Postgraduate Module Descriptor


SOCM950: Science Technology and Society

This module descriptor refers to the 2016/7 academic year.

Overview

NQF Level7
Credits30 ECTS Value15
Term(s) and duration

This module ran during term 1 (11 weeks)

Academic staff

Dr Astrid Schrader (Lecturer)

Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Available via distance learning

No

To provide training in the essential skills of conducting and reporting research in the field of Science and Technology Studies. The module will invite you to question the taken-for-granted status of contemporary science and technology and to explore the relations between social interaction, local cultures, and processes of innovation. A wide range of materials will be used, including case studies on productive, reproductive, domestic, and computing technologies. Some problematic issues will be particularly explored like the role of authority in science, technology transfer, the attribution of agency in innovation processes, the sociology of environmentalism, and the images of technology in the media. The major theoretical approaches will be critically evaluated while a number of key ethical, social, cultural and policy issues associated with scientific research will be explored.

Module created

01/10/2008

Last revised

16/08/2012