Science and the State
HIST 336
Spring 2009
| Section:
01
|
| Crosslisting:
SISP 336, AMST 347 |
Over the past two centuries, states have been among the most prodigious producers and consumers of scientific information. Broad areas of scientific inquiry - such as demography, economics, geography, and ecology - substantially developed in response to the need of states to manage their populations, their economies, and their natural resources. State-directed scientific and technological innovation has also played a critical role in the pursuit of national security and infrastructural development, most notably through the development of nuclear weapons, missiles, and an array of military technologies. Finally, states have turned to scientific experts to enhance the credibility and legitimacy of policy decisions. This course explores literature in the history of science that provides frameworks for thinking about the connections between systems of knowledge and state power. Themes developed include the tensions between expertise and democracy, secrecy and scientific openness; the relationship between political culture and scientific and technological development; and the role of quantification, standardization, and classification in producing political order. |
|
Essential Capabilities:
None |
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST) |
|
Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Steven Shapin and Simon Shaffer, LEVIATHAN AND THE AIR-PUMP: HOBBES, BOYLE, AND THE EXPERIMENTAL LIFE (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985)
Yaron Ezrahi, THE DESCENT OF ICARUS: SCIENCE AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONTEMPORARY DEMOCRACY (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990)
Deitrich Reuschemeyer and Theda Skocpol, STATES, SOCIAL KNOWLEDGE, AND THE ORIGINS OF MODERN SOCIAL POLICIES (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996)
Loren Graham, THE GHOST OF THE EXECUTED ENGINEER: TECHNOLOGY AND THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993).
|
Examinations and Assignments:
In addition to participating in class discussions, students will produce an original research paper in consultation with the instructor. |
| Instructor(s): Erickson,Paul Hilding Times: ...W... 07:00PM-09:50PM; Location: PAC136; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 20 | | SR major: 5 | JR major: 5 | | |
| Seats Available: 0 | GRAD: 0 | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 3 | SO: 4 | FR: 0 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 6 | 1st Ranked: 2 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 3 |
|
|