This is the collective blog of the students of HI1330 – A03, Introduction to the History of Science and Technology (WPI A – 2018)
Here you will find class and recommended materials regarding the history of global modern science & technology
Feel free to share them and send us news, events, and other written or audiovisual materials.
For more information read the extended description of this class below.
Introduction to the History of Science and Technology (WPI A 03 – 2018)
This class is an introductory course to the modern history of science and technology (HST) and science and technology studies (STS). From a global and comparative perspective, we will examine fundamental debates on the interrelations between science, technology, and society during the past century.
This course has two sections. From week 1 to 4 we will focus on epistemological, theoretical, and methodological approaches to the analysis of science and technology in society. We will learn how historians and social scientists think about the role of culture, politics, and objectivity in the making and practice of science and technology. From week 5 to the end of the term, we will use these approaches and skills to examine in depth four case studies: 1) Humans: Race, Genetics, and Biometrics; 2) Computers: AI, Machine Learning, and Big Data; 3) Animals: Living Organisms and Synthetic Biology; and 4) Breaking Binaries: Multispecies, Cyborgs, and Queer Theory.
The primary goal of this course is to collectively think about the lessons that history and the social studies of science and technology can offer to the advancement of democracy in the 21st century. We will pay particular attention to 1) the central place of historical and social analysis in the present and future of STEM fields globally, 2) the interrelations between social/human agents of change and scientific/technological innovations, and 3) the importance of a critical approach to the theory and practice of techno-scientific expertise in modern democracies.