New England Workshops on Science and Social Change (NewSSC)

Selected reactions of participants to their experience at workshops under the NewSSC umbrella

"Many, many workshops are dysfunctional-this one wasn't."

"The workshop diminished my skepticism and personal reluctance; once here, I participated, and had moments of surprise and recognition that validated these approaches for me."

"For me the great strength of the workshop was that it enabled a relaxed mind and therefore playfulness and creativity. It takes some courage to go with this set up because the program is open and the progress develops in the making."

"The pattern of opening up, interconnecting ideas and foreshadowing on the first day proved to be effective"

"I was very interested in participating in the workshop because I wanted to learn how people outside philosophy of science think about areas and aspects of biology on which my philosophical work is focused. The issues I address and the way I address them are largely shaped by my close interaction with philosophers. Although I have gained insights from historical and sociological literature, I have not spent much time discussing general issues about biology with socially oriented sociologists and historians. I felt that I have been using their work for my purposes without having a good understanding of how they might use my work for their purposes. I saw the workshop as an opportunity to learn more about the purposes of those studying science outside the HPS tradition. I hoped to learn that some of my work might be helpful for addressing issues as they are shaped by a variety of intellectual communities.
When workshop participants were asked to bring their favorite poetry and musical instruments and were asked to begin with lengthy biographical introductions, I became concerned: was I embarking on a serious intellectual endeavor or summer camp? It's not that poetry and music are not serious intellectual endeavors, but they are not what my serious intellectual endeavors are about. And I simply don't have the leisure. But I decided to attend anyway. And I'm glad I did. It turned out that the set-up of the workshop helped establish a non-threatening environment where people could immediately get past the defensive posturing of many intellectual endeavors and express what motivated their intellectual interests. And some of the activities themselves, including the biographical introductions and evening readings, helped me understand different kinds of motivations for pursuing an area of science studies. The feature of the workshop that made me suspicious of the endeavor, turned out to facilitate exactly what I wished to gain, intellectually, from the workshop."