Editorial

Conferences and Workshops

Publishing Opportunities

Position Announcements

Journal Editorships

New Publications

Prize & Award Competitions

Summer School

Feature Article

Administrative Notices

 

 

EDITORIAL

Welcome to another issue of Technoscience. In this issue you will find our first feature article, written on the new design program at RPI. Anyone interested in featuring their school or research here is welcome. If you will be attending the 4S Conference in Cambridge, MA (USA) this fall, please consider taking a few notes and submitting a paragraph or article on your experiences there. Comments on any aspect of the event are welcome, and we especially encourage graduate students to send in something. Presenters, referees and critics are also encouraged to send word on the research end of what was presented at the meeting. Finally, we invite articles on STS programs, classes, books, and reviews. Please continue to send us your ideas, comments and suggestions at: TECHNOSCIENCE-L@LISTS.RPI.EDU. We look forward to hearing from you!

 

If you haven't already, please send a blank email with the subject heading "subscribe" to TECHNOSCIENCE-L@LISTS.RPI.EDU so that we may send you Technoscience electronically (putting the word "subscribe" in the body of the e-mail generates an error with our server, so please don't put that word within your message). We have e-addresses for only half the membership, making Technoscience an expensive proposition for 4S. Please help by sending in your email address today.

 

 

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

Fashioning the Future: Science, Technology and Visions of Progress
4S Annual Meeting, October 31 - November 4, 2001, Cambridge, MA

Although the deadline for paper submissions has passed, you can still register to attend the conference. Registration information is available at: http://web.mit.edu/sts/www/4s/.

 

 

The Committee for the Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Computing (CASTAC) Fourth Summer Meeting
University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA from June 22-24, 2001. 

The Committee for the Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Computing (CASTAC) announces its fourth Summer Meeting at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA from June 22-24, 2001.  CASTAC is a Committee of the General Anthropology Division of the American Anthropological Association.

 

Millennial STS: Science, medicine, and technology at the dawn of the 21st century aims to bring together anthropologists, scholars of science and technology studies, and interested scientists and engineers, image makers, artists, and others.

 

The conference is intended as a working platform for those in and around the field of anthropology/ethnography of science, technology, medicine and computing. Its focus will be on anthropology as the study of, but also as engaged with, the practices of science and engineering. Topics for this conference include but are not limited to: sociological

studies of science, biomedicine and biomedical engineering; intersections of law, technology and society; teaching anthropology of science and engineering; ethnographies of the Internet; traveling cultures, traveling science; and technology transfer.  In keeping with the spirit of the host city, papers on image, media and technology are

especially welcome.

 

For CASTAC's first West Coast conference we hope the location of the conference will reflect the technological and scientific heritage of the Los Angeles area.  As one of the worldwide centers of media, technology, and aerospace production, as well as home to a number of major universities and the second largest city in America, LA is a capital for the production of image and technology.  Taking advantage of this, excursions may include a trip to the Museum of Jurassic Technology and the California Science Center.  The conference enables participants to present and discuss work in progress in an informal setting; we invite colleagues in all stages of their careers to attend and enjoy.

 

PROPOSAL AND ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:

Papers and proposals for the above topics and other panels on technoculture, in the broadest sense, are welcome. We will also consider presentations/demonstrations of innovative teaching methods in the anthropology of science and engineering. Depending on the number of submissions, the conference will be run in either a traditional panel setting, or by using the workshop model that has been used successfully in the past, in which a three-presenter group introduces each paper to the conference followed by authors comments and general discussion.  Efforts will be made to preserve the workshop model.  Abstracts of individual papers, or full descriptions of proposed panels (including abstracts for the individual papers) need to be submitted by May 11, 2001.  Papers may be submitted as e-mail attachments or through standard postal mail.

 

HOUSING/REGISTRATION:

Conference fee has yet to be determined, but will be very low (estimated $30 or slightly higher).  Dormitory accommodation is also available for $52.44/double or $37.63/single.

 

CONTACT INFORMATION:

The conference is being coordinated by Scott Frank (in consultation with Marianne de Laet and Matthew Weinstein).

