Spring 2010 Courses

STS COURSES

STS 902: "Current Topics in Science and Technology Studies"
Daniel Kleinman (Community & Environmental Sociology)
alternate Thursdays 12:00 – 1:30
8108 Social Science Building

The brown bag series showcases University of Wisconsin faculty and student work in the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies. Strongly recommended for PhD minors in STS; all others welcome. See here for current brownbag schedule.


STS 903: "Interdisciplinarity in the Modern Research University" (Section 001) – course flyer
Greg Downey (Journalism & Mass Communication; Library & Information Studies), Noah Feinstein (Curriculum & Instruction), Linda Hogle (Medical History & Bioethics), and Daniel Kleinman (Community & Environmental Sociology)
Tuesdays 2:30 – 5:00
Location TBD

What is “interdisciplinary” research and why does it matter? Does interdisciplinary research demand that individual scholars be trained in multiple specializations? Can interdisciplinary research be performed by teams of specialists using technological tools for working across time and space? How do institutional norms, physical spaces, and political-economic structures of power and opportunity affect interdisciplinary research? And how do interdisciplinary practices compare across different modes of research, from the natural, physical, and social sciences to the arts and humanities? This graduate seminar, team-taught by four faculty affiliates of the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, explores the meanings and practices of “interdisciplinary,” “transdisciplinary,” and “multidisciplinary” research in the modern university. Although the course content will often focus on interdisciplinarity in the context of science, students with other disciplinary backgrounds are enthusiastically encouraged to participate. Using ideas and readings drawn from history, sociology, public policy, anthropology, education, and communication studies, this seminar itself will serve as an example of interdisciplinary practice. Students will work together in interdisciplinary teams to produce a final review, policy, or research paper on a topic assigned by the faculty.

HOLTZ CENTER GRANT AWARD WINNING COURSE

Curriculum & Instruction 975 (Section 002) (meets with STS 903 Section 002):
"STS and Science Education: Schools, Museums, Media and the Public at Large"
John Rudolph (Curriculum & Instruction) and Noah Feinstein (Curriculum & Instruction)
Mondays 12:00 – 3:00
220 Teacher Education Building

Science and Technology Studies have exerted a small but important influence on science education, both in schools and out. Science education, though, is more than a target of influence for STS: it is fertile intellectual territory for STS research, territory that remains largely unexplored despite the profound influence of education on what most Americans think and feel about science. In this seminar we will hear from five STS scholars who have taken up the subject of science education (Bruce Lewenstein, Darin Barney, Karen Rader, Ronald Giere and David Waddington). Their work spans a wide range of disciplines and takes in such diverse topics as museums, the media, and the role of schools in creating scientifically savvy citizens. We will read their work alongside the seminal STS books and articles that influenced them. Each scholar will both give a public lecture and participate in our seminar, joining a conversation about his or her work.

Graduate students from all disciplines are welcome; course enrollment will be capped at 15 to facilitate conversation. 

*Visiting scholars made possible by a grant from the Holtz Center to integrate scholars into UW courses*

 

STS-RELATED COURSES

Journalism & Mass Communication 860:
"Science and Environment Communication"
(crosslisted with Environmental Studies 860 and Life Sciences Communication 860)
Sharon Dunwoody (Journalism & Mass Communication)
Mondays 10:00 – 12:00
Location TBA

This graduate-level readings course is for students seeking professional or research training in science and environment communication.  It will tackle a set of issues and content areas important to both professional and scholarly worlds and will ask you to evaluate them through the lens of both research and informed commentary.  My goals are to share with you the latest scholarly literature in this area and, ultimately, to help you become more introspective about the process of enhancing public interaction with science and environmental issues.
 

Journalism & Mass Communication 880:
"Informal Science Education for Scientists: A Practicum"
(crosslisted with EMA 601, EPD 690, InterL&S 701, and InterCALS 875)
Wendy Crone (Engineering Physics) and Sharon Dunwoody (Journalism & Mass Communication)
Tuesdays 8:45 – 10:45
Location TBA

Designed for STEM graduate students, this Delta-sponsored course will familiarize students with concepts and processes important to communicating science to lay audiences with an emphasis on designing and road-testing interactive learning opportunities for such audiences.  The course has a heavy experiential component and will challenge participants to develop evaluation research skills in service to designing effective communication strategies.
 

