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Abstract
The strains and opportunities that democratic societies face today have multiple connections to science and technology. Going beyond understanding science and technology as either a problem or solution, this class invites students to investigate the mutually constitutive relationship between science, technology and democracy.
Objective
Using frameworks and concepts from the field of Science, Technology and Society (STS), students learn to analyze the role of science, technology, knowledge, and innovation in the development and transformation of democratic societies.
Content
Working through contemporary and historical examples from different cultures, the course focuses on the relationship of democracies as a form of social order to the production and politics of knowledge. It addresses how topics central to democratic theory and practice (including expertise, institutions, legitimation, representation, communication, publics, and citizenship) have been shaped together with debates and experiences of science, technology and innovation (including quantification and statistics, digital technologies and computing, environmental science and engineering, life sciences and bioengineering, nuclear technology, and material sciences). Students learn frameworks and concepts from the field of Science, Technology and Society (STS) (including social construction, symmetry, reflexivity, framing, boundary work, expertise, and co-production) and practice applying them to novel situations to illuminate the stakes and opportunities for engaging with contemporary debates confronting democratic societies in Switzerland, Europe, and the world.