Contact is (323)-934-3656   FAX (213)-747-8571

sfrank@usc.edu

street address: 456 S. Cochran Ave., #302 LA CA 90036

Conference on the History and Heritage of Scientific and Technical Information Systems
Chemical Heritage Foundation and the American Society for Information Science and Technology
November 15-17, 2002

Following the successful Conference on the History and Heritage of Science Information Systems in 1998, the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF) and the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) are pleased to announce the Second Conference on the History and Heritage of Scientific and Technical Information Systems, to be held in 2002. The conference will be held Friday to Sunday, November 15-17, 2002, immediately prior to the annual meeting of ASIS&T in Philadelphia. It will take place at the Chemical Heritage Foundation. There is a conference registration fee of US$105, which includes meals from Friday dinner through Sunday breakfast.

 

Scholars from a wide range of disciplines, including library and information science, communications and history of science and technology, are encouraged to submit abstracts of 500-1000 words based on the themes listed on the website. Abstracts are due by 15 October 2001. Abstracts will be refereed by members of the organizing committee and by other scholars as necessary. Authors requested to submit a full paper following evaluation of its abstract, must have at least a completed draft available by 30 June 2002 (see below for early submission for scholarship applicants). This draft will be assessed for suitability for presentation at the conference. Subsequent to the conference authors will have the opportunity to revise their papers in the light of criticism and submit them for publication in the conference proceedings.

 

A limited number of scholarships will be available for the presentation of papers in order to help cover the costs of attending the conference. Presenters from abroad and North American graduate students will have preference. Such applicants should have drafts of their papers ready by 15 May 2002. Emphasis for this conference will be on the period from the Second World War up through the early 1990s, including the infrastructure created by digitization, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. Conference organizers are looking for in-depth historical analyses of these developments and how they have affected the practice of science both nationally and internationally.

 

The conference will be enriched by the participation of national and international pioneering figures in the field of scientific and technical information. The proceedings will be published in print and on the Web as a companion piece to the proceedings of the first conference, as well as the volume Historical Studies in Information Science (Medford, NJ: Information Today, 1998).

 

Contact:HHSTIS2 Program Committee

Chemical Heritage Foundation

315 Chestnut Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

HHSTIS2@chemheritage.org

 

For more information on the conference and suggested topics, please visit http://www.chemheritage.org

 

In addition, two preliminary workshops have been scheduled in order to stimulate research that may be presented at the 2002 conference and to assist in the ongoing effort to build a community of interest in the history of information science and scientific and technical information systems. These workshops will be directed at graduate students, information professionals, and others who are interested in the history of information science and technology but who may have little or no formal background in historical study of this subject. The workshops will be small and will provide a friendly environment in which interested individuals, whatever the current level of their historical work, can clarify their ideas and present and critique work in progress. These gatherings will have a didactic or tutorial component as well as a "workshop" component. As part of the former, one or more established scholars will lead discussions on research completed in the field, important areas that are in need of further investigation, and specialized research resources.

 

East Coast Workshop: 6 PM Fri.- 8 PM Sat., June 8-9, 2001

Chemical Heritage Foundation

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Application Deadline: 1 April 2001

 

West Coast Workshop: Noon Sat.-2 PM Sun., Sept. 15-16, 2001

School of Information Management & Systems

University of California, Berkeley

Application Deadline: 1 June 2001

 

Contact the HHSTIS2 Program Committee (see above) for more information. Late applications may be considered. The workshops have a registration fee of US$90.00, which includes meals. There are a limited number of competitive scholarships available to help cover the costs of attending the nearest workshop.

 

Applications for the workshops and the scholarships should include (1) an outline of a paper or a substantial abstract, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) a recommendation from a mentor (if the candidate is in graduate school), and (4) a statement of estimated financial need and a budget. Please be sure to indicate clearly the workshop for which you are applying.

