Location | Email Address | Program Website |
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Vari Hall, 100 York Boulevard | grad_sts@yorku.ca | yorku.ca/gradstudies/sts/ |
The Graduate Program in Science & Technology Studies offers advanced training leading to the MA and PhD degrees. Research in Science and Technology Studies applies the methods and theories of the social sciences and humanities to the examination of scientific knowledge and technology, both past and present. Drawing upon the demonstrated expertise of a wide range of faculty, the program provides highly qualified students with a unique opportunity of doing specialized academic work in science and technology studies.
Science and technology studies is a discipline focused on the complex relationship between science, technology, and society. Although there are a range of different analytical and methodological approaches in science and technology studies, there are still a number of core analytical assumptions that are often used to define it. First, scientific knowledge is collectively produced, constituted, and legitimated, meaning that there is no inherent logic to the progress of science. Second, we can and should analyse ‘true’ and ‘false’ scientific claims symmetrically, using the same analytical tools to understood both. Third, any understanding of science and technology must pay attention to both the social and the material context, meaning that we have to pay attention to how physical objects shape societal choices and actions. Fourth, science and technology are not necessarily distinguishable so that we can understand them analytically as ‘technoscience.’ Fifth, technoscience is socially and culturally configured and is not, therefore, free from social bias and prejudice (e.g., sexism, racism). Sixth, technoscientific knowledge is socially and culturally powerful, representing a specific form of authority and expertise; however, other forms of ‘lay’ expertise or ‘citizen science’ can also be valid when considering both technoscientific and political actions and choices. Seventh, technoscience and society are often co-produced in that our social orders are shaped by technoscience, and vice versa. Finally, there is a political economy of technoscience requiring us to understand how the allocation of financial resources to research and innovation comes to shape that research and innovation in certain ways, which can be inequitable and unjust. This brief outline of science and technology studies does not do justice to the complex ways that science and technology studies’ scholars have explored the relationship between science, technology, and society. As such, it can only be a starting point for students to take further in their studies and research.
Science and technology studies is a dynamic discipline and the Graduate Program in Science & Technology Studies at York University has been designed to take this into account. The program places particular stress on the need to engage regularly with peers and faculty members in the program through dedicated research clusters that reflect the current research interests and strengths of program members, faculty and students. These research clusters change over time, so more information may be found on current research clusters on the program website.