Universität Wien

233045 SE A Place for Science and Technology Studies (2022S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Monday 20.06. 14:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Tuesday 21.06. 14:00 - 17:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien
Thursday 23.06. 10:00 - 13:00 Seminarraum STS, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/6. Stock, 1010 Wien

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Where does Science and Technology Studies belong? STS researchers today spend time in many different places, including laboratories, conference rooms, coffee rooms, art studios, bioethics buildings, policy rooms and perhaps even ivory towers. The aim of this course is to analyse a range of different places for STS, exploring the possibilities and limitations of each, and the opportunities they provide for observation, intervention, and collaboration with scientists and engineers.In the early days of STS, empirical work often took the form of an observational laboratory study. But things have changed. STS research has extended beyond the laboratory to encompass other sites, and it is increasingly likely to involve close collaboration with scientists and engineers or active intervention into policy processes. In this course we will explore these new ways of working in a range of different locations, attending to issues of domestication, critique and autonomy. We will address some of the affective dimensions of collaboration and intervention, which have their discomforts as well as their rewards. We will also ask what, if anything, unites STS research in different places, and whether there is or should be a normative orientation underlying our work. We will engage with a wide range of STS literature as well as readings from anthropology, sociology, geography, science policy and innovation studies. After a tour through several different locations, we will ask whether there is a place for STS which, as an undisciplined field, often finds itself on the periphery of traditional institutions, or dependent on more generously-funded STEM disciplines.The course will employ a combination of lectures, discussion and student presentations. We will start with an exploration of the literature on multi-sited ethnography and interdisciplinarity and then focus on seven different places in turn, weaving in an analysis of the different methodological orientations of observation, intervention and collaboration. Examples will be given from STS engagement with synthetic biology, but students will be able to apply the approach to other scientific, technological, environmental and medical fields. Students will work towards a seminar paper on a place of their choice, either building on an example discussed during the course or coming up with a new place, exploring its constraints and affordances for STS.

Assessment and permitted materials

To pass the seminar, students are expected to complete the following tasks:
Class participation: Students are expected to be present in class, to read the obligatory readings prior to each session and actively participate in the discussion.
Reading responses: Please respond to the obligatory readings for each session by raising one question that you would like to discuss further in class. This question should refer to one or more of the obligatory readings. Upload the question on Moodle by 8pm the day before each class. Please upload your question on the forum 'Reading responses - your question' AND submit it as an assignment.
N.B. Reading responses are not required for the first session (08.06.22) and the final session (27.06.22).
Presentation: To prepare for the seminar paper and receive preliminary feedback from both the lecturer and the class, students will give a 5 minute presentation in the final session (27.06.22). Students are not required to use slides for the presentation but they are free to do so if they wish.
Seminar paper: Students must submit a seminar paper of a maximum of 5000 words, excluding references, on 27.07.2022. The paper should discuss a place in which STS researchers may find themselves in the course of their work, and explore its possibilities and limitations. We will discuss how to choose a topic for the seminar paper and how to structure it during the course. The paper must include a cover page and a full set of references.

This course uses the plagiarism-detection service Turnitin for larger assignments.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The grading scheme is based on a total of 100 points. These points will be awarded in relation to students’ performance in meeting the course learning aims in the different obligatory tasks. The maximum number of points to be acquired for each task is:
Class participation including reading response questions: 25, assessed individually, feedback on request
Presentation: 25, assessed individually, feedback in class
Seminar paper: 50, assessed individually, feedback by lecturer

Minimum requirements
A minimum of 50 points is necessary to successfully complete the course. Failure to meet the attendance regulations, to deliver course assignments on time or to adhere to standards of academic work may result in a deduction of points.

Grading scheme
100-89 points Excellent (1)
88-76 points Good (2)
75-63 points Satisfactory (3)
62-50 points Sufficient (4)
49-0 points Unsatisfactory (5) (fail)

Attendance
Presence and participation is compulsory. Absences of four hours at maximum are tolerated, provided that the lecturer is informed about the absence. Absences of up to eight hours in total may be compensated by either a deduction of grading points or/and extra work agreed with the lecturer. Whether compensation is possible is decided by the lecturer. Absences of more than eight hours in total cannot be compensated. In this case, or if the lecturer does not allow a student to compensate absences of more than four hours, the course cannot be completed and is graded as a ‘fail’ (5), unless there is a major and unpredictable reason for not being able to fulfil the attendance requirements on the student’s side (e.g. a longer illness). In such a case, the student may be de-registered from the course without grading. It is the student’s responsibility to communicate this in a timely manner, and to provide relevant evidence to their claims if necessary. Whether this exception applies is decided by the lecturer.

If any requirement of the course has been fulfilled by fraudulent means, be it for example by cheating at an exam, plagiarizing parts of a written assignment or by faking signatures on an attendance sheet, the student's participation in the course will be discontinued, the entire course will be graded as ‘not assessed’ and will be entered into the electronic exam record as ‘fraudulently obtained’. Self-plagiarism, particularly re-using own work handed in for other courses, will be treated likewise.

Examination topics

Reading list


Association in the course directory

Last modified: Mo 23.05.2022 11:50