Feminist STS

The Renaissance of Noise Since the history of music is as old as humanity itself, in a lot of ways we forget to stop and consider the fact that yes sound has developed and changed through time, but how has the evolution of sound acted as a proponent for things like technological advancements and human interaction? ‘ The Wickedest Sound ’ tells a compelling story of how from the streets of Jamaica the literal presence of sound and music cultivated spaces for social gathering, business, competition, romance and other facets of the community surrounding it (18:08 - 18:48). This isn’t unlike the use of clubs or concerts in today’s age that creates the circumstances for individuals to engage based on shared interests and maybe let off some steam. But the sound isn’t just treble clefs and quarter notes on a music sheet, it’s the stomping of feet and clapping of hands used by ancient civilizations to tell stories, it’s the use of rhythm in Islamic prayers and recitations of the Quran and it’s...

  My relationship with Music  I was on the bus, blasting music in my headphones wondering how I would start writing this blog post. After a bit of pondering, I thought it would only be right to begin with my relationship with music.  Music is something I have loved and appreciated for as long as I can remember; I love it so much that I never leave the house without my phone and headphones (my mini sound system, if you will). From my headphones which allow me to appreciate the instruments (especially the bass which is my favourite part) to my phone (with all the music applications I use that contain carefully curated playlists by myself and my friends to suit whichever mood I am in). To each specific song: that musicians, producers and more have worked on tirelessly to ensure each song or album is perfected.  In considering all of this, it got me thinking about the podcast we listened to (The Wickedest Sound by 99% Invisible) and how drastically the sound system has c...

Below is a poem, Cascade Experiment, by Alice Fulton. I first encountered it in ' Meeting the Universe Halfway ' by Karen Barad.  When I see you either at the next session or the one after I will speak about it a little bit, but for now please use this as an opportunity to leave a comment and to begin engaging with the posts on the blog. You are also welcome to respond to others' comments. Let us know anything about the poem that you like - what does it make you feel? - which lines resonate? - does it relate to any of the things we discussed in our first seminar? - how could it relate to thinking science AND society? Cascade Experiment      Because faith creates its verification and reaching you will be no harder than believing in a planet’s caul of plasma, or interacting with a comet in its perihelion passage, no harder than considering what sparking of the vacuum, cosmological impromptu flung me here, a paraphrase, perhaps, for some denser, more difficult being, a ...

You should never read an email in a hurry. A few months ago I accepted an invitation to be a part of a "science and policy" workshop on, what I read, as "Social Justice and IVF" (In Vitro fertilisation -- a tech I am very familiar with and have researched on for a while). It was in a city I wanted to visit. I needed a break from UCT, and they were willing to pay for my flight, so I said "YES, Please!" The workshop is in a few weeks and yesterday I read the email, carefully... only to realise that the invitation is actually for a workshop on "Social Justice and IVG". IVG? IVG? What is IVG, I asked myself in panic mode. IVG, now that I have taken a crash course on it this weekend, and read a million scientific articles on it, I can confidently tell you, is a short form for "In-vitro gametogenesis, an experimental technique that allows scientists to grow embryos in a lab by reprograming adult cells to become sperm and egg cells." (Suter ...

When I arrived at UCT I was handed two PG courses to teach. In shaping the content of those, I kept coming back to the ways that every course we teach could be a STS course. Development is shaped by the stories of science and society, identity is made and remade through science-society knots.  This is why a space dedicated to teaching this field is such a treat and also an exercise in restraint and curatorship. Our first iterations of the course outline tried to think about the ways we could take you all on a guided overview of the field of STS. Our first motivation to faculty is captured in an image below. I have also included a screenshot so you can see one of the very early drafts of our course outline. We only have six weeks where we can be physically co-present in a seminar though, and Amrita and I have taken the leap to, with you, to move away from the usual weekly thematic course design. We have asked each of you to choose a book from our selection and to be our guide throug...