DRAFT Syllabus
Contemporary Issues in Science and Technology Studies
STS 5106
Spring 2013
3 Credit Hours
Wednesdays, 7:00 – 9:45pm
Instructor: Nicole Mogul
Phone: 202-525-8012
Email: nicole.mogul@gmail.com
Office Hours: By appointment
Note: There is reading due for the first night of class.
Course Description:
This course is the second of two courses that introduce students to the social studies of science
and technology. While the first course focuses on the emergence and development of the social
studies of science, this course examines contemporary social and cultural theories and
approaches to science and technology (keeping in mind that it is often difficult to draw definite
distinctions between science and technology—the term “technoscience” is helpful for these
blurry boundaries).
Over the last few decades, scholars in Science and Technology Studies (STS) have developed
new theoretical and methodological approaches to analyzing not only the transformative
impacts of technologies on society, but also how social arrangements fundamentally influence
the development of technologies in the first place. Among questions we will ask in this class are:
Who creates new technologies, who uses them, and what do designers, regulators, and other
users know about each other? How can we make technologies safe, fair, and user-friendly, and
who defines such goals? What is the role of dis/ability and location in the production,
distribution, and application of technoscience?
We will read foundational texts in STS, as well as case studies that focus on individual
technologies or technological systems. You will come to understand our world as a large sociotechnical system; analyzing a specific aspect of it by applying multi-disciplinary STS-tools will
lead you to novel interpretations of how societies and technologies interact.
Plagiarism is not tolerated in the graduate program. If you think you do not understand
plagiarism, please refer to the resource list below.
Course Requirements:
The course consists of readings, discussions, weekly writing assignments (“reaction papers”), a
mid-term essay and final research paper. Your final grade will be based upon a combination of
attending and participating in classes and completing writing assignments.
Attendance and Participation. Class attendance is mandatory. Not attending regularly or
participating in discussions will adversely affect your grade.
Weekly Writing Assignments. There will be a short writing assignment every week of about 400700 words (2-3 double-spaced pages) and will vary in level of formality depending on the
assignment. Come to class with extensive notes and questions on the reading to facilitate class
discussion. The purpose of these assignments is to help you gain experience with outlining,
critical synopsis, comparative analysis, methodological analysis, source analysis and comparison.
We will also review how other scholars "dissect" or analyze current theorists. These
assignments are not given a grade but I read them closely, provide short comments and use
them to prepare your final participation grade. You will upload reaction papers to scholar or
email me assignments as specified.
Mid-Term. There will be a mid-term in which you will answer one essay question from a choice
of two, as you would would for a preliminary exam.
Final Research Paper.
You will write a research paper on a topic of your choice, in which you apply, criticize, and/or
evaluate at least one theoretical approach introduced in this course. What I will be looking for in
your paper is (a) a demonstrated command of the literature, and (b) some integration of the
course materials into your work. In order to facilitate completion of your paper by the end of
the semester, this course entails several steps ranging from an early outline of your project, to
the peer review of a draft, to the presentation of your final project.
A week after spring break, you will submit a short outline (1-2 pages) It should contain the
following elements: (1) what your research question is; (2) how you plan to address this
question; (2a) if you choose a case, a brief outline of it; (3) where your topic fits in the syllabus.
By April 9, you will submit a draft of your paper (to the "Drafts" folder under "Resources"
on the course website), and you will have a little over a week to read and prepare comments on
your peers’ drafts. We will have an in-depth discussion of these drafts during the second half of
the class on April 17 and you are expected to integrate this feedback into your final paper.
Remember to reference all your sources and give credit where you benefited from your peers’
feedback! Our final class is reserved for short presentations, followed by Q&A.
