listen to NPR story on Amish Community and Technology Reading Response 7 due
Thurs 11/14 Genders STS in the News - Groups 2 and 3

1. Selections from Lerman, Oldenziel, and Mohun, eds., Gender and Technology (2003) *
2. Browse The Atlantic's Collection of Essays on Gender & Tech

 
       
Tues 11/19 Races 1. NPR, Remembering Tuskegee (2002)
2. Margolis and Margolis, A New Tuskegee Experiment? (2013)
1. Reading Response 8 due

2. Topics due via email for Essay 3, Sports and STS (or a topic of your choice)

Thurs 11/21 Races II STS in the News - Groups 4 and 5 Group Project - Final Draft Report due
       
Tues 11/26 Sports    
Thurs 11/28      
       
Tues 12/3 Neoliberals 1. Mirowski, Walker, and Abboud, Beyond Denial (2013) Essay 3 due
Thurs 12/5   Concepts for Final Exam Final Group Project Report due
       
Weds 12/11 Final Exam, 1pm-5pm, Peirce 216    
       


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