Science, Technology, & World

Readings

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
Unit 1: Introduction to Studies in Science, Technology, and Society
1	Introduction to Content and Format of the Class	Downes, Kieran. “What is STS?”
2	Introduction to Key Words and Concepts	Marx, Leo. “Technology: The Emergence of a Hazardous Concept.” Technology and Culture 51, no. 3 (2010): 561–77.
3	Current Examples of STS Questions	No readings
4	Introduction to key words and concepts (cont.)	Marx, review of In Context; Marx, Leo, and Merritt Roe Smith, eds. “Introduction”. In Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of Technological Determinism. MIT Press, 1994. ISBN: 9780262691673. [Preview with Google Books] Autour, and Dorn. “How Technology Wrecks the Middle Class?” The New York Times, August 24, 2013.
5	STS at MIT	Williams. Chapter 2 in Retooling: A Historian Confronts Technological Change. MIT Press, 2003. ISBN: 9780262731638. [Preview with Google Books]
6	STS at MIT (cont.)	No readings
7	Quiz	No readings
Unit 2. MIT and the Law: The Prosecution of Aaron Swartz
8	The Swartz Case and the Abelson Report	Abelson, Hal, Peter Diamond, et al. MIT and the Prosecution of Aaron Swartz (PDF - 5.0MB). July 26, 2013. Please read the entire body of the report, Parts I through V. Also read Appendices 3, 6, and 8–11. You can skip the other appendices.
9	Public Responses	Lin, Leon. “In Swartz Case, MIT ‘hands off,’ report says,” The Tech, August 7, 2013. Swartz, John. “M.I.T. Cleared in Report After Suicide of Activist,” New York Times, July 30, 2013. Cohn, Cindy. “MIT in Aaron Swartz Case: Not Neutral, Not Leading, Not Standing Up for Technologists,” July 31, 2013.
10	Visit from Hal Abelson	No readings
11	Editing exercise	No readings
12	Science and Self-regulation	No readings
13	Legal Issues (cont.)	No readings
14	Science and Self-regulation (cont.)	Further research into Asilomar Conference of 1975 or Cambridge City Council resolutions of 1976
Unit 3: Photography as Information Delivery System
15	Photography as technological innovation	Lane, Anthony. “Names and Faces: The Portraits of Julia Margaret Cameron,” The New Yorker, September 2, 2013.
16	Users, Consumers, and Producers	Bauwens, Michel. “A Critique of 3D Printing as a Critical Technology.” Olivier, M. “[George Eastman’s Modern Stone-Age Family: Snapshot Photography and the Brownie](http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1353/tech.2007.0035).” Technology and Culture 48, no. 1 (2007): 1–19.
17	From Analog to Digital	No readings
18	Photography as Time Travel	No readings
19	Photography and Science	No readings
20	Student project due
Unit 4: The Sense of an Ending
21	Where Are We Headed?	No readings
22	Where Are We Headed? (2) (cont.)	Isaacson, Walter. “Legacy.” Chapter 42 in Steve Jobs. Simon & Schuster, 2011. ISBN: 9781451648539. [Preview with Google Books]
23	A Deaf Utopia and Other Utopias	No readings
24	Back to the Beginning: What Is STS?	No readings
25	Endings and beginnings	No readings
26	Endings and beginnings (cont.)	No readings