Syllabus: Revised 7/31/00 Interpretation and Argument: Science and Society 76-101 G, Summer, 2000 MTWThF, 3:00-4:20PM; Porter Hall 226A Instructor: Michael Rectenwald, English Department Email: mdr2@andrew.cmu.edu Web site: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mdr2/ Office Hours: By Appointment (Best times: directly before or after classes) 76-101B LIST OF TEXTS Books (available in campus bookstore) Harding, Sandra, ed., The Racial Economy of Science: Towards a Democratic Future (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1993). Hess, David J., ed., Science Studies: An Advanced Introduction (New York and London: New York University Press, 1997). Essays (Those not in Racial Economy or Science Studies will be provided as photocopies by the Instructor). Part I. Aronowitz, Stanley, “Science and Technology as Hegemony” in Science as Power: Discourse and Ideology in Modern Society (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1988: 3-34. Barton, J.H. and Howard, V.A. "The Essay: A Framework for Thinking in Writing" from Thinking on Paper (New York: William, Morrow and Company, 1986). Gross, Paul R. and Norman Levitt, "Does it Matter?" from Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and its Quarrels with Science (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994): 234-257. Hubble, Edwin, "The Nature of Science" from The Nature of Science and Other Lectures (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1977): 3-19. Levine, George, "What Is Science Studies for and Who Cares?" in Science Wars, Andrew Ross, ed. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1996): 123-38. Lewontin, Richard C., "A Reasonable Skepticism" from Biology as Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA (New York: HarperPerennial, 1991): 1-16. Namenwirth, Marion, "Science Seen Through a Feminist Prism" from Feminist Approaches to Science, Ruth Bleier, ed. (New York: Pergamon Press, 1986): 18-41. Ruse, Michael, "Struggle for the Soul of Science" from The Sciences 34.6 (1994): 39-44 Sagan, Carl. "Science and Hope" from The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (New York: Ballantine, 1996): 23-39. Zoline, Pamela, “The Heat Death of the Universe” in New Worlds, 1967). Part II Allen, Garland E., “Science Misapplied: the Eugenics Age Revisited” in 99 Technology Review, 1996. Angell, Marcia. "Breast Implants and the Rejection of Science: Other Ways of Knowing" from Science on Trial: The Clash of Medical Evidence and the Law in the Breast Implant Case (New York: Norton, 1996): 177-191. Dickson, David, "Towards a Democratic Strategy for Science" in The Racial Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future, Sandra Harding, ed. (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993): 472-83. Lewontin, Richard, “The Politics of Biological Determinism” in Not in Our Genes: Biology, Ideology, and Human Nature (New York: Pantheon Books, 1984): 1736. Nanda, Meera, "Against Social (De)construction of Science: Cautionary Tales from the Third World" in Monthly Review, 1997. Needham, Joseph. "Science and Democracy: A Fundamental Correlation" in The Racial Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future, Sandra Harding, ed. (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993): 434439. Paul, Diane B., “Eugenic Anxieties, Social Realities, and Political Choices” in Are Genes Us?, Carl F. Cranor, ed. (New Brunswick, NJ): Rutgers University Press, 1994): 144-54. Shiva, Vandana, "Colonialism and the Evolution of Masculinist Forestry," in The Racial Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future, Sandra Harding, ed. (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993): 303-14. Third World Network, "Modern Science in Crisis: A Third World Response," in The Racial Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future, Sandra Harding, ed. (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993): 484-518. Zimmerman, Bill, et. al. "People's Science" in The Racial Economy of Science: Toward a Democratic Future, Sandra Harding, ed. (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1993): 440-55. Zimmerman, Susan M., "Minimizing Women's Troubles," from Silicone Survivors: Women's Experiences with Breast Implants (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998). Videos: "Frontline: Dow Corning Debates," “Gattaca,” "Real Genius." Course Goals: This course is designed to help students master reading and writing at the college level. The two skills are inextricable: you can only be a good writer if you also are a perceptive reader and you will be a more perceptive reader if you can construct good arguments of your own. 76101 links one of the traditional aims of rhetoric-becoming a good arguerwith a traditional aim of humanities education in general-becoming a perceptive interpreter. This course employs academic essays, fiction and film in the service of these ends. Note that 76-101 is concerned with these genres insofar as they serve as useful arenas for the aims of the course. While it is hoped the readings will prove interesting in and of themselves, do not forget the course is using these readings to work on generalizable intellectual skills. To that end, 76-101 follows a cumulative sequence of three assignments: 1. Summary, in which students are expected to explain in their own words another writer's argument about a problem. 2. Synthesis/Analysis, in which students tie together a number of distinct sources (that's synthesis) into one coherent description of a problem (that's analysis). 3. Contribution, in which students dissect a problem in order to arrive at some kind of convincing conclusion. 