Library & Information Studies 661: "Seminar in Information Policy and Ethics"
Kristin Eschenfelder (Library & Information Studies)
Thursdays 1:00 – 3:30
4191F Helen C. White Hall

Current debates in intellectual and cultural property, network nuetrality, privacy and student selected topics in terms of theories of information ethics, social constructivist, and critical views of information and communications technologies.

Life Sciences Communication 902:
"Public Opinion about Life Science Issues"
Dietram Scheufele (Life Sciences Communication)
Wednesdays 2:00 – 4:00
137 Hiram Smith Hall

This course provides an overview of the concept of "public opinion" and its relevance for society—with a particular emphasis on the intersection of politics and science.  We will examine the historical development of the concept of public opinion in fields like political science, social psychology, and communication science. We will then take a closer look at what we mean by "measuring" public opinion. Are we talking about merely summing across individual opinions, or are there macro-level dynamics of public opinion that go beyond what individuals in a society think? Based on this more theoretical work, we will focus on the importance of public opinion and public opinion perception for different aspects of life science communication, such as scientific literacy, scientific decision making, and support for policies related to scientific issues.

Medical History & Bioethics 565: "The Ethics of Modern Biotechnology"
(crosslisted with Agronomy, Community & Environmental Sociology, and Philosophy)
Robert Streiffer (Medical History & Bioethics)
Mondays 2:25 – 4:55
6232 Social Science Building

Study of ethical issues arising from the application of modern biotechnology to microorganisms, crops, and non-human animals. Readings cover moral theory, technology studies, political philosophy, the science used in biotechnology, and current regulations governing its use.

Medical History & Bioethics 668: "A History of Western Disability"
(crosslisted with History of Science)
Walton Schalick (Medical History & Bioethics)
Mondays and Wednesdays 2:30 – 3:45
Engineering Hall 1227

Disability is a word which surrounds us. From debates about end-of-life issues to Social Security from test-taking ‘allowances’ to Not-Dead-Yet, from Medicaid cutbacks to Terry Schiavo, disability is in the media, on our lips and in our ears. What is disability? How has disability changed over time and in different cultures? Where does such an idea come from? What social, cultural, and political assumptions is it based upon? Examining a wide range of historical arguments about the nature and purpose of disability, from pre-history to Plato, to medieval theologians, to more contemporary works, we will approach the history of disability in Western thought and social practice in terms of its relation to arguments about the role of human development and the formulation of personhood, citizenship, and social well being. The readings will include a thick mixture of primary sources in translation and secondary sources, both classic and newly published. We will encounter a variety of techniques and tools used by historians and other scholars as we course through the sessions. The emphasis of our discussions will be the characteristics of disability in a variety of centuries and cultures as well as lacunae in our understanding and debates in the literature.

Medical History & Bioethics 728: "Bioethics and Society"
Linda Hogle (Medical History & Bioethics)
Mondays 12:00 – 2:15
Location TBD

The aims of this course are to provide understandings of the broader social, cultural and political contexts in which bioethical debates and medical practice occur, to explore social science perspectives on medicine and bioethics and to examine the use of qualitative and interdisciplinary methods to conduct research in these areas. Readings and discussion will draw upon research using ethnographic, life history, content, visual and narrative analysis.  The course will cover issues in scientific research settings and the clinic. It is designed for the needs of graduate students in the social sciences and humanities, public health, health policy, law, medicine, and health professions. Graduate standing required.


Nuclear Engineering 571:
"Economic & Environmental Aspects of Nuclear Energy"
Paul Wilson (Nuclear Engineering)
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 1:20 – 2:10
Location TBD

Economics of the nuclear fuel cycle. Economic and environmental impact the nuclear fuel cycle. Public policy and opinion of the nuclear fuel cycle. Impact on design, plant siting and regulation.