STS 1113 - FWS: Vital Politics: Science, Medicine, Activism

Fall. 3 credits. Letter grades only.

First-Year Writing Seminar.

C. Roebuck.

During Spring 2017, headlines across multiple media announced: “Thousands Rally in DC for March for Science;” “March for Science: Crowds Join International Global Earth Day Protests.” But why are people gathering to assert – publically – that science matters? Why now? What is the relationship between science and politics, science and democracy, science and social change? This seminar tackles these questions and others by examining social movements in which issues of science and medicine have become objects of contentious political debate. We explore environmentalism and green movements, reproductive justice, HIV & AIDS, and related topics in the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies. Closely examining the craft and rhetoric of effective communication, we “read” academic scholarship, print and web-based media, fiction and film – both words and images.