 

Ethnographies of "The Centre"
Centre for Science Studies, Lancaster University, UK
September 10-11, 2001

Workshop Description:

The purpose of this workshop is to assemble researchers and scholars engaged in investigating a broad, in some respects disparate, range of sites of contemporary technoscientific, cultural, political and economic practice. The common thread that initially ties these sites together is their identification as "centered" within the social worlds of which they are part. The workshop proceeds from the assumption that such identifications presuppose the ongoing performance of connections, boundaries, and exclusions on which the location "central" relies. Examples of such sites might include the workings of various centres of planning, calculation, coordination and innovation (auditors and policy analysts, financial traders, control rooms, research and development laboratories, and the like); centered sites of cultural production (multi-media design firms; theme parks); sites of technology-intensive and/or esoteric professional practice (surgeries, airplane cockpits, courtrooms); or particular performances of systematic, exclusionary differentiations (e.g. technoscience's constitution of "technical" cores and "social" peripheries).

 

A primary concern of the workshop will be to engage, through close readings of such sites, with recent critical challenges to the tropes of "center" and "periphery," focusing on the problem of how such identifications achieve their distributive effects both rhetorically and practically. Since early in the last century, science, technology, and industry have been focal enterprises for the production of centers and margins, organized around competitive accumulations of cultural and economic capital. A motivating premise in convening the workshop is that ethnographic investigations of "the centre," as both an imagined and an actualized site of origins, leadership, control and so forth, can be a critical resource for contemporary projects of de-centering, particularly in feminist and post-colonial science studies. By interrogating the center ethnographically, the aim is to de-center its stability from a singular place in the world into the multiplicity of projects, identities and relations that (more and less successfully) hold it together. The aim of the workshop will be to explore this proposition further, from multiple perspectives and in relation to diverse ethnographic materials. To that end, alternate readings of both "Ethnographies" and "the Centre" are strongly encouraged.

 

Confirmed Plenary Speakers: Professor Karin Knorr-Cetina, Department of Sociology, University of Bielefeld and Professor George Marcus, Department of Anthropology, Rice University

 

Please convey expressions of interest (indicating whether you would be interested in presenting a paper, or simply attending) by 31 May, 2001 to organizer Lucy Suchman l.suchman@lancaster.ac.uk . Registration details will follow.

 

Margaret Mead:  Continuing Controversies Conference
6 April 2001, New York, New York

This year, on the centenary of Mead's birth, Barnard College is proud to sponsor a celebrator conference that assembles some of today's most accomplished scholars in anthropology.  Like Mead's, their work allows them to engage in today's most pressing social issues as both academic critics and public advocates.  The panelists will challenge assumptions about race and class; chart the ever-changing landscape of gender politics; delineate the roles and responsibilities of the public intellectual; explore the visual media's impact on culture; and debunk the supposed neutrality of scientific paradigms, especially as it relates to reproductive health.  The range, academic rigor, and activist potential of these inquiries testify to the enduring significance and controversies of Mead's astounding career. 

 

Panelists include:  Elaine Charnov, Faye Ginsburg, Micaela di Leonardo, Nancy Lutkehaus, Emily Martin, Marcyliena Morgan, Esther Newton, and Rayna Rapp.  Virginia Gildersleeve Visiting Professor Mary Catherine Bateson will provide concluding remarks.  Registration begins at 9 AM in Barnard Hall Lobby (117th Street and Broadway).  The conference begins at 10 AM, and is FREE and open to the public. 

 

To RSVP, please call 212.854.2067.

E-mail enquiries: dhopson@barnard.edu

Website: www.barnard.edu/crow/events/mead.htm

 

Organized by: Barnard Center for Research on Women

 

Culture, Difference, and Inequality
The Canadian Anthropology Society / Societé d'anthropologie canadienne anthropologie (CASCA), the American Ethnological Society (AES), and the Society for Cultural Anthropology (SCA)

Readers interested in the proceedings of this exciting conference which took place in early May, 2001 can find information at:.  http://casca2001.mcgill.ca/programme.html

 

 

PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES

Encyclopedia of American Industrial History

Three-volumes published by M.E. Sharpe will cover major periods in industrial history as well as key industries. Although it focuses primarily on the U.S., the encyclopedia examines American industrialism in an international/global perspective. 1-2 page bios as well as essays on specific topics wanted.

