Archives

2007

• Science Cafes
  The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS) will again be hosting a series of public discussions at the Arizona Science Center, 600 E. Washington Street, Phoenix.

  • September 21, 5:30-6:30pm: Designing Things: Balancing Beauty, Utility and Sustainability in Products, with Matt Kim and Prasad Boradkar. A scientist who has successfully created two start-up companies and a design professor will discuss what it takes to get technologies from the lab to the store.

  • October 19, 5:30-6:30pm: “Less is More" Technology: Is Smaller and Cheaper Always Better? With Deidre Meldrum and Jamey Wetmore. An engineer and a social scientist will talk about how the trend towards smaller and cheaper technology affects research and the general public.

  • November 16, 5:30-6:30pm: Do Robots Need a Bill of Rights? Implications of Artificial Intelligence with David Calverley and TBD. A philosopher and a computer scientist will discuss progress in artificial intelligence and how we should prepare for this new population.

  
  For more information on CNS-ASU, visit cns.asu.edu; to receive an electronic newsletter from CNS-ASU contact cns@asu.edu.

   

• Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU
  Toward Anticipatory Governance - Thursday, Sept 6, 2007

  
  

  Abstract: The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) is an NSF-funded center, created in October 2005, for research, education and outreach on the societal aspects of nano-scale science and engineering (NSE). CNS-ASU involves the collaboration of scores of faculty, students, and staff in more than half a dozen universities across the country. To provide coherence to its broad programs, CNS-ASU attempts to implement “real-time technology assessment” – a vision of social science research, in close collaboration with NSE research – which promotes the possibility of increased “reflexivity” among the NSE researchers themselves and the “anticipatory governance” of emerging nanotechnologies. By reflexivity we mean the ability of researchers to be more aware of the kinds of decisions they are making, on behalf of society, in their research. By anticipatory governance, we mean the ability of a variety of stakeholders and the lay-public to prepare for the issues that NSE may present before those issues are manifest or reified in particular technologies. This presentation will explicate what CNS-ASU means by real-time technology assessment, focusing in particular on how its developing research programs attempt to increase the capacities for reflexivity and anticipatory governance.

  Room: BDA250
  Time: 10:30-11:30 AM
  *Limited seating available.

  To attend, please RSVP to Geri Eastman, CSPO, at: geri.eastman@asu.edu.
   

• "Broader Impacts" of Science and Technology Workshop:  A research workshop on Making Sense of the "Broader Impacts" of Science and Technology will be held August 5-7 in Golden, Colorado. Several recent workshops have focused on HOW scientists and engineers can approach the National Science Foundation's "Broader Impacts" merit review criterion. This event will consider WHY scientists and engineers ought to address the "broader impacts" of their research.
   

  CSPO enLIGHTeNING LUNCHES:  Once a month, the Consortium for Science, Policy, & Outcomes will host a twenty-minute presentation followed by twenty minutes of discussion on topics related to science and society. Pizza and drinks will be provided.
   

  Science & Technology in Society: An International Multidisciplinary Graduate Student Conference: This annual conference provides a venue for graduate students from Science & Technology Studies, Science & Technology Policy, Environmental Studies/Policy and related fields to present and receive constructive feedback on their research. In developing the agenda for the conference, the organizing committee's primary goal is to create a forum that encourages intellectual exchange between STS, S&T Policy, and Environmental Studies/Policy by assembling diverse and exciting panels around similar themes.
  
  Click here for more information.
   

  Technological Enhancement of Humans? Perspectives of Researchers from Underrepresented Populations: This research conference, will bring together undergraduate and graduate researchers (and their mentors) from across the country who are con­tributing perspectives on human enhancement that are not (yet) part of the dominant dialogue, the conference will begin to create a network whose purpose is steering these converging technologies toward more representative and more just outcomes.

  
  Call for papers: electronic submission of abstracts of January 24, 2007

  Sponsored by the NSEC/Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) and More Graduate Education at Mountain States Alliance (MGE@MSA) and the Western Alliance to Expand Student Opportunities (WAESO) both headquartered in the Hispanic Research Center at ASU, in collaboration with the NSEC/Center for Nanotechnology in Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the NanoSTS group at the University of South Carolina, and the nanotechnology-in-society group of Harvard University and the University of California, Los Angeles.

  Where: Arizona State University, Tempe Campus
  
  When: April 24, 2007

  For more information: http://cns.asu.edu/about/documents/nbic-final.pdf or MGE@ASU.EDU.

   

  Other Events

  THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGY, KNOWLEDGE AND SOCIETY
  Northeastern University, Boston, USA 18-20 January 2008
  http://www.Technology-Conference.com
  
  Presenters may choose to submit written papers for publication in the fully refereed International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society. If you are unable to attend the conference in person, virtual registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for review and possible publication in the journal, and provide access to the online edition of the journal.
  
  To submit your proposal, please visit the Submit Proposal link on the conference website http://www.Technology-Conference.com. 
  
  We look forward to receiving your proposals and hope you will be able to join us in Boston in January 2008.

