Provocation on the Core of STS

Stephen HilgartnerCornell University

1. STS has a core.

• The theoretically-informed and empirically- grounded study of the social aspects of knowledges and technologies, including their (selective) production, evaluation, spread, uptake, use, and destruction; their role in constituting and undermining particular forms of social order; and their normative and political dimensions.

2. STS is its own field and should work to emerge fully as an independent discipline.*

*But individual scholars often have multiple identities involving other fields and there is nothing wrong with that.

“Of” models

• Anthropology of S&T• History of . . . • Sociology of . . .• Philosophy of . . .• Politics of . . .• Etc. of . . .

3. STS should try to move up the gradient of institutional strength.

• Isolated individual scholars in “of” fields• STS programs or centers (that don’t control

faculty lines)• Departments (that control faculty lines)

4. The intellectual content of the core is a dynamically changing body of scholarly work, practices, and sensibilities collectively defined by the community.

Cornell STS Introductory Grad Courses

• Introduction to Science & Technology Studies

• Qualitative Methods for Studying Science

Cornell STS Grad Courses (partial list)

• Historiographical Approaches to Science• History of Technology • Information Technology in Sociocultural Context• Inside Technology• Making People through Expert Knowledge • Philosophy of Science• Public Engagement in Science• Science, Race, and Colonialism• Science, Technology, and Gender• Social Theory for Science Studies• Studying Emerging Technology

5. STS should recognize that the degree of its intellectual coherence is comparable with that of other more established disciplines.

ASA Sections

Sociologists at Cornellby Department

• Development Sociology• Graduate School of Management• Human Development• Industrial and Labor Relations• Natural Resources• Nutrition• City and Regional Planning• Policy Analysis and Management• Science and Technology Studies• Sociology

Departmental Affiliations of Cornell PhD Graduates (faculty appointments only)

• Business School• Business, Government and International Economy• Communication Studies• Community and Environmental Sociology• Consortium for Science Policy and Outcomes• Criminology, Law, and Society• History• History of Medicine• History of Science• Journalism and Media Studies• Public Policy• Science & Technology in Society• Science & Technology Studies• Sociology