Grading:
30% Attendance and participation, including weekly writing assignments
30% Mid-term essay
40% Final research paper
Required Books
Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault
Reassembling the Social by Bruno Latour
Magnetic Appeal by Kelly Joyce
The Male Pill by Nelly Oudshoorn
Impure Science by Steven Epstein
Radiance of France by Gabrielle Hecht
Masons, Tricksters and Cartographers by David Turnbull
Overview
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Jan 23
Jan 30
Feb 6
Feb 13
Feb 20
Feb 27
March 6
March 13
March 20
March 27
April 3
April 10
April 17
April 24
May 1
May 8
Politics of Technology
Technology & Gender
Actor Network Theory 1
Actor Network Theory 2
Accidents & Disasters
Multicultural Views of Technoscience
Ethnographies
SPRING BREAK
STS and Place
Infrastructure
Public Understanding
Users
STS and Disabilities
Activism and Controversy
National Styles and National Identity
Final presentations
Schedule:
Jan 23: Politics of Technology
 Noble, David. 1977. America By Design? Science, Technology and the Rise of Corporate
Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Selected chapters.
 Woolgar, Steve. 1991. The turn to technology in social studies of science, Science,
Technology,& Human Values 16 (1): 20-50
 Foucault, Michel. 1979. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage
Books, selections pp 1-135, 195-230, 293-308.
Assignment: Reaction paper.
Jan 30 : Technology and Gender
 Oudshoorn, Nelly. The Male Pill.
 Wajcman, Judy. 2004. TechnoFeminism. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Skim ch. 2, read
the intro and ch. 5.
 Haraway, Donna. 1991. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. The Reinvention of Nature. New
York: Routledge, ch. 8 (“Cyborg Manifesto”).
 Lerman, Nina, Ruth Oldenziel and Arwen Mohun (eds). 2003. Gender and Technology: A
Reader. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, Introduction, ch. 1 or 7, and
conclusion.
Assignment: Reaction paper.
Feb 6: Actor Network Theory 1(non-human actors and material-semiotic hybrids)
 Latour, Bruno. Reassembling the Social by Latour, selections.

Akrich, Madeleine. 1997. The De-Scription of Technical Objects. In Shaping
Technology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnical Change, edited by W. E. Bijker and
J. Law. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press: 205-225.
Assignment: Reaction paper.
Feb 13: Actor Network Theory 2
 Harding, Sandra. 2008. Science from Below. Duke University Press. Chapter 1.
 Barbara Allen, manuscript.
 Whittle, Andrea and Andre Spicer. 2008. Organization Studies 29(04): 611–629.
 McClellan, Chris. The Economic Consequences of Bruno Latour. 1996. Social
Epistemology. Vol 10. No. 2. 193-208.
Assignment: Reaction paper.
Fe b 20: Accidents and Disasters
 Perrow, Charles. 1984. Normal Accidents: Living With High-Risk Technologies. New York,
London: Basic Books, Intro and ch. 9. Skim chapters 1-3.
 Vaughan, Diane. 1996. The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and
Deviance at NASA. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, preface, chs. 3 and 6.
 Dowty, Rachel A., and Barbara L. Allen (eds). 2011. Dynamics of Disaster: Lessons on
Risk,Response and Recovery. London: Earthscan, chs. 3 (Bowden), 11 (Bleicher & Gross),
and afterword.
 Lakoff, Andrew (ed.). 2010. Disaster and the Politics of Intervention. New York: Columbia
University Press, ch. 2 (Roberts).
Assignment: Reaction paper.
Feb 27: Multicultural Views of Technoscience
 Verran, Helen. 2001. Science and An African Logic. Chicago. University of Chicago Press.
 Turnbull, David. Masons, Tricksters and Cartographers: Comparative Studies in the
Sociology of Scientific and Indigenous Knowledge. Selections.
 Hess, David. 1995. Science and Technology in a Multicultural World.
Assignment: reaction paper. Mid-term essay questions will be distributed. You will receive two
questions and answer one of them in 2000 words. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your
analytical and conceptual thinking.
March 6:
Ethnography
 Joyce, Kelly. Magnetic Appeal
Assignment: reaction paper.
March 13: SPRING BREAK
Assignment: Midterm Essay due
March 20 STS & Place
 Gieryn, Thomas F. 2006. City as Truth-Spot: Laboratories and Field-Sites in Urban
Studies. Social Studies of Science, Vol. 36, No. 1 (Feb., 2006), pp. 5-38.