 

Contact:Thomas Heinrich

Assistant Professor

Baruch College

17 Lexington Ave.

New York, NY 10010

USA

Thomas_Heinrich@Baruch.Cuny.edu

Phone: (212) 802-3049

 

 

Women's Studies Quarterly: Special Issue on Women's Health
Edited by Alice J. Dan and Sue V. Rosser

Women's Studies Quarterly is seeking submissions for a special spring/summer 2003 issue on Women's Health.  The issue will focus particularly on the impact that women's studies and feminism have had (or not had) on theory, practice, curriculum and pedagogy, as well as the participation of women in medicine and the health care professions.  The editors invite feminist critiques and essays on the philosophy and history of women's health in mainstream and alternative medicine; transformation of the medical and allied health curriculum, including bibliographies, syllabi, feminist pedagogy and laboratory techniques; the place of women's health in women's studies curricula; and papers on co-curricular programs and institutional strategies for integrating women-centered and feminist approaches into medicine, nursing, and other health care professions.

 

International, interdisciplinary, and co-authored papers by individuals from different perspectives are particularly encouraged, as is work from diverse feminist perspectives.  Also welcome are personal narratives, oral histories, and literary expressions about women's health.  The diverse factors affecting women's lives, including race/ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, age, ability status, etc. should be considered in writing all articles.

 

Send a disk and three copies of manuscripts to:  Professor Sue V. Rosser, Dean of the Ivan Allen College, 781 Marietta St., Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia  30332, USA, or Professor Alice J. Dan, Center for Research on Women and Gender, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1640 W. Roosevelt Rd., Rm 503,  M/C 980, Chicago, Illinois  60680, USA.

 

Deadline for submissions is October 1, 2001

 

Queries should be made to either Alice J. Dan alicedan@uic.edu or to Sue V. Rosser sue.rosser@iac.gatech.edu.

 

 

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENTS

Program Director for Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science, andTechnology (SDEST)
National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation invites applications for a one year temporary appointment to the position of Program Director, to begin preferably in August or September 2001. This is a research administration position.  The Program Director for SDEST represents the program to colleagues in NSF and other Federal science agencies and to the Administration.  SDEST has two program components:  Ethics and Values Studies, and Research on Science and Technology.  It supports research and educational projects on ethical and value dimensions of engineering, science, and technology (EVS) and on the implications for productivity and quality of life of different strategies for supporting science and engineering research and innovation (RST). 

 

The Program Director provides intellectual leadership and is responsible for all aspects of program administration and development.  He or she manages the proposal review process and active NSF grants, maintains regular contact with the relevant research communities, and provides advice and consultation about the fields.  The program budget is about $2.5 million.

 

Applicants must have a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline, and be active in a relevant research area. They should show evidence of initiative, administrative skill, and ability to work well with others.  While the Foundation is interested in individuals with research interests in the environment and global change or innovation and society, these are not essential.  Six or more years of research experience beyond the Ph.D. is desirable.  Salary is negotiable, and is comparable with academic salaries at major US institutions.

 

Please direct inquiries and expressions of interest, as soon as possible, to Mr. William P. Butz, Director of the Division of Social and Economic Sciences, phone: (703) 292-7260; e-mail: wbutz@nsf.gov ; or Dr. Rachelle Hollander, Program Director, SDEST, phone: (703) 292-7272, e-mail: rholland@nsf.gov .  They are located in Suite 995, National Science

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22230, fax: (703) 292-9068. 

 

Qualified persons who are women, ethnic/racial minorities, and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.  The National Science Foundation is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to employing highly qualified staff that reflects the diversity of our nation.

 

History of Medicine
McGill University

The Department of Social Studies of Medicine of McGill University seeks an assistant professor in the history of medicine (tenure track) in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Department is an interdisciplinary unit within the Faculty of Medicine and includes historians, anthropologists and sociologists. It places strong emphasis on research and graduate supervision, but is also responsible for considerable teaching in the Faculties of Arts and Medicine. The successful candidate must have a Ph.D and publications (an MD would be an additional asset) and must be able to function in both the medical milieu and an interdisciplinary social science environment. We will consider all areas of research interest compatible with the core strengths of the Department in comparative medical systems and medical knowledge in the 20th century. Curriculum vitae and three letters of reference should be sent by December 31 2001, to Faculty Search Committee; Department of Social Studies of Medicine; McGill University; 3655 Drummond Street; Montreal, P.Q. H3G 1Y6; Canada. In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada. McGill University is committed to equal opportunity in employment.

