STS 6561 - [Technologies of Valuation]

(crosslisted) INFO 6561

Spring. Not offered 2017-2018. 4 credits. Student option grading.

M. Ziewitz.

Valuation is a pervasive feature of contemporary life. Professors, universities, hotels, markets, movies, user experience, intelligence - almost everything is subject to some form of review, rating, or ranking these days. This course examines valuation as a key techno-scientific practice and asks how value is established, maintained, compared, subverted, resisted, and institutionalized in a range of different settings. Through a mix of reading, writing, and practical exercises, we shall engage with theoretical, historical, and ethnographic studies of (e)valuation in science & technology studies, but also draw on related areas like economic sociology, the sociology of evaluation, accounting studies, anthropology, and information science.