August 5, 2004 First Call for Papers
STS (R)evolutions March 17-20th Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
Abstracts of 250 words should be submitted electronically to STS_revolutions@vt.edu by November 15, 2004.
** Conference Background ** An emerging sense of urgency cuts across recent work and conferences in the field of Science & Technology Studies: What role can STS play in reshaping the relationships among science, technology and the public(s)? At a time in which the politics of scientific and technical knowledge are increasingly visible to scientists and non-scientists alike (witness the very public critiques of the Bush administration’s science practices by the Union of Concerned Scientists, for example), the role of science and technology in structuring both the boundaries and possibilities of our everyday lives continues to escalate. STS scholars are uniquely positioned to address these tensions and to offer new insights into the interactions of science, technology, and publics through work in both historical and contemporary contexts. Yet, this move towards a more interventionist or reconstructivist STS – “a rapproachment between the more academic and more activist wings of STS,” as Woodhouse, Hess, Breyman, and Martin (2002) describe it – has deep historical roots within a field that emerged, in part, via the movements of activist scientists working to produce science for the public and second wave feminist critiques of science and medicine in the 1960s and 1970s. Thus, to pursue a more interventionist or reconstructivist STS agenda of research, policymaking, and activism – and other future directions – it seems necessary to simultaneously revisit our past and the emergence of the field of Science & Technology Studies, as well as to assess our current locations.
This conference is part of a year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of STS at Virginia Tech. As part of the conference program, we seek to include histories of many of the “official” and “unofficial” sites of STS throughout the world. Your assistance in gathering these narratives will be greatly appreciated. Email STS_revolutions@vt.edu to contribute.
** Call for Papers ** We are interested in papers that address the past, present, and futures of the field of Science & Technology Studies, particularly those that explore the interrelationships of these narratives. Here, we envision possible topics such as: • * Histories of STS: Alternative, Competing or Co-existing Lineages? • * STS and Disciplines: The Politics of Collaboration and Non-Collaboration • * STS Outside the Academy: Practices, Promises, and Perils • * STS in the Global North and South: Divisions, Connections, or Both? • * “Doing STS” – New Methodological Directions and Practices • * The Science Wars 10 Years Out: Meanings, Lessons, Ongoing Challenges • * “So, you have a PhD in STS”: The Effects of “Disciplinarity” on the Field • * Mainstreaming “Difference”: Incorporating issues of difference – gender, race, class, nationality, sexual orientation, and so forth – across STS at large • * Science Studies vs. Technology Studies – or is it all Technoscience?
** New Directions in STS ** In addition to these broad discussions, we highly encourage the submission of papers that showcase New Directions in STS – papers that identify emerging research trends and explore new subject areas from new vantage points with new tools. We have identified the following areas of interest, though this list is by no means exhaustive: Science, Technology, and Citizenship: Science and Technology in a Post 9-11 World; Science and Engineering Education; The Corporatization of the University; and Activism in Local and Global Communities. Papers addressing a wide variety of topics are welcome.
** Roundtables on More Practical Matters ** Further, we are interested in coordinating sessions or round-tables that discuss more practical matters such as professional development for graduate students and new faculty; how to get a job and tenure as an interdisciplinary scholar; how to get a job outside the academy; and so forth. Participants are welcome to coordinate full sessions or to request that they be part of specific roundtables that we will organize.
** Final Details ** We especially welcome papers from students and young researchers, particularly those from the Global South. Small travel grants will be available on request depending upon resource availability.
Abstracts of 250 words should be submitted electronically to STS_revolutions@vt.edu by November 15, 2004.
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