 

Fellow/Senior Fellow in Sociology
The Australian National University, Institute of Advanced Studies, Research School of Social Sciences, Demography and Sociology Program

Salary: Fellow: $60,589-$69,554 per annum

Senior Fellow: $72,540-$79,711 per annum

Ref: SS308

 

The Research School of Social Sciences is seeking to appoint a Fellow/Senior Fellow in Sociology in the Demography and Sociology Program. This is a full-time research position. Candidates should have a background in the sociology of work and employment and/or science and technology studies. Preference will be given to scholars with expertise on information technology. Quantitative skills would also be an advantage. Applicants should provide a brief outline of the research they propose to undertake.

 

Appointment: fixed term for up to five years. Applications from researchers wishing to take up a secondment from their current position are welcome.

 

For selection documentation: Before applying, further particulars including selection criteria must be obtained from the School Secretary, Research School of Social Sciences, either by email on schoolsec.rsss@anu.edu.au or on 61 2 6125 2257.

 

For further information please contact Professor Judy Wajcman on 61 2 6125 8060, or by email on Judy.Wajcman@anu.edu.au

 

Applications for this position must be sent to: The School Secretary, Research School of Social Sciences, Building 9, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200

 

Closing date for applications, addressing the selection criteria, is 15 June 2001

 

Department of Communication: Culture
University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, Department of Communication is seeking to fill one or more full-time positions at the Lecturer level (non-tenure-track, contingent upon available funding) , beginning Fall 2001 in the general area of culture and communication.  Depending on qualifications, the candidate may be offered a one- or two-year Lecturer appointment with the possibility of extension.  Preference is for candidates with expertise in the analysis of the culture industry and the production of culture, including, but not limited to film and television, advertising, tourism, and various forms of cultural performance.  Courses could include variations of "Advertising and Society," "Television and Contemporary Culture," "How to Read a Film," "Tourism: Global Industry and Cultural Form,"  "Media, Race, and Representation." The focus should be on contemporary and popular culture.  Candidates must demonstrate excellent teaching skills and must have a Ph.D. (or be advanced to candidacy) in the Social Sciences or Humanities.

 

Salaries are in strict accordance with UC pay scales. If non-citizen, state immigration status. EOE/AAE.

 

Send vita, statement of research and teaching interests, and names of three references supporting the candidate's teaching qualifications by June 15, 2001, or until the position is filled to:  Robert Horwitz, Lecturer Recruitment Committee Chair (LRCC), Department of Communication (0503), UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla CA  92093-0503. 

 

Please refer to position #3-847-ILS in your response.

 

Department of Communication: HIP
University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, Department of Communication is seeking to fill one or more full-time positions at the Lecturer level (non-tenure-track, contingent upon available funding) beginning Fall 2001 in the area of language, cognition and technology.   Depending on qualifications, the candidate may be offered a one- or two-year Lecturer appointment with the possibility of extension.  Research in topics such as gender, race and technology and cognition and development in social context are desirable.  Other areas of interest include the integration of new media in learning and interaction, and development of literacy in print and digital forms.  Courses could include variations of "Language, Thought and Media," "Literacy, Social Organization and the Individual," "Children and Media," "Communication in Organizations." Candidates must demonstrate excellent teaching skills.  Applicants must have a Ph.D. (or be advanced to candidacy) in the Social Sciences or Humanities.  Salaries are in strict accordance with UC pay scales. If non-citizen, state immigration status. EOE/AAE.

 

Send vita, statement of research and teaching interests, and names of three references supporting the candidate's teaching qualifications by June 15, 2001, or until the position is filled to:  Robert Horwitz, Lecturer Recruitment Committee Chair (LRCC), Department of Communication (0503), UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla CA  92093-0503.

Please refer to position #3-848-ILS  in your response.

 

Department of Communication: Production
University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, Department of Communication is seeking to fill one or more full-time positions at the Lecturer level (non-tenure-track, contingent upon available funding) beginning Fall 2001 in the area of practice and theory of production.  Depending on qualifications, the candidate may be offered a one- or two-year Lecturer appointment with the possibility of extension.  Emphasis on video production is preferred, but we will consider candidates with significant experience in digital multimedia, film, photography, theatre, music or any combination of these.  Courses could include variations of "Introduction to Production," "Documentary Production," and Non-linear Editing."   Candidates must demonstrate excellent production and teaching skills.  While candidates with a Ph.D.  or M.F.A. are preferred, others without a terminal degree  can be considered if they demonstrate strong experience and teaching ability. Salaries are in strict accordance with UC pay scales. If non-citizen, state immigration status. EOE/AAE.

