Important notice
The course guide is provisional.
The PDF version of the course guide may take a few days to become available in the DDD.
Contemporary Technoscience
Code: 45761Credits: 5
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| History of Science: History, Heritage and Scientific Communication | OP | 1 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Gemma Cirac Claveras
- Email :
- gemma.cirac@uab.cat
Teaching staff
- Jaume Sastre Juan
- Jaume Valentines Álvarez
- Xavier Roque Rodriguez
Teaching staff (external to UAB)
- Nicolás Kwiatkowski: nicolas.kwiatkowski@upf.edu
- ´Daniele Cozzoli: daniele.cozzoli@upf.edu
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites.
Objectives
- Understand and critically analyse the role of science and technology in contemporary society, drawing on the historical processes that have shaped them.
- Identify the forms that contemporary science has taken, taking into account its audiences, promoters, and the institutions of teaching, outreach or research.
- Describe the transformations of science, technology, industry, the state and nature, and their contribution, reflection and reciprocal influence on the public sphere through various forms of expression, representation and communication.
- Describe the historical, social, economic, professional, political, cultural and communicative dimensions of techno-scientific activity in contemporary history, including the construction and management of discourses and practices of resistance.
- Accurately describe the historiographical debates on science, technology and the issues historically associated with gender, race, class and power in the contemporary period.
Learning outcomes
- CA32 (Communicate to specialised and non-specialised audiences the reciprocal influences between science, technology, industry and the state in the last two centuries.) Communicate to specialised and non-specialised audiences the reciprocal influences between science, technology, industry and the state in the last two centuries.
- CA33 (Evaluate the tools of research, analysis and historiographical reflection to think about science and technology in the present and to intervene in the current debates associated with gender biases and inequalities of rights and opportunities.) Evaluate the tools of research, analysis and historiographical reflection to think about science and technology in the present and to intervene in the current debates associated with gender biases and inequalities of rights and opportunities.
- CA34 (Critically and rigorously evaluate the contents, methodologies and techniques of the discipline for the construction of interdisciplinary and original historical narratives in relation to the challenges posed in today's world with respect to the generation and management of fundamental human rights and sustainability.) Critically and rigorously evaluate the contents, methodologies and techniques of the discipline for the construction of interdisciplinary and original historical narratives in relation to the challenges posed in today's world with respect to the generation and management of fundamental human rights and sustainability.
- KA34 (Describe the transformations of science, technology, industry and the State and their contribution, reflection and reciprocal influence in the public sphere through different forms of expression, representation and communication.) Describe the transformations of science, technology, industry and the State and their contribution, reflection and reciprocal influence in the public sphere through different forms of expression, representation and communication.
- KA35 (Describe the historical, social, economic, political, professional, cultural, and communicative dimensions of scientific and technological activity in contemporary history, including the construction and management of discourses and practices of resistance.) Describe the historical, social, economic, political, professional, cultural, and communicative dimensions of scientific and technological activity in contemporary history, including the construction and management of discourses and practices of resistance.
- KA36 (Accurately describe historiographical debates on science, technology, and the issues historically associated with gender, race, class, materiality, and power in the contemporary period.) Accurately describe historiographical debates on science, technology, and the issues historically associated with gender, race, class, materiality, and power in the contemporary period.
- SA31 (Accurately distinguish stages, transformations and interactions between technoscience, society, industry and the State in contemporary history (nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries), taking into account the dimensions of gender, race, class, materiality and power.) Accurately distinguish stages, transformations and interactions between technoscience, society, industry and the State in contemporary history (nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries), taking into account the dimensions of gender, race, class, materiality and power.
- SA32 (Critically relate to each other the different forms taken by scientific and technological activity and the processes of construction and management of discourses and practices of resistance in contemporary history.) Critically relate to each other the different forms taken by scientific and technological activity and the processes of construction and management of discourses and practices of resistance in contemporary history.
- SA33 (Apply the theoretical tools of the history of science to think about the present and intervene in current debates on science and technology.) Apply the theoretical tools of the history of science to think about the present and intervene in current debates on science and technology.
