STPS551 TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL THEORY

Course Objectives

Science and technology is embedded in the social. The scientific standards are socially constructed for inquiry and evaluate knowledge claims. There is no abstract and logical scientific method apart from evolving community norms. In addition, science and technology are arenas in which rhetorical work is crucial, because scientists and engineers are always in the position of having to convince the rest of the society. On the basis of these, this course will examine how the facts and artifacts produced by scientists affect the course of history: how scientific knowledge changes people’s self-perceptions and how it affects social relations.

Course Content

This course aims to provide theoretical discussions about technology and social change by focusing on the contexual debates concerning five historical periods; modernity, industrial revolution, the postmodern critique, the technological turn and the contemporary revolution in digital technologies. This course will examine how the facts and artifacts produced by scientists affect the course of history: how scientific knowledge changes peoples self-perceptions and how it affects social relations.

Course Learning Outcomes

This course aims to provide productive theoretical discussions about technology and social change by focusing on the contextual debates concerning five historical periods; modernity, industrial revolution, the postmodern critique, the technological turn and the contemporary revolution in digital technologies.

Another aim of this course is to create a casual perception about technology that it is a part of our daily lives, practices, our bodies, genders, of who we are. To have a broader understanding of technology, topics of this seminar include technological determinism, social construction of technology, actor-network theory, modernity and post-modernity; work, economics, and gender.