76-101G Course Description: 2 We will concern ourselves this semester with a critical controversy that I feel is important, intellectually stimulating, ideologically charged, for future science and non-science majors alike: what is at stake in doing, or not doing, science? Questions we will ask include the following: What is science? How do and should we study science? Does the "who" of science, that is, who is doing science, have any effect on what science "produces?" What is the relation of science to art, culture, and to the larger society? How does science affect society, and vice versa? We will make brief incursions into each of these areas of inquiry in the ensuing weeks. The point of our readings will be to stimulate thought and discussion, as well as to provide a topic for your own writing. Our intention is not to solve any of these questions once and for all. We will, however, come to terms with many aspects of these critical debates-debates that have something of a direct bearing on your lives as future college students, debates that you are in a unique position to explore in your own writing. This course will involve a good deal of reading (i.e., over twenty-five essays-- and a some short fiction). I've picked essays that represent a range of positions that I hope you will find both interesting and intellectually challenging. The course is divided somewhat arbitrarily; the first half of concerning itself with an "academic" question: what is the nature of science; the second half of the course comprising a "cultural study" of the relation of science to society, art, the humanities, politics, the economy, and more. Almost from the very beginning, however, we will find that these two inquiries are not mutually exclusive, but rather deeply related. It will be your task to decide the extent and nature of this relationship. Course Policies Attendance: Since this is a small discussion class, attendance is mandatory. You are allowed three unexcused absences without penalty. After that, your grade will be lowered one letter grade for every day you've missed over three. Assignments: Assignments are due on the days that they are due, at class time. Exceptions are granted for extraordinary circumstances only, and must be cleared in advance. Essay assignments are docked a letter grade for each day that they are late. Grading: Percentages break down as follows: Summary Essay 25%; Synthesis/Analysis Essay 25%; Contribution Essay 25%; Class Participation 25%. The essays will receive a letter grade. You will also be asked to do a few ungraded daily assignments, evaluated on the "check" system. Daily assignments will be given a "check plus," a "check," or a "check minus." These assignments are intended to allow you to practice the skills required by the graded assignments. The "check" system is intended to serve as a rough guide to how well you seem to grasp the particular concept that you are practicing. Furthermore, while these daily assignments are not graded, they are considered (along with participation in class discussion) en toto when assigning a grade at the end of the course. Communications: You can reach me via e-mail at mdr2@andrew.cmu.edu, or with a note in my mailbox in Baker 245.Do not wait until after you've missed class or an assignment to notify me of the same. 3 Daily Schedule: July Week One M3 Introduction to Instructor, each other, and course; In-class diagnostic essay: "How does science fit into society?" (not graded). Intro. Assignment: read Hess, Chapters 1 and 2 of Science Studies. T4 No class W5 Lecture: Introduction to Science Studies. Discuss Hess. Interpreting an author’s argument 1: IPS. Assignment: read Hubble, “The Nature of Science” and Zoline, “The Heat Death of the Universe;” do IPS for Hubble. T6 Discuss Hubble and Zoline. Interpreting an author's argument 2: AAGR. Lecture: Discuss Hubble: "The trouble with Hubble.” Assignment: read Aronowitz, “Science and Technology as Hegemony.” Do AAGR for Aronowitz. F7 Discuss Aronowitz. Interpreting an author's argument 3: Main and Faulty Paths. Assignment: read Lewontin "A Reasonable Skepticism;” do Main and Faulty paths for Lewontin. Week Two M10 Discuss Lewontin. Hand out Summary assignment. Assignment: read Namenwirth, and chapter 5 of Hess. T11 Discuss Namenwirth and Hess. Assignment: read Gross and Levitt, "Does It Matter?" W12 Discuss Gross and Levitt. What are they saying about science studies? Assignment: read Sagan, "Science and Hope." Th13 Discuss Sagan in context of science studies. Assignment: read: Levine, “What is Science Studies For and Who Cares?” and Howard and Barton, "The Essay." F14 Discuss Levine and questions about the essay. Begin viewing “Real Genius.” Week Three M17 Finish viewing “Real Genius.” Discuss representations of science in the film in connection with essays we've read thus far. Do peer reviews in class. Due: First Draft of Summary Paper: Bring two copies, one for instructor and one for your peer-reviewer. Assignment: read Ruse, “Struggle for the Soul of Science.” T18 Introduce first Synthesis-Analysis Tool: The Synthesis Grid. Discuss Ruse as an example of synthesis-analysis essay. Do in class: Synthesis Grid for Sagan and three other authors we've read. W19 Begin the Genome Project Segment. Begin viewing "Gattaca." Hand out Synthesis-Analysis Assignment. Th20 Finish viewing "Gattaca." Assignment: read Lewontin, “The Politics of Biological Determinism,” and Allen, “Science Misapplied: The Eugenics Age Revisited.” F21 Discuss Lewontin and Allen. Introduce second synthesis-analysis tool: The Synthesis Tree. Discuss Synthesis-Analysis Assignment. Assignment: read Paul, “Eugenic Anxieties, Social Realities, and Political Choices.” Week Four M24 Discuss Paul. Due: Final Draft of Summary Paper. Wrap up the Genome Project Segment. Begin viewing Frontline: the Dow-Corning Debate. Assignment: read Angell, "Breast Implants and the Rejection of Science: Other Ways of Knowing." 4 T25 Discuss Angell. Hand out presentation assignment. Assignment: read Zimmerman, "Minimizing Women's Troubles." W26 Discuss Zimmerman. Finish viewing Frontline. Th27 Discuss Frontline and wrap up breast implant debate. Due: First Draft of Synthesis-Analysis Paper. Bring two copies. Assignment: work on Presentations. F28 Begin Science and Religion Segment. Assignment: Presentations. Week five M31 Begin viewing “Contact.” August T1 Finish viewing “Contact.” Student Presentations. Hand out Contribution Assignment. W2 Student Presentations. Assignment: read Needham, "Science and Democracy: A Fundamental Correlation" and Zimmerman, et. al. Th3 No Class F4 No Class Week six M7 Discuss Needham and Zimmerman. Due: Final Draft of Synthesis-Analysis Paper. Assignment: read Shiva, "Colonialism and the Evolution of Masculinist Forestry," and Dickson, "Towards a Democratic Strategy for Science." T8 Discuss Shiva and Dickson. Assignment: read Third World Network, "Modern Science in Crisis." W9 Do Peer Reviews in class. Due: First Draft of Contribution Paper. Th10 Discuss Third World Network. F11 Due: Final Draft of Contribution Paper. 5