Contents
I. Introduction
Session 1. Science, money and politics
II. Turn of Century
Session 2: Institutions, trust and experts
Session 3: Science and the category of race
III. Between wars
Session 4: Capital, industry and class
Session 5: Identity and nation
IV. Cold War, decolonisation and anthropocene
Session 6: International relations and foreign affairs
Session 7: Colonialism, decolonization, anti-colonization
Session 8: Development, havoc and global crises
V. 21st Century
Session 9: Technoscientific imaginaries
Session 10: Data
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading and autonomous work | 75 | 3 | CA33, CA34, KA34, KA35, KA36, SA31, SA32, SA33 |
| Theoretical lectures | 30 | 1.2 | CA33, CA34, KA34, KA35, KA36, SA31, SA32 |
| Practical exercises in the class | 20 | 0.8 | CA32, CA33, CA34, KA34, KA35, KA36, SA31, SA32, SA33 |
The module combines presentations by professors, including seminar-style sessions and student participation, with directed and autonomous study. The organisation of topics may include lectures, student presentations, discussion of the texts and audiovisual material, practical work with historical archives, and group activities, among others.
Each topic will be covered in a 3-hour session. If a class day is a public holiday or there is a clash with other events of the master, an alternative date will be arranged for the class.
The topic materials will be available on the Moodle classroom on the UAB Virtual Campus.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written exam | 20% | 0 | 0 | CA32, CA33, CA34, KA34, KA35, KA36, SA31, SA32, SA33 |
| Final essay | 40% | 0 | 0 | CA32, CA33, CA34, KA34, KA35, KA36, SA31, SA32, SA33 |
| Oral presentation | 30% | 0 | 0 | CA32, CA33, CA34, KA34, KA35, KA36, SA31, SA32, SA33 |
| Active participation | 10% | 0 | 0 | CA32, CA33, CA34, KA34, KA35, KA36, SA31, SA32, SA33 |
The assessment will consist of 4 elements:
- Short final essay (40%): During the first session, various historical, heritage and communicative objects will be presented. Each student will choose one and, at the end of the course, submit a short essay with an analysis and commentary on the object, taking into account the concepts, ideas, tools and approaches covered in class throughout the course.
- Oral presentation (30%). Mid-term, each student will be required to present their object and the lines of analysis they are working on. As well as providing practice in oral presentation, this will be an opportunity for the teaching staff to provide monitoring and feedback to help prepare and guide the final essay.
- Written examination (20%). A final examination will be held on the last day of the course.
- Active participation in sessions, following the guidelines, readings and recommended materials (10%)
This subject entirely prohibits the use of AI technologies in all of its activities. Any submitted work that contains content generated using AI will be considered academic dishonesty; the corresponding grade will be awarded a zero, without the possibility of reassessment. In cases of greater infringement, more serious action may be taken.
Bibliography
Agar, Jon (2012). Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Polity Press.
Aibar, Eduard (2023). El culto a la innovación. Estragos de una visión sesgada de la tecnología. NED Ediciones.
Bonneuil, Christophe i Fressoz, Jean-Baptiste (2016). L'Événement anthropocène La Terre, l'histoire et nous. Paris: Le Seuil.
Bonneuil, Christophe i Joly, Pierre-Benoît (2013). Sciences, Techniques et Société. Paris: La Découverte.
Boudia, Soraya I Jas, Nathalie (2014). Powerless Science?: Science and Politics in a Toxic World. Bergahn Books.
Collins, Harry i Pinch, Trevor (1996). El gólem. Lo que todos deberíamos saber acerca de la ciencia. Barcelona: Crítica.
Crawford, Kate (2023). Atlas de IA. Poder, política y costes planetarios de la inteligencia artificial. NED Ediciones.
Crawford, Elisabeth, Shinn, Terry i Sörlin, Sverker (1993). Denationalizing Science. The Contexts of International Scientific Practice. Norwell: Kiuwer.
Dahan, Amy i Pestre, Dominique (eds) (2004). Les sciences pour la guerre: 1940-1960. París: Éditions de l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales.
Daston, Lorraine (1995). The Moral Economy of Science. Osiris 10:2-24.
Daston, Lorraine i Galison, Peter (2010). Objectivity. New York. Zone Books.
Edgerton, David (2005). Warfare State: Britain, 1920-1970. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fressoz, Jean-Baptiste (2012). L’Apocalypse joyeuse. Une histoire du risque technologique. Paris: Le Seuil.
Fox, Robert i Guagnini, Anna (1998). Laboratories, workshops, and sites. Concepts and practices of research in industrial Europe, 1800–1914. Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences, 29.
Galison, Peter i Hevly, Bruce (eds) (1992). Big Science. The Growth of Large-Scale Research. Standford: Standford University Press.
Gieryn, Thomas (1998). Cultural Boundaries of Science Credibility on the Line. Chicago: The Chicago University Press.
