Science, Technology and Society Center

Home

	Events

	Event Archive

	News Archive

The mission of the Science, Technology, and Society Center (STSC) is to advance understanding of scientific and technological practice and knowledge in their local, national and international settings, coordinating and promoting scholarship, teaching, and outreach regarding their deep intertwinings in society.

Berkeley’s STSC is uniquely positioned within IAS to emphasize our commitment to scholarship on science, technology and society in a globalizing world.

Among our organizing themes are: sustained inquiry into open and closed science; overcoming local and global divides; links between science and democracy.

Learn more about the Center and its themes, its events and projects, and the rich resources of people, courses, and programs at Berkeley.

News

Science for Humanity

Science for Humanity is pleased to invite people in STS related fields to join our network of individuals and organizations seeking to collaborate in making science work for humanity. The Science for Humanity network will give you the benefits of networking with a diverse range of bright and enthusiastic individuals, and organizations keen to work for socially responsible causes. It will also provide you with the opportunity to share your ideas and apply your skills in helping solve the most pressing issues facing humanity.

Visit www.scienceforhumanity.net for further information.

The BioEconomy Summit 2009
June 25, 2009
Santa Clara University

Join us for a global summit taking place on June 25th at Santa Clara University. This special conference will feature leaders of industry, academia and government coming together to discuss the future of bio-based industries worldwide.Presented by theBayBio Institute,the National Academies, andthe Kauffman Foundation, the BioEconomy Summit will include panel discussions and audience participation to discuss the ways in which scientists, policy-makers, and capital markets can work together to ensure that the innovative possibilities of tomorrow become a reality. The conference will also feature companies that are helping to redefine the bioeconomy through human health innovations and transformative applications. Don't miss this one-day chance to be a part of a critical and timely discussion.

To register and for more information visit: http://www.bioeconomysummit.org

California STS Workshop on Translation and Innovation
June 26-28, 2009
The Marin Headlands Institute
Deadline: May 15, 2009

This workshop will feature STS research into the nature of innovation as well as STS as a form of Innovation Studies. It will include 3 faculty-run mini-workshops on Teaching STS: A Problem Based Learning Approach, Virtual worlds, and Intersections between STS, medicine and public health; topical theoretical discussion break-out groups; and practical working groups on innovation, translational research, grants, publishing and teaching. This will not be a standard conference with paper presentations, but there will be multiple opportunities to have your work discussed.

For more information:
http://sts.ucdavis.edu/summer-workshop

http://sites.google.com/site/calstsnet/home/sts-summer-workshop

Contact:

Joe Dumit (dumit@ucdavis.edu) or Andres Barragan (cabarragan@ucdavis.edu)

Race, genomics and mestizaje (mixture) in Latin America: a comparative approach
Deadline: July 3

We are currently advertising for three post-doctoral research associates, 18 months fixed term, to work on an ESRC funded project, Race, Genomics and Mestizaje in Latin America, directed by Prof. Peter Wade. The researchers will be based in Social Anthropology (School of Social Sciences) and will carry out some fieldwork in Colombia, Mexico or Brazil.

The project is a comparative analysis of how ideas of race and ethnicity interact with genomic research in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, where geneticists are mapping local population genomes, with the objective of combating diseases, and tracing "racial" ancestries. These countries have high levels of genetic "admixture" and interest geneticists pursuing the genetic components of disorders. Scientists in these countries often link their findings explicitly to questions of national identity, racial-ethnic difference, racism and multiculturalism, provoking media attention and public debate. Through ethnographic lab work and interviews, the project explores how racial, ethnic and national categories enter these scientific endeavours, whether the categories are reproduced and/or reformulated, and what are the ethical and normative implications of this research. Using discourse analysis, focus groups and interviews, it also explores how information that scientists disseminate enters the public domain and how it is received there by diverse publics. All three countries have a history and a national identity based on mestizaje (racial-cultural mixture between Europeans, Africans and indigenous Americans), but the idea of mixture is slightly different in each case; the project will explore how the knowledge produced about genetics reinforces or challenges particular national versions of the ideology of mestizaje. Details of the project can be found the event webpage.

Contact Peter Wade for further information.

Spontaneous Generations
A Journal for the History and Philosophy of Science
Volume 3: Epistemic Boundaries
Deadline: July 10

Spontaneous Generations is accepting submissions of short papers (1000-3000 words) for our focused discussion section on epistemic boundaries as well as longer papers (5000 - 8000 words) on any subject in the history and philosophy of science. We welcome submissions from scholars in all disciplines, including but not limited to HPS, STS, History, Philosophy, Women's Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, and Religious Studies. Papers from all periods are welcome.

Spontaneous Generations is an open, online, peer-reviewed academic journal published by graduate students at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto.

For more details, please visit the journal webapage.

International Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Well-Being (Call for Papers)
July 23-24, 2009
Mahasarakham, Thailand
Deadline: April 30, 2009

The Faculty of Engineering at Mahasarakham University, together with the Faculty of Engineering, Khonkaen University, the Institute of Engineering, Suranaree University of Technology and the Faculty of Engineering, Ubonrajathani University are pleased to announce the holding of the International Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Well-Being. We invite graduate students, post-docs, researchers and interested participants to submit abstracts and attend the conference.

For more details, please visit: www.stiswb.msu.ac.th.

University College London "Global Citizenship” Program

The new "Global Citizenship" Program at University College
London now offers an undergraduate Study Abroad Year. Undergraduates will take several courses centered in science and technology studies addressing concerns of global citizenship and take part in an action-based course where they collectively design and promote a campaign around a global issue. Short internships are also available in London-based organizations working on issues related to global citizenship. We welcome students with a background in natural sciences, humanities or
the liberal arts. Please contact us at
global-citizen@ucl.ac.uk or via the program website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/global-citizen/

MSc Medicine, Science and Society
King's College, University of London

This new MSc* focuses on innovative medical technologies and particularly the interaction between the lab and the clinic. The programme will enable students to apply key theories and concepts critically, equipping them with the skills necessary to engage with debates about the nature of contemporary
‘biomedical societies’. It will broaden and deepen the student’s appreciation of common problems in the social study of biomedicine and biotechnology, and explore the ways these are addressed in different societies.

For further information, please contact:
Professor Clare Williams
Professor of Social Science of Biomedicine
Co-Director Centre for Biomedicine & Society (CBAS)
School of Social Science & Public Policy
King’s College London
Strand, London WC2R 2LS
Tel: 020 7848 3779
Email: clare.2.williams@kcl.ac.uk

Professor Steven Wainwright
Professor of Sociology of Medicine, Science & the Arts
Co-Director Centre for Biomedicine & Society (CBAS)
School of Social Science & Public Policy
King’s College London
Strand
London WC2R 2LS
Tel: 020 7848 3214
Email: steven.wainwright@kcl.ac.uk

The *Comparative Relativism *Colloquium
IT-University of Copenhagen
September 3-4, 2009

*Comparative Relativism *features presentations and a roundtable discussion by Professor Eduardo Viveiros de Castro (Museo Nacional, Rio de Janeiro), Professor Barbara Herrnstein Smith (Brown University & Duke University), Professor Isabelle Stengers (The Free University of Brussels) and Professor
Marilyn Strathern (Cambridge University) and discussants.

To register for the event, visit http://www.itu.dk/comprel/Registration.html

In addition to the main event, Ph.D. students can sign up for a short intensive discussion session with one of the key note speakers. Please check the webpage for further information and requirements relating to this.

Joint Atlantic Seminar in the History of Medicine
October 9-10, 2009
Deadline: June 1, 2009

Announcing the 7th Annual Joint Atlantic Seminar for the History of Medicine. Graduate students are encouraged to submit abstracts for research presentations on topics related to the history of health and healing; of medical ideas, practices, and institutions; and of illness, disease, and public health, from all eras and regions of the world.

The deadline for submissions has been extended to June 1, 2009.

All abstracts should be submitted electronically (either as a MS Word document or as text in the body of an e-mail) to Marissa Mika, Program Chair, at jasmedconf@gmail.com. For more details please visit the website.

The conference is to be held the weekend of October 9-10, 2009, and hosted by the Department of the History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The seminar is organized and coordinated by graduate students across North America working in fields related to the history of medicine. Our mission is to foster a sense of community and provide a forum for sharing and critiquing graduate research by peers from a variety of institutions and backgrounds. Please visit www.jointatlantic.org.

Eleventh Berlin Roundtables on Transnationality Memory Politics: Education, Memorials and Mass Media
- Essay Competition
- Irmgard Coninx Research Grant 2009
- Workshops in Berlin, 21 – 26 October 2009
Deadline: June 30, 2009

organized by the Irmgard Coninx Foundation in cooperation with the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB) and the Humboldt-University Berlin.

Workshop participation in Berlin

50 successful applicants to the essay competition will be selected to participate in the Berlin Roundtables on Transnationality and to discuss their research with prominent scholars at two of Europe’s leading research institutions. The Roundtables take place at the WZB from 21 – 26 October 2009.

Deadline for essay submission: June 30, 2009

Irmgard Coninx Research Grant
An international jury will award a three-months fellowship to three participants to be used for research at the WZB, the Humboldt-University Berlin and the State library of Berlin. The Grant includes a monthly stipend of EUR 1,000 plus accommodation. The winners will be invited to join a follow-up workshop in Berlin in 2009/2010.

Gender, Bodies and Technology
April 22-24, 2010
Roanoke, Virginia
Deadline: September 15, 2009
Event flyer (PDF)

Sponsored by the Women's and Gender Studies Program at Virginia Tech.

We invite proposals from scholars in the humanities, social and
natural sciences, visual and performing arts, engineering and
technology for papers, panels, new media art and performance pieces that explore: the technological production of gendered and racialized bodies, historical and contemporary feminist
appropriations of technology in aesthetics and representations of embodiment, and the gendered implications of technology in contexts ranging from classrooms to workplaces to the Internet. We construe technology broadly to include material culture and the apparatus of daily life, such as writing, books and the built environment.

