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Social History of Knowledge

Code: 106217
Credits: 6
2026/2027
Degree programme Type Course
Science, Technology and Humanities FB 1

Contact lecturer

Name :
Maria Antonia Marti Escayol
Email :
mariaantonia.marti@uab.cat

Teaching staff

Sergi Grau Torras

Group languages

You can consult this information at the end of the document.

Prerequisites

The subject does not require to have taken any specific subjects of the degree.

 

 

Objectives

The subject presents a social and cultural history of knowledge, in a broad sense. It addresses the different mechanisms of construction and circulation of knowledge about nature and society, from an interdisciplinary perspective. Through the historical study of institutions, spaces and objects, and their interaction with diverse protagonists, the changing frontiers of knowledge and the mechanisms of construction of authority and cultural hegemony are analyzed. The course offers the student a critical and renewed vision of the modernization processes that have led to the contemporary era.

Learning outcomes

  1. Apply the knowledge acquired in complex or professional work settings.
  2. Produce organised, correct discourse: oral and written.
  3. Correctly use the specific terminology of social and cultural history.
  4. Work collaboratively and efficiently in teams.
  5. Identify the intrinsic methods of history and their relationship to the analysis of specific events.
  6. Explain the main aspects of the social history of knowledge using the terminology specific to the discipline.
  7. Identify the most important changes in conceptions of knowledge and its structure.
  8. Describe the natureinterdisciplinary nature of knowledge.
  9. Identify the principal historiographic debates on the historical development of knowledge.
  10. Analyse the specific vocabulary produced by each of the actors and groups studied.
  11. Relate the elements and factors that intervene in the development of the historical processes.
  12. Take part in debates on historical and present-day events, respecting the opinions of the other participants.
  13. Make a plan for producing a paper on the subject area.
  14. Take part in oral classroom debates from a critical standpoint, using the vocabulary of the discipline.
  15. Identify the main ideas in a text on the subject area and produce a schematic diagram.
  16. Recognise the historical, social and cultural dimension of knowledge.
  17. Recognise and interpret all kinds of sources in social and cultural history.
  18. Express, orally in writing, complex concepts from the historiography of knowledge and classical texts.

Contents

Introduction: The social and cultural historiography of knowledge.
Oral knowledge: Collective knowledge, tacit skills.
Written knowledge: Laws, manuscripts and intellectuals.
Printed knowledge: Books, language and nomenclature.
The classification of knowledge: Taxonomies and encyclopedias.
Visual knowledge: Spaces, images, landscapes.
Material knowledge: Objects, experiments, observations.
Knowledge as a commodity: Exhibitions, fairs and museums.
The organization of knowledge: Academies, universities and societies.
Useful knowledge: Trade, industry and war.
The geography of knowledge: Centers and peripheries.
Knowledge audiences: Readers, students, amateurs.
The frontiers of knowledge: Experts, professionals and authority.
Digital knowledge: Artificial intelligence and globalization.

Learning activities and methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
tutorials 4.25 0.17
Research and reading. Preparation of exercices 38.75 1.55
Personal study 48 1.92
theoretical class 33 1.32
Guided learning exercises 16 0.64

Theoretical lectures: Presentation of each theme (aims, contents, related texts). 
Practical lectures: Analysis and discussion of the theme's readings.
Personal work: Guided reading of texts, study, elaboration of essays and essay review.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

Continuous assessment activities

Title Weight Hours ECTS Learning outcomes
Test 1 30% 2.5 0.1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17
Test 2 30% 2.5 0.1 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 15, 16, 17, 18
Essays (4) 40% 5 0.2 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18

On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

There will be a reevaluation exam. Students will obtain a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items. To be reevaluated, you must have been evaluated in a set of activities whose weight equals to a minimum of two thirds of the total grade of the subject. The exam will be made on the dates specified by the faculty; will not be to improve grade; the maximum rating is 5.0.

Misconduct in assessment activities: In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

This subject does not admit single assessment.

Bibliography

BERNAL, John D. (1973). Historia social de la ciencia. Edició 3ª ed. Península. Barcelona. (1ª ed. 1954).

BOWLER, Peter J.; MORUS, Iwan Rhys (2007). Panorama general de la ciencia moderna. Crítica. Barcelona.

DEBUS, Allen G. (1985). Hombre y naturaleza en el Renacimiento. Fondo de Cultura Económica. México (1ª ed. 1978).

FARA, Patricia (2009). Breve historia de la ciencia. Ariel. Barcelona

HENRY, John (2002). The Scientific Revolution and the Origins of Modern Science. Palgrave. New York.

KUHN, Thomas S. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago University Press. Chicago [Trad. cast. KUHN, Thomas S. (2005). La estructura de las revoluciones científicas. Fondo de Cultura Económica de México].

LINDBERG, David (2002 [1992]). Los inicios de la ciencia occidental. Barcelona: Paidós. (Traducción de Antonio Beltrán)

NIETO-GALÁN, Agustí (2011). Los públicos de la ciencia. Expertos y profanos a través de la historia. Cátedra.

OLBY, G.N.; CANTOR, J.R.R.; CHRISTIE, M.J.S.; R.C. HODGE (eds.) (1990). Companion to the History of Modern Science. Routledge. Londres.

OSLER, Margaret J. (ed.) (2000). Rethinking the Scientific Revolution. Cambridge University Press.

SERRES, Michel (ed.) (1998). Historia de las ciencias. Cátedra.

PESTRE, Dominique (2008). Ciència, diners i política: assaig d'interpretació. Obrador Edèndum. Santa Coloma de Queralt.

ROSSI, Paolo (1998). El nacimiento de la ciencia moderna en Europa. Crítica. Barcelona.

SOLIS, Carlos; SELLÉS, Manuel (2005). Historia de la Ciencia. Espasa. Madrid.

WESTFALL, Richard S. (1977). The Construction of Modern Science. Cambridge.

Online resource: https://sabersenaccio.iec.cat/

Software

No specific software is required.

Course groups and languages

The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE

Type of teaching Group Language Semester Shift
(TE) Theory 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(PAUL) Classroom practices 1 Spanish first semester morning-mixed