Guillem Llobat, Ximo i Nieto Galán, Agustí (eds) (2020). Tóxicos invisibles. La construcción de la ignorancia ambiental. Barcelona: Icaria.
Harrison, Carol E. i Johnson, Ann (eds) (2009). National identity. The role of science and technology. Osiris, 24.
Hecht, Gabrielle (2009). The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity after World War II. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Hessenbruch, Arne (ed) (2000). Reader’s Guide to the History of Science. London/Chicago: Fitzroy Dearbor Publishers.
Jasanoff, Sheila (ed) (2004). States of Knowledge: The Co-production of Science and the Social Order. London and New York: Routledge.
Jasanoff, Sheila i Kim, Sang Hyun (2015). Dreamscapes of Modernity: Sociotechnical Imaginaries and the Fabrication of Power. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Joerges, Bernhard i Shinn, Terry (eds) (2001). Instrumentation. Between Science, State and Industry. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Joly, Pierre-Benoît (2010). On the Economics of Techno-scientific Promises. In Akrich, M., Barthe, Y., Muniesa, F., Mustar, P. (eds) Débordements. Mélanges offerts à Michel Callon, Paris: Presse des Mines.
Jones-Imhotep, eward (2017). The Unreliable Nation: Hostile Nature and Technological Failure in the Cold War. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Kaiser, David i McCray, Patrick (2016). Groovy Science: Knowledge, Innovation, and American Counterculture. Chicago: The Chicago University Press.
Kevles, Daniel (1995). The Physicists: The History of a Scientific Community in Modern America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Kline, Roland (1995). Construing "Technology" as "Applied Science": Public Rhetoric of Scientists and Engineers in the United States, 1880-1945. Isis 86(2): 194-221.
Knorr-Cetina, Karin (1999). Epistemic communities: How the Sciences Make Knowledge (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).
Kojevnikov, Alexei B. (2004). Stalin’s Great Science: The Times and Adventures of Soviet Physicists. London: Imperial College Press.
Krige, John (2006). American Hegemony and the Postwar Reconstruction of Science in Europe. Harvard, MA: The MIT Press
Krige, John (ed.) (2019). How Knowledge Moves. Writing the Transnational History of Science and Technology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
Krige, John; Barth, Kai-Henrik eds. (2006). Global Power Knowledge. Science and Technology in International Affairs. Osiris, 21.
Krige, John i Oreskes, Naomi (eds) (2014). Science and Technology in the Global Cold War. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Krige, John i Pestre, Dominque (eds) (2003). Companion to Science in the Twentieth Century. Routledge World Reference. London and New York: Routledge.
Latour, Bruno (1988). The Pasteurization of France. Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press.
Macekura, Stephen (2015). Of Limits and Growth: The Rise of Global Sustainable Development in the Twentieth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press,
Medina, Edén, Marques, Ivan da Costa i Holmes, Beyond Imported Magic: Essays on Science, Technology, and Society in Latin America. MIT Press.
Misa, Thomas i Schot, J.W (2005). Inventing Europe: technology and the hidden integration of Europe. History and Technology 21(1):1-19.
Nye, Mary Jo (1996). Before Big Science. The Pursuit of Modern Chemistry and Physics 1800-1940. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Oldenziel, Ruth (1999). Making Technology Masculine: Men, Women, and Modern Machines in America, 1870-1945. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Pestre, Dominique (2008). Ciència, diners i política.Assaig d’interpretació. Obrador Edéndum: Universitat Rovira i Virgili.
Pestre, Dominique (ed) (2015). Histoire des sciences et des savoirs. Paril: Seuil.
Pickstone, John V (2000). Ways of Knowing: A New History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Porter, Theodore (1995). Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life. Princeton University Press.
Sánchez Ron, José Manuel (2006). El poder de la ciencia. Historia social, política y económica de la ciencia, siglos XIX y XX. Barcelona: Crítica.
Strasser, Bruno (2019). Collecting Experiments. Making Big Data Biology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Tarr, Joel (ed) (2004). Devastation and Renewal: An Environmental History of Pittsburgh and Its Region. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Turchetti, Simone I Roberts, Peder (2014). The Surveillance Imperative: Geosciences during the Cold War and Beyond. Palgrave Macmillan.
Walker, Mark (2003). Science and Ideology. A Comparative History. London: Routledge.
Software
No specific software is required or developed.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TEm) Theory (master) | 1 | Catalan | second semester | afternoon |