New England Workshop on Science and Social Change

and hosted by the BIOSENSE research group at the University of Coimbra, Portugal

The New England Workshop on Science and Social Change (NewSSC) organizes innovative, interaction-intensive workshops designed to facilitate discussion, teaching innovation, and longer-term collaboration among faculty and graduate students who teach and write about interactions between scientific developments and social change.

Specific objectives of NewSSC

  • 1. Promote Social Contextualization of Science
  • 2. Innovative workshop processes
  • 3. Training and capacity-building
  • 4. Repeatable, evolving workshops See Background and Rationale for each objective, including how it will be achieved and evaluated.

    Spring 2011 Workshop B
    "Collaborative production of knowledge: Health, environment, and publics"

    This interaction-intensive and collaboration-promoting workshop begins from the question: How do we make sense of the growing attention to the collaborations with the public (or different selection of the public) in the production of knowledge about health and environmental concerns? All research is collaborative-even solitary scientists have to secure audiences if their findings are to become established as knowledge-so why emphasize collaboration in health and environmental research? The workshop will consider the diverse reasons that might be put forward to explain that emphasis. How are different angles on collaboration related in theory and practice? In what ways can scientists, science educators, science shop organizers, and researchers in history, philosophy, and social studies of science conceptualize, interpret, teach about, and engage in the collaborative generation of knowledge and inquiry? What can we learn reflexively from our own experience in an interaction-intensive workshop around these questions?
    Applications are sought from teachers and researchers (including students) who are interested in promoting the social contextualization of science through interdisciplinary education and outreach activities beyond their current disciplinary and academic boundaries.

    For further information or to apply, email the organizer, Rita Serra, ritaserra@ces.uc.pt
    Dates May 21 (Sat, 14:00)-24 (Tues, 13:00), 2011
    Lead Facilitator: Peter Taylor, Director of Science in a Changing World graduate program at the University of Massachusetts, building on his experience since 2004 organizing the New England Workshop on Science and Social Change.

    See wiki for program and participant list.
    Evaluations by participants


    Last update 26 July '11