Sciences as Social and Cultural Practices
SISP 205
Spring 2015
| Section:
01
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| Crosslisting:
PHIL 288, ENVS 205 |
| Certificates: Environmental Studies, Environmental Studies |
Philosophers long construed scientific knowledge as achieved and assessed by individual knowers, but recent work has recognized a greater epistemic role for scientific communities, disciplines, or practices and taken seriously the social and cultural context of scientific research. This course surveys some of the social, cultural, and political aspects of the sciences that have been most important for scholars in science studies, including differences between experimental, field, and theoretical science; the role of disciplines and other institutions in the sciences; interactions between science and its various publics; the politics of scientific expertise and science policy; the globalization of science; the social dimensions of scientific normativity, from metrology to conceptions of objectivity; race and gender in science; and conceptual exchanges between sciences and other discursive practices. The concept of the social will also receive critical attention in its purported contrasts to what is individual, natural, rational, or cultural. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS SISP |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (ENVS-MN)(ENVS)(IDEA-MN)(IDEA)(PHIL)(PHIL-Philosophy)(PHIL-Social Jus)(STS) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: 75% - 89% |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Mario Biagioli, SCIENCE STUDIES READER
Heather Douglas, SCIENCE POLICY AND THE VALUE-FREE IDEAL
Jenny Reardon, RACE TO THE FINISH
Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway, MERCHANTS OF DOUBT
plus extensive E-Res readings
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Examinations and Assignments:
3 essays on assigned or suggested topics, or 2 essays and one short research paper;
participation in near-weekly discussion groups outside of class to set agendas for in-class discussion |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Satisfies SiSP's sociocultural studies requirement; students who have take SiSP 206 or 207 should not take this course without the permission of the instructor. |
| Instructor(s): Rouse,Joseph T. Times: .M.W.F. 11:00AM-11:50AM; Location: SCIE141; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 30 | | SR major: 6 | JR major: 8 | | |
| Seats Available: 9 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 4 | JR non-major: 4 | SO: 8 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 3 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
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