 

Send vita, statement of production and teaching interests, and names of three references supporting the candidate's teaching qualifications by June 15, 2001, or until the position is filled to:  Robert Horwitz, Lecturer Recruitment Committee Chair (LRCC), Department of Communication (0503), UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla CA  92093-0503. 

 

Please refer to position #3-849-ILS  in your response.

 

Department of Communication: Social Force
University of California, San Diego

The University of California, San Diego, Department of Communication is seeking to fill one or more full-time teaching positions at the Lecturer level (non-tenure-track, contingent upon available funding), beginning Fall 2001 in the general area of the political economy of communication. Depending on qualifications, the candidate may be offered a one- or two-year Lecturer appointment with the possibility of extension. Preference is for candidates with expertise in the history, organization, economics, and regulation of mass media, telecommunications, or information systems, including the Internet. Courses could include variations of "Information and Society," "Transformation of Global Communications," "Work and Industry in the New Information Economy," "Political Economy of Mass Communications,"  and "New communications Technologies and the Problem of Privacy." The focus should be on industry structure, public policy, and political economic trends. Candidates must demonstrate excellent teaching skills and must have a Ph.D. (or be advanced to candidacy) in the Social Sciences.  Salaries are in strict accordance with UC pay scales.  If non-citizen, state immigration status. EOE/AAE.

 

Send vita, statement of research and teaching interests, and names of three references supporting the candidate's teaching qualifications by June 15, 2001, or until the position is filled to:  Robert Horwitz, Lecturer Recruitment Committee Chair (LRCC), Department of Communication (0503), UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla CA  92093-0503. 

 

Please refer to position #3-850-ILS in your response.

 

 

JOURNAL EDITORSHIPS

Editorship of Social Studies of Science
CALL FOR INTEREST

The journal Social Studies of Science invites bids for the journal Editorship, with transfer from the journal's current Editor, David Edge, to be completed by September, 2002. A Task Force has been appointed to coordinate bids and to assist the process, led by Lucy Suchman and including Anni Dugdale, Aant Elzinga, Rob Hagendijk and Clark Miller. A decision on the new Editorship will be taken by the journal's Collaborating Editors and Editorial Advisors, in consultation with Sage Publications Ltd., at the annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science in Cambridge, Massachusetts in November, 2001.

 

Candidates for the Editorship of the journal should send expressions of interest, requests for details on preparation of a bid, and any other inquiries to Lucy Suchman, l.suchman@lancaster.ac.uk . Expressions of interest should be received by June 30, 2001.

 

 

Editorship of the Medical Anthropology Quarterly

The Society for Medical Anthropology requests applications and nominations for the Editor of the Medical Anthropology Quarterly.  The term of the current editor, Mac Marshall, will be completed with the end of Volume 16 (2002).  The responsibilities of the new editor would begin in the summer of 2002 and the editorship would begin with Volume 17 (2003).  The SMA seeks an editor who will continue the excellence of the journal as developed under

its previous editors (Alan Harwood; Ann Millard; Gay Becker; and Mac Marshall).  The new editor must be committed to the publication of the best of medical anthropology research that represents all theoretical approaches in the field.  Additionally, the new editor must be committed to the efficient and effective management of the process of scholarly publication.  The SMA underwrites the major portion of the costs of publication of MAQ.  At the same time, it is anticipated that the new editor's institution will be able to provide tangible resources to support the work of the editor.

 

A search committee has been appointed consisting of Ann Millard, Chairperson (Michigan State University, amillard@msu.edu ); Roberta Baer (South Florida); Evelyn Barbee (Michigan State); Kathleen DeWalt (Pittsburgh); Margaret Lock (McGill); Bryan Page (Miami); and, Mark Nichter, ex officio (Arizona).  The close of applications

for the position is September 17, 2001.  An application must include the following: a curriculum vitae; a statement of purpose including a vision for the journal and any previous experience as an editor; and a budget for the editorial office showing funds needed from SMA and those committed by the applicant's home institution (including office space and computing hardware and software).  The search committee welcomes inquiries, and applications should

be sent to Prof. Ann Millard, Dept. of Anthropology, 354 Baker Hall-MSU, East Lansing, MI 48824-1118.

