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701-1573-00L 6 Credits MSC D-USYS

Science, Technology and Culture in Sustainability

Lecturers & Examiners: PD Dr. Bianca Vienni Baptista
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:08:08

Abstract

This course explores how science, technology and culture shape and respond to current sustainability challenges. Applying the Science, Technology and Society (STS) toolkit, students examine the social, political, and cultural dimensions of environmental change and develop tools to analyse sustainable futures.

Objective

By the end of the course, students will be able to: • Analyse sustainability challenges as complex socio-technical and cultural phenomena. • Apply key theories and concepts from Science, Technology and Society (STS) to the study of environmental change and sustainability. • Apply ethnographic research methods (participant observation, interviews, and analysis of practices) to investigate the socio-cultural dimensions of environmental science and technology. • Evaluate the cultural dimensions of science and technology, including how values, narratives, norms, and practices shape environmental knowledge and policy. • Reflect critically on the role of science, technology, and culture in shaping sustainable futures.

Content

Current sustainability challenges are at once scientific and social, technological and political, ethical and economic. This course examines how science, technology and culture shape and respond to environmental change, while also influencing the ways societies understand and address sustainability. Drawing on approaches from Science, Technology and Society (STS), students will explore the interconnections between scientific knowledge, technological innovation, and cultural contexts in the processes of environmental transformation. Through case studies and analytical exercises, the course provides conceptual and practical tools to critically assess the role of science, technology and culture to reflect on their implications for society, policy, and everyday life. Building on the concept of cultural sustainability, the course investigates how diverse communities imagine, negotiate, and enact sustainable futures, and how scientific and technological systems are embedded within everyday experience. Students will acquire methodological research skills, particularly in ethnographic methods. Through participant observation, interviews, and the analysis of practices and narratives in scientific and technological settings, the course combines critical theory with an interdisciplinary perspective to show how scientific and technological responses to environmental issues are inseparable from questions of culture, ethics, and social justice. It invites students to engage in reflective and creative experimentation with STS methods and selected ethnographies cultivating both conceptual understanding and practical skills for analysing and intervening in contemporary sustainability debates. The course consists of four modules: Module 1: Foundations of Science, Technology and Society • Overview of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) approaches. • Framing environmental and sustainability challenges as socio-technical, cultural, and political phenomena, and examining how cultural configurations, values, norms, and practices shape environmental knowledge and technological interventions. • Co-production, boundary-crossing, and expertise in environmental contexts. Module 2: Culture in Action: Meaning, Practice, and Sustainability • Culture as meaning-making and social practice in environmental contexts. • Cultural sustainability: definitions, frameworks, and key debates. • Different approaches to the concept of culture. • Cultural change, adaptation, and resilience in response to ecological crises and modernization. Module 3: Methods in STS • Introduction to ethnographic research methods: participant observation, interviews, and document analysis. • Performativity and normativity in socio-technical practices. • Multi-sited ethnography and comparative fieldwork. • Feminist and decolonial approaches to ethnography. • Ethical considerations, reflexivity, and researcher positionality. Module 4: STS, Imaginaries, and Future Making • In-depth exploration of ethnographies addressing contemporary environmental and technological issues (e.g., climate change adaptation, water management, biodiversity conservation, circular economy, urban sustainability). • Analysis of socio-cultural, ethical, and political dimensions of interventions and technologies. • Positionality, situatedness, participation, inclusivity, and equity. • Engagement with imaginaries and future-making as linked to STS, culture, and sustainability.

Resources

Literature

Mandatory readings: Module 1: Foundations of Science, Technology and Society • Bandola-Gill, J., Arthur, M., & Leng, R. I. (2023). What is co-production? Conceptualising and understanding co-production of knowledge and policy across different theoretical perspectives. Evidence & Policy, 19(2), 275–298. • Epstein, S. (2008). Culture and Science/Technology: Rethinking Knowledge, Power, Materiality, and Nature. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 619(1), 165–182. • Felt, U., Fouché, R., Miller, C. A., & Smith-Doerr, L. (2017). Introduction to the Fourth Edition of The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies. In U. Felt, R. Fouché, C. A. Miller, & L. Smith-Doerr (Eds.), The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies. MIT Press. Module 2: Culture in Action: Meaning, Practice, and Sustainability • Hess, DJ 1995 Chapter 2: “The Cultural Construction of Science and Technology” Science and Technology in a Multicultural World: The Cultural Politics of Facts and Artifacts. Columbia University Press, New York. • Magaudda, P. (2024). Technology as Culture. In U. Felt & A. Irwin (Eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of Science and Technology studies. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 61-71. Module 3: Methods in STS • Marcus, G. E. (1995) Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography. Annual Review of Anthropology 24 (1995): 95–117. • Law, J. (2017). STS as method. In U. Felt, S. Milojevic, R. Fouché, C. A. Miller, & L. Smith-Doerr (Eds.), The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies. MIT Press.  Hammersley, M. & Atkinson, P. (2019). Ethnography: Principles in Practice. 4th ed. Routledge. Students will use this book as a methodological reference and practical guide for designing, conducting, and analyzing their ethnographic work during the course. Module 4: STS, Imaginaries, and Future Making Together with the lecturer, students will select one case to work on in small groups during class sessions over the semester, using it as a basis for discussion, analysis, and preparation for the final ethnographic portfolio.

General Information

Language
English
Levels
MSC
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
ungraded semester performance
ungraded semester performanceRepetition only possible after re-enrolling for the course unit.Each session combines conceptual and methodological inputs from the lecturer with case studies, complemented by group and individual student activities. Sessions vary in structure to foster engagement with key concepts and methods from STS. Mandatory readings support in-class discussions and provide the foundation for the core assignments:Attendance and participation (15%)Active participation is essential to the learning process. Students are expected to attend at least 80% of sessions, engage themselves with the mandatory readings, and contribute to discussions, group activities, and peer feedback. Assessment will consider both the quality and consistency of participation throughout the semester.Case Study Analysis (Group Work) (35%)Students analyse a socio-technical environmental issue using a case selected at the beginning of the semester and applying an STS-informed ethnographic approach. Working in small groups, students will simulate their own areas of expertise related to the case and progressively apply concepts and methods from each module. This process will prepare students for the final ethnographic assignment, linking the case to both STS and cultural analysis. Preparation will take place during the lessons. Students will present their analysis orally in groups in Week 14.Final Assignment: Ethnographic Portfolio (50%)Students conduct a small-scale ethnographic study related to an environmental practice, technology, or policy context of their choice. A list of suggested ethnographic cases will be provided by the lecturer for students who need guidance in selecting a suitable topic. The portfolio will include collected data, analysis, and a reflexive ethnographic essay (approximately 2,000 words). Digital or visual components may also be included.

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture Science, Technology and Culture in Sustainability No time listed 3 h weekly

Offered In