The Science Studies Network (SSNet) at the University of Washington

The Science Studies Network was established in Fall 2007 with the aim of mobilizing an inclusive, university-wide network of faculty and graduate students who share an interest in science studies. There is tremendous potential at the University of Washington to build an innovative science studies program, given great strengths in the sciences and rich, if widely dispersed, resources in sciences studies. The founding goals of SSNet were to: create a forum in which science studies scholars at UW can explore their common interests in a sustained way; foster topic-specific collaborative research projects; and explore the potential for developing an interdisciplinary curriculum in science studies that integrates existing course offerings and programs.

In its first two years the SSNet organizers convened a highly successful series bi-weekly lunchtime colloquia, building on the excitement generated by a high profile Science Studies Speaker Series that ran for two years in 2003-2005. They also hosted a number of speakers, initiated an ambitious curriculum project, developed an innovative web presence, and began to explore the potential for establishing a Pacific Northwest STS consortium and Summer Institute. These projects are ongoing; see the home page for links to current events and projects.

SSNet 2007-2008

The 2007-2008 colloquium was designed to showcase, in the Fall quarter, the work of UW colleagues who represent represent three broad constituencies of interest in science studies: history and philosophy of science; cultural studies of science; and ethics, equity, and policy issues in science. In the Spring and Winter quarters SSNet colloquia were organized on a number of topics suggested by Fall participants:

“Scientists’ Perspectives on Science and Technology Studies”
“Digital Media, Technology, and Science”
“Science and Art”
“Collaborative Practice/Interdisciplinary Practice”
“Multi-disciplinary Perspectives on Scientists of Color”
“How do we Study Science?”

The SSNet also hosted workshop meetings with a number of visiting speakers in 2007-2008:
Steve Epstein, UC-SD (Critical Medical Humanities, November 2007); Miriam Solomon, Temple University (Philosophy Department, November 2007); Nancy Cartwright, LSE/UC-SD (Walker-Ames visiting scholar, March 2008), Richard Lewontin from Harvard (Danz lecturer, April 2008); and Paul Wouters, Visual Knowledge Studio, Amsterdam (June 2008).

Finally, SSNet was a partner in organizing two conferences sponsored by the Simpson Center in 2007-2008:

More information about SSNet 2007-2008 is available:

SSNet 2008-2009 (more information available at 2008-09 Archive)

A substantial community of interest coalesced, in the first year of SSNet meetings, around a range of topics captured by the theme “Democratizing Science.” To build on the synergy of these discussions, the 2008-2009 SSNet Colloquium was organized as a year-long faculty and graduate student seminar on this focal theme, complemented by a visiting speaker series.

Graduate-Faculty Colloquium on Democratizing Science
The SSNet bi-weekly colloquium on “Democratizing Science” was organized in three thematic components and organized, each quarter, by a core of 5-7 Faculty and Graduate SSNet Fellows. The Fellows specified topics and readings for discussion and convened a graduate “microseminar” (HUM596) that ran in conjunction with the graduate-faculty colloquium. The focal themes for each quarter were:

Science in Democracy (Fall 2008)
Democracy and Diversity in Science (Winter 2009)
Normative Claims for a Democratic Science (Spring 2009).

SSNet Visiting Speakers
The SSNet also hosted three visiting speakers in 2008-2009, chosen for their research interests in areas that complemented the thematic focus of each quarter’s colloquium. (Download speaker abstracts/bios here.)

SSNet Digital Media Initiatives
An active digital media working group, working with Clifford Tatum (SSNet New Media Fellow), continued the development of an SSNet Facebook Group, the SSNet program of podcasting all public lectures and seminars, and laid the foundation for developing an ambitious STS webportal. Check the SSNet homepage for current news and developments on this front.

What Science Studies IS…

Science Studies is an interdisciplinary field of research that takes the sciences in all their complexity — their practice, their history and socio-cultural formation, their philosophical underpinnings, their impact on our lives — as a subject for systematic investigation. The point of departure is, for many, an appreciation that science is a jointly intellectual, material, and social enterprise; it brings diverse resources to bear on the project of constructing stable, reliable systems of knowledge about the natural and social world. It is the goal of Science Studies to understand how such knowledge is produced and authorized, what distinguishes it as scientific knowledge, how it evolves and is inflected by the contexts of its production, and what its normative implications are: what ethical obligations and other forms of accountability constitute “research integrity” in particular contexts of practice.