Angela Cope

About Me

I completed my PhD in Science and Technology Studies here at York University and currently teach both NATS and STS courses. My dissertation delved into the intersection of chemical, environmental, and business histories with the material culture of the home, arguing in part that certain plastics’ domestication, at first in Depression-era marketing campaigns using gendered “premium” items to sell staples, then increasingly through its use in children’s toys, and finally in cleaning product and food packaging, contributed to their current complete devaluation and increasingly problematic disposability. I am interested pedagogically in the playful delivery of science literacy, as well as the introduction of social sciences to STEM majors.

Teaching Interests

My research and teaching interests align with broader themes of the cultural and environmental impact of synthetic materials, the history of technology, and the globalized flows of waste. I include case studies and consideration of plastics, a timely topic, wherever I can in my courses. I have a pedagogical focus on building understanding of science and technology in non-science students, as well as teaching social science to STEM majors.

For NATS, I have had the pleasure of teaching, amongst others:

• Theories of Dinosaur Extinction (NATS1540)
• Understanding Food (NATS1560)
• Plant Life, Human Life (NATS1565)

For STS, I have had the pleasure of teaching, amongst others:

• Technological Failures (STS3600)
• Technology, Experts and Society (STS3726)
• Science and Technology Issues in Global Development (STS3790)
• Epidemics in the Modern World (STS4780)

Research Areas

UN Goals