   

  The AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy
  
  WHEN
  May 3, 2007 8:00 AM - May 4, 2007 3:30 PM
  
  WHERE
  Ronald Reagan Bldg and International Trade Center
  1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
  Washington, DC 20004
   

  Call for Graduate Student Abstracts
  
  Interactions: Artifacts & Us: A Graduate Student Conference Exploring Our Relationships with Things and Theirs with Us
  September 7-9, 2007
  Blacksburg, Virginia
  
  Click here for more information
   

  DSA ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2007
  
  "Connecting Science, Society and Development"
  
  Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, 18th-20th September 2007
  Emerging patterns of scientific and technological change offer a new lens through which to consider major themes such as global inequality, power relations and governance, and the place of gender, social difference and culture. The conference will explore these issues by addressing topics such as agricultural biotechnologies, health technologies, climate change and citizen knowledge, and explore broader cross-cutting themes such as the relationship between learning and social change and relationships between science, knowledge and policy.
  
  For more information http://www.devstud.org.uk/index.html#dsa07 
   

  Atlanta Conference on Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy 2007

  March 31st - April 1st 2007
  The landscape of global innovation is shifting, with new problems and actors emerging on the scene. National governments are looking for new strategies, and they are turning to the science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy research community for models and research results to tell them what works and what doesn't, under what circumstances. The Atlanta Conference provides an opportunity for the global STI policy research and user communities to test models of innovation, explore emerging STI policy issues, and share research results.
   

  Click here for more information

   

  IASA Young Scientists Summer Program 2007

  Summer Fellowship in Austria for Graduate Students in Natural and Social Sciences, Math, Policy and Engineering
  Each summer, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) near Vienna, Austria, hosts a selected group of graduate students, primarily doctoral, from around the world in its Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP). These students work closely with IIASA's senior scientists on projects within the Institute's 3 theme areas of Natural Resources & Environment, Population & Society, and Energy & Technology. The U.S. Committee for IIASA provides airfare and a modest living allowance for the applicants from American institutions who are selected to participate.

   

  Click here and here for information on this program.
   

  Converging Science and Technologies: Research Trajectories and Institutional Settings
  Workshop: Call for Papers May 14 - 15, 2007
  
  Click here for more information on this event.
   

  Engineering, Social Justice and Peace: Widening the Appeal of Engineering
  April 27 - 28, 2007.
  
  Futures of Life" Workshop:
  Call for Papers April 27-29, 2007
  This workshop will focus on the social dimensions of anticipatory knowledge. The majority of the papers will focus on the new life sciences, but other areas of sociotechnical change will be included for comparative purposes. In particular, we are interested in the creation of anticipatory knowledge; the institutional capacities and social machinery used to create it; its spread, uptake, translation, and use; and its role in reshaping regimes of governance.  Click here for more information.

   

• International Association of Science, Technology & Society's (IASTS) 22nd Annual Conference: The organizing committee invites you to submit an abstract for presentation (250 words) and/or a panel proposal for the conference.  Topics may include, but not be limited to:
  
            - Where are we going with science and technology, and where are these
              creations taking us?
            - The end of cheap oil and the beginning of an energy and materials crisis.
            - Rethinking the urban habitat.
            - Understanding and responding to the crisis in human work.
            - The crisis of the contemporary university.
            - Developing information technology, nanotechnology, and biotechnology
              while disregarding their implications.
            - Science, technology and ethics.
            - The role of the mass media and the internet around the globe.
            - The growing role of the transnational corporation.
            - Gender and science and technology.
            - Health technologies.
  
  Papers presented will be considered for publication in the Conference Issue of the Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, or in subsequent issues.  The conference features a Graduate Student Paper Contest as well. 
  
  When: February 1-3, 2007
  Where: Radisson Plaza Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MA
  
  Abstract and Panel Proposal Deadline: September 1, 2006
  
  Read more
   

• Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics, and Science Studies (FEMMSS) Conference: "Knowledge that Matters."  Questions of difference, democracy and justice have been at the forefront of feminist discussions about what knowledge matters for social justice. How knowledge is produced, distributed, and taken up is intricately connected to questions of equality, ethics, sustainability, power, identity, voice, and social change. Activism and advocacy are so central to feminist knowledge that Loraine Code argues “without advocacy and the negotiations it commonly enlists knowledge is not possible, in a strong sense, across diverse communities and socio-ecological situations.”  

  We seek feminist papers on the culture, structure, discourses and practices of science; about the vexed relationship between identity, experience and knowledge; and about the troubles of translating knowledge into action and practice. We will bring together an interdisciplinary group of feminist scholars who pursue knowledge questions in the interstices of epistemology, methodology, metaphysics, ontology, and science studies.

