Robot. (Image courtesy of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. Stefan Helmreich
MIT Course Number
STS.350
As Taught In
Spring 2004
Level
Graduate
Translated Versions
Course Description
Course Description
This course surveys canonical and recent theories and methods in science studies. We will organize our discussions around the concept of "reproduction," referring variously to:
- Scientific reproduction (how results are replicated in lab, field, disciplinary contexts)
- Social reproduction (how social knowledge and relations are regenerated over time)
- Biological reproduction (how organic substance is managed in the genetic age)
- Electronic reproduction (how information is reassembled in techniques of transcription, simulation, computation).
Examining intersections and disruptions of these genres of reproduction, we seek to map relations among our social, biological, and electronic lives.