SYLLABI
SOC 496 Race and the Scientific Method
At the heart of science lies the scientific method: hypothesis, observation, experimentation, analysis, theory… and repeat. Yet the neutral language of the scientific method that ultimately gives science its undisputed legitimacy leave room to interrogate its social context: Who makes the hypothesis? Who observes whom? How and what is being experimented with? Who makes the theory and why? With a focus on the scientific method, this course explores the ways in which racialized notions of bodies, nature and society inform scientific thought and practice. Taking the NSF Classroom Activity Sheet on the Scientific Method as a springboard for discussion, the course focuses on aspects of colonialism and racial capitalism from the 17th century until today to critically explore the enduring——albeit shifting——interdependencies between the scientific norms of authority, objectivity, evidence and expertise and racially extractive frameworks. Featuring inter-disciplinary scholarship from STS, anthropology, history of science, environmental humanities and STEM, the course exposes aspects of science that inconspicuously legitimize white perspectives while simultaneously appropriating, extracting and erasing the global majority’s ways of living in the world. As we will unpack STEM notions of authority, objectivity and expertise throughout the semester, we will foreground alternative perspectives to science to help generate more racially equitable frameworks for scientific research and practice.
Taught at UW-Madison, Fall 2024.
At the heart of science lies the scientific method: hypothesis, observation, experimentation, analysis, theory… and repeat. Yet the neutral language of the scientific method that ultimately gives science its undisputed legitimacy leave room to interrogate its social context: Who makes the hypothesis? Who observes whom? How and what is being experimented with? Who makes the theory and why? With a focus on the scientific method, this course explores the ways in which racialized notions of bodies, nature and society inform scientific thought and practice. Taking the NSF Classroom Activity Sheet on the Scientific Method as a springboard for discussion, the course focuses on aspects of colonialism and racial capitalism from the 17th century until today to critically explore the enduring——albeit shifting——interdependencies between the scientific norms of authority, objectivity, evidence and expertise and racially extractive frameworks. Featuring inter-disciplinary scholarship from STS, anthropology, history of science, environmental humanities and STEM, the course exposes aspects of science that inconspicuously legitimize white perspectives while simultaneously appropriating, extracting and erasing the global majority’s ways of living in the world. As we will unpack STEM notions of authority, objectivity and expertise throughout the semester, we will foreground alternative perspectives to science to help generate more racially equitable frameworks for scientific research and practice.
Taught at UW-Madison, Fall 2024.