Contact:
Sharon Elber
selber@vt.edu

STS-Related Events at Berkeley

View full calendar of events

Berkeley Institute of the Environmental & The Science, Technology and Society Center

Faculty Roundtable 2008-2009

Green Innovation and Justice

“Innovation” generally has positive connotations, and the emerging wave of “green innovation” doubly so. Technological advances clearly have a role to play in addressing the world’s most serious problems, notably the replacement of fossil fuels and the provision of clean water. However, the mere creation of technologies guarantees neither their effective deployment, nor an equitable distribution of their risks and benefits. Furthermore, “green innovation” as currently conceptualized is not doing enough to address the critical inequalities across race, gender, and class that exist with regard to environmental goods and services. This BIE roundtable will bring together key U.C. Berkeley faculty as well as community groups working at the intersection of sustainable development, urban planning, environmental health sciences, environmental justice, and science and technology policy. The focal theme will be “green innovations” and justice. The group is committed to a “critical” approach to innovation that will bring procedural and distributive justice within “green development” and technology transfer to the fore. The group will target technological and urban policy innovations in areas such as environmental and health monitoring, water and energy provision and distribution, and green collar job development.

Themes of the Roundtable

A variety of institutions including governments, firms, international institutions, and universities are advancing urban sustainability through green innovations such as environmental monitoring, green job creation, and decentralized methods of water and sewage treatment. However, the benefits of such ‘green’ innovation may be diminished in urban areas unless (a) communities are treated not as recipients but as innovators in their own right; and (b) innovations are directly linked with community well being. The following is an illustrative list of themes that the group will take up in its work:

·        Due process for green innovation. Procedures within government and city planning have been critiqued for their lack of inclusiveness. In part because of dramatic failures in large-scale “sustainable” development projects, public participation in the governance of technological innovation is now viewed as essential in dialogues about “technology for development.” Therefore, it is critical to examine the institutions and procedures of participation in decisions about “clean” technology and technological systems for urban environments.

·        Involvement of community organizations. A focus on community engagement in the various stages of technological design situates this proposal firmly within the emerging literature concerning “upstream and downstream engagement” in technological assessment. In order to facilitate the identification and development of promising opportunities of relevance to impacted communities, roundtable discussions will periodically include representatives of local NGOs such as the Ella Baker Center and the Greenlining Institute.

·        Local histories, local knowledge. Green innovation often operates according to generalized and technology-driven logics. We use the term “critical innovation” in part to emphasize that successful green innovation will require critical reflection on the complex ways that technological artifacts operate within particular social contexts. For instance, how can “green development” incorporate attention to community history, trust variables, landowner resistance, experiences and knowledge of local residents (especially underrepresented racial, ethnic and socio-economic groups)?

·        Metrics. How can the use of new metrics of success for green innovation help advance the goals of distributional and procedural justice from mere aspiration to reality? What types of innovation metrics should be advanced as part of a robust and inclusive vision for urban sustainability? For example, what counts as a “green job”?

The group meets fortnightly on Fridays from 1:30 – 3 pm in Giannini Hall.
For more information, please contact Professor David Winickoff ( Winickoff@nature.berkeley.edu) or Professor Alastair Iles (iles@nature.berkeley.edu)

Chancellor's Stem Cell Initiative at STSC

Chancellor Birgeneau has recently allocated funds to jump start UC Berkeley's brand new Stem Cell Center.

Through the STSC, a proportion of the Chancellor's funds will be made available for research and training in the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) of stem cell research. These funds are being used to support the Regional Oral History Office's comprehensive stem cell archive, and four ELSI conferences. In addition to the comprehensive stem cell archive and the conferences, the ELSI effort will include the training of a number of graduate and undergraduate students, under the Stem Cells and Humanities grant awarded to Professors Cori Hayden and Chris Thompson by the Townsend Center for the Humanities.

If you have questions about the ELSI Program or funds application process , please contact Professor Charis Thompson. Charis Thompson, STSC Co-Director, is the Project Director for the Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) portion of UC Berkeley's Stem Cell initiative.

UC STS Network Wiki
As part of the UC STS Network, UC Davis has launched an interactive wiki site, "STSNET". It provides a collective space to post local events, grad community activities, syllabi, and upcoming STS classes across the network. You can help keep the site up to date by registering and editing the pages yourself, or you can write Joseph Dumit and Chris Kortright at UC Davis and they will post it.

STSC Location and Contact Information

360 Stephens Hall #2300
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-2300
Telephone: 510-642-9656
Fax: 510-642-9466

E-mail: stsc@berkeley.edu
URL: http://stsc.berkeley.edu

2005 UC Regents, All Rights Reserved.	International and Area Studies
Web Site Maintained by: IAS Information Systems and Services	University of California, Berkeley