              When: February 8-10

              Where: Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

              Paper Abstract and Panel Proposal Deadline: September 15, 2006
           

              Read more

• Decision Making Under Uncertainty: Scientists’ Ranking Stressors on the Central Arizona Water Supply: Population growth, economic development, and recreational needs compounded by scientific uncertainty associated with climate variability and change are increasing the complexity of water management issues in Central Arizona.  While climate variability and change can affect supply of water, other, local factors can have multifaceted (and sometimes deleterious) stress on water resources.  These factors include land-use/land cover change, pollutant loading, inefficiencies in water supply system, growing demand for landscape watering, and the persistence of water-intensive agricultural systems.  Given the large degrees of uncertainty about climate change and associated variability evaluating sensitivity to other stressors form regional and local levels would be appropriate for assessing societal vulnerability of water resources.  It is in this connection that CSPO is convening a 1 ½ days workshop of scientists (20-25) studying stress on water resources of the arid region of the United States, as part of the Science Policy Assessment and Research on Climate (SPARC) project.  The goals of this workshop are: 1) to generate a ranking based on the relative importance of the various stressors; 2) to identify deficit in current research portfolio, and 3) to increase collaborative research among the scientists.

September 2006

• Author Event, Wednesday, September 27, 7pm
  Journalist and former editor of the American Prospect Chris Mooney discusses and signs The Republican War on Science, his indictment of Republican policy-makers and their repeated efforts to replace objective, peer-reviewed science with what he calls politically-motivated pseudoscience.

August 2006

• Gordon Research Conference on Science and Technology Policy: "From science and technology inputs to policy outcomes: What are the determining factors?"  Science and technology policy represents a truly transdisciplinary topic that crosses academe, government and industry and requires both theoretical and practical perspectives. While one can currently identify individual science and technology policy interests and agendas, there are few explanatory models or even best practice guidelines that relate science and technology inputs with policy outcomes or, on the other hand, policy inputs with science and technology outcomes. Indeed, scientists often complain that policymakers do not listen to them or “the science;” policy makers often complain that scientists not only fail to understand what it means to make policy, but also fail to provide information in formats that can be used successfully to make policy. Too often, policy discussions focus on funding rather than impact. Through comparative research and comparison of research, the goal of STP-GRC will be to discern critical variables in the relationships between inputs and outcomes.

            When: August 13-18, 2006

            Where: Big Sky, MT

            Poster Abstract Deadline: February 28, 2006 (rolling thereafter)

            Read more

• 4S 2006: The 2006 4S conference will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the society. The meeting will be co-located with the History of Science Society and Philosophy of Science Association, which will be in a hotel a few blocks away.  This year's theme is "Silence, Suffering and Survival", and it is designed to explore the overlooked spaces, boundaries, actors, networks, and artifacts of science and technology. We welcome papers and panels that address questions about the silences of silencing, unintended consequences, and persistence in science, technology and STS. The topic is meant to open up and stir discussion about theorizing in areas we may have overlooked such as the process of secrecy under which processes of silence are often conducted. Possible topics might include the science and technology of slavery, disability, survival, warfare, peace, and quantification. Discussions might address de-moralization and re-moralization within science, technology and STS, the sort of silence/noise created by technology/science, and how technology/science create and alleviate suffering and/or survival. This could include processes of survival that are often off the record, such as workarounds, “older ways of knowing”, older (non-scientific) ways of knowing, and …?

            When: November 2-6, 2006

            Where: Vancouver, B.C., Canada

            Poster Abstract Deadline: April 3, 2006

            Read more

June 2006

• Science and Democracy Network Annual Meeting
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• EURSAFE 2006: Ethics and the Politics of Food.
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• 2006 Policy Sciences Summer Workshop: Developing Capacity in Early Career Policy Scientists.
  Read more

May 2006

• Science, Policy & Social Inequities Workshop
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• The Risks Posed by New Biomedical Technologies: How do we Analyze, Communicate and Regulate Risk?
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• The Atlanta Conference on Science and Technology Policy 2006: "US-EU Policies for Research and Innovation."
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• VALDOR 2006 Symposium
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• Workshop on the Policy Implications of Cognitive Enhancement Technologies.  Held at Arizona State University from May 3-5, 2006.  Sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM and the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University.

April 2006

• Disasters ~ Prevention & Mitigation
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• Science and Technology in Society: An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference.
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• 31st Annual AAAS Forum on Science & Technology Policy
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March 2006

• The New Directions Katrina Research Workshop: Cities and Rivers II, New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta, and Katrina: Lessons from the Past, Lessons for the Future.
  Read more
   
• James Martin Institute First World Forum on Science and Civilization: Tomorrow's People: The Challenges of Technologies for Life Extension and Enhancement.
  Read more

January 2006

• Forbidding Science?: Balancing Freedom, Security, Innovation, and Precaution
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• Ecology in an Era of Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities for Environmental Scientists in the Americas
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November 2005

• Conversations and Reflections With Researchers in Nanotechnology
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January 2005

• Nanotechnology in Science, Economy and Society
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November 2004

• International Congress of Nanotechnology and Nano World Expo: Bridging to the Next Frontier
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October 2004

• Science Defiled – or Politics as Usual? An Interactive Panel Discussion in conjunction with the Third Presidential Debate
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• Public Science in Liberal Democracy: The Challenge to Science and Democracy
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September 2004

• Sustainability: The Way Forward: Presented by Sir Crispin Tickell
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