 Moore, Stephen. “Technology, Place and Nonmodern Regionalism” in Architectural
Regionalism, Vincent Caniaro, Ed. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press,
forthcoming. Book Chapter.
http://www.soa.utexas.edu/faculty/moore/selectbookchapters.html
 van Heur, Bas, Ralf Brand, Andrew Karvonen, Simon Guy, and Sally Wyatt. 2009. Urban
laboratories: towards an STS of the built environment, EASST Review 28(4).
Assignment: In addition to the weekly writing assignment, submit your research question for the
final paper.
March 27 Infrastructure
 Star, Susan Leigh. 1999. The Ethnography of Infrastructure. American Behavioral
Scientist 43: 377-391.
 Eglash, Ron. African Fractals. Chapter 1, Introduction and Chapter 2, Fractals in African
Settlement Architecture.
 Hommels, Anique. Studying Obduracy in the City: Toward a Productive Fusion between
Technology Studies and Urban Studies. Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 30,
No. 3 (Summer, 2005), pp. 323-351
 Moore, Stephen with Nathan Engstrom, “The Social Construction of ‘Green Building’
Codes: Competing models by industry, government and NGO’s,” in Sustainable
Architectures: Natures and Cultures in Europe and North America, Guy and Moore, Eds.
London: Routledge/Spon). pp. 51-70
http://www.soa.utexas.edu/faculty/moore/selectbookchapters.html
April 3: Public Understanding
 Wynne, Bryan. Misunderstood Misunderstandings. Social identities and the uptake of
science.
 Irwin, Alan. Citizen Science. Selections from book.
 Fisher, Erik. 2011. Editorial Overview. Public Science and Technology Scholars: Engaging
Whom? Science Engineering Ethics. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University.
 Popular Epidemiology: Community Response to Toxic Waste-Induced Disease in
Woburn, Massachusetts and Other Sites" Science, Technology, and Human Values,
1987, 12(3-4):76-85.
Assignment: Discuss how each author understands “public science”; compare and contrast.
April 10: Users
 Oudshoorn, Nelly and Trevor Pinch (eds). 2003. How Users Matter: The Co-Construction
of Users and Technologies. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, Introduction, chs. 1 (Lindsay), 6
(Parthasarathy), 11 (Schot & de la Bruheze).
 Cowan, Ruth Schwartz. 1992. The Consumption Junction: A Proposal for Research
Strategies in the Sociology of Technology. In The Social Construction of Technological

Systems, edited by W.E. Bijker, T. P. Hughes and T. Pinch. Cambridge, Massachusetts &
London, England: MIT Press, 261-280.
Shapin, Steven. 2007. What else is new? How uses, not innovation, drive human
technology.New Yorker, May 14, http://www.newyorker.
Assignment: In addition to the weekly writing assignment, upload draft of research paper to
course website.
April 17: STS, Design, and Disabilities
 Mauldin, Laura. 2012. Parents of deaf children with cochlear implants: a study of
technology and community. Sociology of Health & Illness: A Journal of Medical
Sociology. 34(5).
 Aimi Hamraie, Universal Design Research as a New Materialist Practice, Disability
Studies Quarterly 32(4), 2012.
 Deaf Space. 2007.
http://www.gallaudet.edu/Communications_and_Public_Relations/Gallaudet_Today_m
agazine/Deaf_Space_Spring_2007.html
Assignment. In addition to the weekly paper, come prepared to discuss your peers’ drafts of the
final research paper.
April 24: Activism and Controversy
 Epstein, Steven. Impure Science.
 Hess, David, and Ned Woodhouse, Steve Breyman, Brian Martin. Social Studies of
Science, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 2002), pp. 297-319.
Assignment: Weekly reaction paper. Discuss Epstein’s methodologies.
May 1: National Styles and National Identity
 Hecht, Gabrielle. 1998. The Radiance of France. Nuclear Power and National Identity
after World War II. Cambridge, Mass. & London, England: MIT Press.(selections)
 Jasanoff, Sheila. 2005. Designs on Nature: Science and Democracy in Europe and the
United States. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, prologue, ch. 4.
Assignment: Weekly reaction paper.
May 8: Final Presentations
May 12-May 15 at 2pm:
Final research paper due. 4500 words.