Science at Service: Building Inclusive Communities
2021 STGlobal Conference
April 16-17, 2021
Online
Contemporary biological, environmental, social, and political crises expose a pressing need to rethink the sciences' place and orientation in society. Technological innovation and infrastructures have played significant roles in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, the global rise in authoritarianism, and a widespread expansion in economic and social injustice. As policymakers and publics look to the sciences to help address these problems, it becomes increasingly important to reflect upon the current and proper purposes, uses, and aims of the sciences. What communities and values are served by present research and innovation systems? Which are harmed, undercut, or left behind? Our contemporary crises can be understood as outgrowths of neglect for economically and politically marginalized communities in the scoping and orientation of research; and of inattention to the potential dangers, as well as the benefits, of techno-social innovations.
Repair and amelioration, rather than replication and exacerbation, of societal injustices, economic inequalities, and new, technologically facilitated risks to human bodies, communities, and societies require a reconceptualization of whom the sciences aim to serve and how they will do so. New models of science governance, innovation policy, embedded research, and scientific service will be needed if we wish to build more just, more sustainable, and more equitable communities.
For STGlobal 2021, we invite works which address these topics from the perspectives of science and technology policy, science and technology studies, science communication, higher education, sustainability, futures studies, critical theory, and other relevant fields. Research topics may include:
How the sciences can support the creation of healthier and more inclusive communities
How the sciences help (or don't help) publics and policymakers to understand and make decisions about current crises, e.g. COVID-19 or climate change
The sciences' roles in articulating and building more alternative or more desirable futures
How scientists position their work relative to important contemporary issues
How institutions collaborate with their local communities
Critical perspectives about knowledge and sociotechnical systems in the contemporary world (which may include feminist, queer and gender, critical race, indigenous, decolonial, disabilities, and other cultural studies)
How expertise is incorporated in the improvement of participatory community processes
What science oriented toward community or societal service can or should look like
Co-chairs: John Nelson (ASU); Nicole Mayberry (ASU)
Accounts Manager: Christine Gilbert (GWU)
Organizing Committee Members: Leah Kaplan (GWU); Levi Helm (ASU); Jeremy Pesner (Carnegie Mellon); Martin Perez Comisso (ASU); Adriana Bankston (UC System); Vanya Bisht (ASU); Rae Jereza (Binghamton); Adria Schwarber (American Institute of Physics); Aaron Su (Princeton); Linda Jantzen (National Defense University); Rajiv Ghimire (ASU); Shashank Deora (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay); Jacob Robertson (ASU); Abigail Major (Georgetown University)
Recorded Sessions
2021 Sponsors
Arizona State University, Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes
Arizona State University's Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes (CSPO) is an intellectual network aimed at enhancing the contribution of science and technology to society’s pursuit of equality, justice, freedom, and overall quality of life. The Consortium creates knowledge and methods, cultivates public discourse, and fosters policies to help decision makers and institutions grapple with the immense power and importance of science and technology as society charts a course for the future. CSPO is closely associated with ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS), a transdisciplinary academic unit at the vanguard of ASU’s commitment to linking innovation to public value. SFIS offers BA and BS degrees in Innovation in Society; MS degrees in Science and Technology Policy, Global Technology and Development, and Public Interest Technology; and PhD programs in the Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology and Innovation in Global Development.
George Washington University, Center for International Science and Technology Policy
The Center for International Science and Technology Policy (CISTP) conducts cutting-edge research on the policy issues that affect science and technology around the world. Center faculty, who teach the MA program in International Science and Technology Policy, bring the theories and methods of this research to students who will use these ideas to shape future policies and plans here and abroad. The Center also provides a vehicle for international scholars to bring their ideas to Washington, DC. For more information, please contact cistp@gwu.edu.
University of Maryland—College Park, Science, Technology and Society
UMD’s Science, Technology and Society program explores the social, ethical, and political relationships that drive research and innovation. The program delves into the challenges of living and innovating in a world where emerging science and technologies are becoming increasingly interconnected, pervasive, and powerful. The program’s primary goal is to give students analytical skills that help connect science and technology to broader social needs. STS pursues this goal through individual research projects, collaborative problem solving activities, user-centered design projects, and service-learning.
University of Ottawa, Institute for Science, Society and Policy
The Institute for Science, Society and Policy is a cross-faculty Institute at the University of Ottawa exploring the links between science, society and policy. Our network includes professors, researchers, practitioners and students from multiple faculties and disciplines both inside and outside uOttawa.
Our collective expertise spans three areas: science for policy (also known as evidence-based decision making); policy for science; and, governance of emerging technologies. We address issues from the funding of the S&T enterprise, through its regulatory oversight to its social implications.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Science and Technology Studies
Science and Technology Studies at Virginia Tech explores the relationship between science, technology, and society using a variety of interdisciplinary approaches. Research in STS analyzes how society affects the development and implementation of scientific, technological, and medical knowledges and practices and how scientific, technological, and medical pursuits affect society. The research and scholarly interests of STS faculty cross a wide range of disciplinary boundaries: some rely on fieldwork, others are immersed in historical or governmental archival research, while others develop social and conceptual analyses to answer theoretical or ethical questions.