 

The search committee will review the applications in September and October of 2001, and will schedule personal interviews at the 2001 American Anthropological Association meetings if necessary.  It is anticipated that the announcement of a new editor will be made in November of 2001.  The new editor will then work closely with Mac Marshall during the calendar year of 2002, in order to insure the orderly transfer of the journal during fall term, 2002.

 

 

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Books:

In the study entitled A Sociological Theory of Communications: The Self-Organization of the Knowledge-Based Society, Loet Leydesdorff (University of Amsterdam) specifies the model of a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations for the study of the dynamics of knowledge-based developments. The book is now available both as a paperback and on-line at http://www.upublish.com/books/leydesdorff.htm

 

Journals:

Technoscience readers may find articles of interest in the most recent issue of Sociological Research Online, Vol 5, No 3, November 2000. Sociological Research Online publishes fully peer reviewed articles across the

spectrum of the discipline. We never have a backlog, and all articles are published within three months of

acceptance.

 

This issue includes nine articles coving a wide range of sociological topics from Postmodern transformations of sexuality to the National Grid for Learning, and reviews of five books on a wide range of sociological topics. Online at:           http://www.socresonline.org.uk/

 

 

PRIZE AND AWARD COMPETITIONS

4S Student Paper Prize
Nicholas C. Mullins Award, Outstanding Scholarship in Science and Technology Studies

Awarded each year by 4S for an outstanding piece of scholarship by a graduate student in the general field of Science and Technology Studies. Nominations may be made by any member of the Society to any Council member. See the 4S website for more information: http://www.lsu.edu/ssss/public_html/

 

2001 Prize Essay Competitions
Society for the Social History of Medicine

The Society for the Social History of Medicine (SSHM) invites submissions for its two 2001 Prize Essay Competitions.  These prizes will be awarded to the best original, unpublished essays in the social history of medicine submitted to each competition as judged by the SSHM's assessment panel. 

 

The 2001 essay competition is open to post-doctoral scholars and faculty who obtained their Ph.D. or equivalent qualification after 31 December 1995. The 2001 student essay competition is open to students in full or part-time

education.   Each prizewinner will be awarded £300.00, and his or her entry may also be published in the journal, Social History of Medicine.

 

Further details and entry forms can be down-loaded from the SSHM's website http://www.sshm.org

Alternatively, please contact the membership secretary:

David Cantor

Building 31  Room 2B09   MSC 2092

National Institutes of Health

Bethesda, MD 20892-2092

U.S.A.

Email: competition@sshm.org

 

The deadline for entries is: 31 December 2001

 

Society of Medical Anthropology Student Paper Awards

As the end of your semester approaches, please consider whether you have any students whose excellent written work merits submission to the SMA for either the Rivers (undergraduate) or Hughes (graduate) paper prizes. These each include a cash award of $250.

 

Papers need to be submitted by June 15.  Manuscripts are to be under 20 pages double-spaced not including references.

 

Send four copies to: James Trostle

Anthropology Department

Trinity College

300 Summit Street

Hartford, CT 06106-3100

 

Further details, including information about other SMA prizes are available on the SMA web page, at this link:

http://www.cudenver.edu//sma/prizes_and_awards.htm

 

 

SUMMER SCHOOL

Contentious Science
Netherlands Graduate School of Science
September 3-7, 2001

The main theme of the new Summer School, organised yearly by the Netherlands Graduate School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture (WTMC:http://www.wmw.utwente.nl/wtmc/), will be "contentious science".

 

The week-long programme will have Aant Elzinga of Gothenburg University as its anchor teacher, one of the pioneers in the field of science and technology studies. Aant is full professor in theory of science and research at Gothenburg University (Sweden). He has been president of EASST, science advisor to the Canadian government, and dean of the humanities faculty. In his work Elzinga combines history, philosophy, and the politics of science, therewith also casting science policy studies in a broader, reflexive and more critical frame. His recent work on Antarctic science will serve as a window on the socio-political dimensions of present-day research.

