STS 6071 - [Ethnomethodology]

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

M. Lynch.

Ethnomethodology (literally people’s methodology) is the study of practices through which people collectively organize and sustain social activities. After being introduced as a subfield of sociology in the 1960s, ethnomethodology became an interdisciplinary program with representation ins several social science fields, including Science & Technology Studies. This course begins with an examination of ethnomethodology’s philosophical roots. It then examines some of the main theoretical and conceptual issues in ethnomethodology, before focusing on ethnomethodological studies of the natural science and mathematics, and other areas of technical work. The aim of the course is to acquaint students with a conceptual background and research strategies that continue to have value for developing insightful empirical studies of a broad range of social phenomena.