(reply to: Peter Dear <[log in to unmask]>)
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Contributions from historians of science are especially encouraged for the
2000 Annual Meeting of
the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), held jointly with the
European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST). The
meeting will take place at the University of Vienna (Austria) on 27-30
September 2000.
A greater presence of historians in the work of the 4S/EASST is important
both for the health of Social Studies of Science in general and also for
the engagement of historians of science in broader work relating to the
understanding of the sciences. If historians can succeed in demonstrating
to our colleagues in neighboring specialities the inseparable role of
historical investigation in a fuller understanding of science, both past
and present, and of the ways in which contemporary science is saturated
with the past, the resulting stronger linkages between the BSHS/HSS and the
4S/EASST will immeasurably benefit both.
Proposals for relevant papers are solicited until 15 February.
Abstracts of 250 words should be either emailed to [log in to unmask]
(attached as RTF document) or faxed to +43 1 4277 9476 (with 4S/EASST --
Ulrike Felt on the cover page)
More information about the conference can be found at
http://www.univie.ac.at/wissenschaftstheorie/ or from the Program Committee:
Programme Committee
Peter Dear
Cornell University, [log in to unmask]
Ulrike Felt (chair of the programme committee)
Univiersity of Vienna, [log in to unmask]
Maria Eduarda Goncalves
ISCTE, [log in to unmask]
Dave Guston
Rutgers University, [log in to unmask]
Rob Hagendijk (President of EASST)
University of Amsterdam, [log in to unmask]
Sheila Jasanoff (President of 4S)
Harvard University, [log in to unmask]
Jane Summerton
Linkoeping University, [log in to unmask]
Charis Thompson
University of Illinois, [log in to unmask]
Andrew Webster
University of York, [log in to unmask]
Conference Themes
The greatest challenge to studies of science, technology and society at
the end of the second millennium is to understand how science and
technology are implicated in the processes of change and transformation
that are massively reshaping our world.
To say that the world at large is changing is to say as well that the
worlds of science, technology, industry, law, politics, warfare, health,
art, and culture are each, individually and collectively, undergoing
profound transitions. Boundaries are renegotiated,
constitutive ideas reformulated, institutional relationships redefined, and
identities adjusted in the processes of technoscientific transformation.
There is a widespread perception of structural and
cultural turmoil. Social scientists and philosophers have introduced
numerous buzz-words to capture what seems essential about our era: for
example, risk society, network society, knowledge
society, information society, cyborg society or bio-age. Such terms
point more to problems that societies are struggling to grasp than to
understandings that have already been achieved.
Three broad fields of inquiry demand our attention in connection with
the transitions taking place in science, technology and society:
citizenship, culture, and identity. First, what are the implications of
technoscientific developments for institutional structures, politics
and power, governance, and citizenship in a globalizing world, and how, in
turn, will these new contexts accommodate scientific and technological
innovations? Second, how will these changes affect cultural practices -
often deeply entrenched - of making sense of the world, as well as of
creating and valuing different forms of identities and social relations?
Third, to what extent will
conceptions of nature and culture, body and soul, human and non-human,
ethnicity and race, or gender relations have to be reconsidered?
Under these central themes, the sessions will be open to a wide
variety of connected issues and approaches, including science policy
studies, technology and innovation, science and social movements,
scientific instruments and practices, technology studies,
cultural studies of science and technology, public understanding of
science, and many more.
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Peter Dear
Professor of History and of Science and Technology Studies
S&TS, Clark Hall OR History, McGraw Hall
Cornell University (607) 255-6049 -- Clark Hall office
Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 257-5975 -- home
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