 

The Summer School will also take a new look at the way science and technology are increasingly involved in disputes such as the ones over international food policy and in law suits.

 

The programme, with an indication of the other speakers, will be available by the end of April. The language of the Summer School is English. The location is conference centre Logica at the campus of University of Twente (http://www.utwente.nl/) The Summer School is part of the graduate training of the PhD students in the Netherlands.

 

A limited number of places are available for other (foreign) PhD students. The fee is NLG 1400,-, the reduced rate for EASST members is NLG 1200,-. EASST has a tradition of making a few travel stipends available. Please inquire at the EASST secretariat.

 

For inquiries about the programme: Paul Wouters (co-ordinator), paul.wouters@niwi.knaw.nl

For all other information concerning the Summer School: Marjatta Kemppainen, University of Twente, u.m.kemppainen@wmw.utwente.nl . phone +31-53-489 4847, fax +31-53-489 4775.

 

 

FEATURE ARTICLE

Product Design and Innovation at RPI
by Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Dept. of STS

The dual major program in Product Design and Innovation (PDI) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is jointly offered by the Schools of Engineering, Architecture and Humanities and Social Sciences, and has three tracks: the first satisfies the requirements for the BS programs in both Mechanical Engineering and Science, Technology and Society (STS); the second satisfies the requirements for the BS programs in both Engineering Science and Science, Technology, and Society (STS); and the third satisfies the requirements for the BS programs in both Building Science and STS. PDI prepares students to become innovative designers who will develop and design the advanced products and technologies for the coming century. Built around a design studio every semester, PDI combines the technical, aesthetic and cultural sophistication of Rensselaer's engineering science and building science curricula with the insight and vision of the humanities and social sciences disciplines in the STS curriculum.

 

The core of PDI is the design studio that students take every semester, giving them a hands-on opportunity to bring together the three major curricula. The mechanical engineering curriculum, which is accredited, provides a fundamental education in mechanical engineering with a focus on design methodology in general and mechanical design techniques in particular. The engineering science curriculum provides a fundamental education in engineering science through basic and advanced courses in engineering mechanics, engineering electronics, energy, materials, and manufacturing. The building science curriculum provides a fundamental education in building science and architectural design through basic and advanced courses in structures, environmental and construction systems as well as physical and theoretical approaches in design. The STS curriculum provides a fundamental education in the economic, ethical, cultural, and political dimensions of product development and innovation, including numerous case studies of successes and failures that will give students the opportunity to learn what it takes to be effective leaders of design teams. On this basis the design studios help students to explore and develop their creativity while building a portfolio of design experiences continuously throughout all four years.

 

The design experiences range over a breadth of problems, from larger systemic problems to smaller focused problems, so that students have a broad exposure to all the different applications of design practice. Some fall and spring semester studios are taught as a sequence to give students experience with the design process from beginning to implementation. The studios also aim to develop students' skills in using computers and other advanced tools and techniques, as well as in drawing, visualizing, communicating, and working together, in short all that is necessary to put their creativity to work as leaders of design and innovation, whether it be in a multinational business at the cutting edge of the global market, or in a smaller business that creates an unusual solution to a local problem.

 

We envision innovative product designers as able to observe the world from a perspective informed by both understanding technology and "seeing" (or "reading") the delicate interdependence between (or better, the mutual shaping of) technology and society. The strong technical education allows the product designer to understand the "inner workings" of technological products or systems, as well as to imagine how the elements of these inner workings÷or entirely new elements or "technological enablers"÷might be put to work in previously unrecognized ways. The strong education in the social sciences allows the product designer to understand ways of life deeply enough either to anticipate a future need in those lives or to escape being trapped by everyday inertia. (How many times do we have to hear again those stories of serendipity that tend to mark the beginning of our most innovative technologies?) The intensive design education fosters the exploration of problems and their potential solutions in such a way as to maximize the chance of uncovering the most desirable/innovative designs.

 

For more information on the PDI program at RPI, please visit our website: http://www.rpi.edu/dept/sts/pdi/

 

 

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