On May 12 2017, a symposium will take place to celebrate Wiebe Bijker becoming professor emeritus of Maastricht University.
Adventuring into STS
A symposium with
Harry Collins, Rosalind Williams, Trevor Pinch,
John Law, Knut Sørensen and Shiv Visvanathan
12 May 2017, 9.30 – 15.00 hrs
Maastricht University
Science, Technology and Society studies (STS) were and are an intellectual adventure.
It was so when Harry Collins and others kicked off the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (SSK), when John Law and others started Actor-Network Theory (ANT), when Rosalind Williams and others built bridges to literary analysis and the history of technology, when Trevor Pinch and others ventured into technology studies, when Knut Sørensen and colleagues explored domestication and gender studies, and when Shiv Visvanathan pushed the agenda to democratization and development. It still is now, with these same scholars adventuring into the worlds of interactional expertise, Sámi knowledges, Robert Louis Stevenson, analogue synthesizers, climate research, and cognitive justice. In this journey they have inspired many others—through teaching, supervision, writing and engagement—to embark on their own adventures of understanding the making of science, technology and society.
Even though STS has acquired the status of an ‘emerging discipline’ with institutional anchors in graduate schools, scholarly journals, book series, professorial chairs and funding programs, it still is an adventure. Part of that adventure is intellectual—experienced in new theoretical perspectives, conceptual frameworks, and empirical explorations. And part of the adventure is in new engagements with the world—of politics and policy, of global sustainable development, of sports, and of education, science and engineering. The six intellectual ‘giants’ who will speak at this symposium have helped to established STS. They continue to be very active as researchers and teachers at the international forefront. We have asked them to elaborate on one of their most exciting adventures—it could be anything from the early days to the current; from research to politics; from the craft of writing to the skill of institution building; from developing new theoretical perspectives to reinventing the classics.
The day’s program will give us a bird’s eye view of the adventure of STS, from the start thirty years ago to current outlooks. After each presentation we will maximize time for plenary discussion.
After this symposium, at 15:30, Wiebe Bijker will give his valedictory lecture at the occasion of becoming professor emeritus at Maastricht University.
Participation in the event is free, but registration is required via this link. You will receive further information about locations by early April.