136-544 Beyond the Spin:Technoscientific Failure

Usually admission to the postgraduate diploma or fourth year honours, or a postgraduate coursework program.

There is much to be learned from failure, and the application of science and technology has in recent years provided no shortage of examples - the Ford Pinto, Bhopal, Challenger, thalidomide, Cane Toads, Chernobyl, the M16 rifle, Three-Mile Island, the Zeebrugge Ferry. Through a series of case studies, from the perspective of various stakeholders and publics, and from a variety of theoretical perspectives, students will appreciate the educative value of failure; will critically examine the dimensions of failure; the contested accounts of causes and explanations of failure; and will assess the political, institutional, and public-sphere responses to failure. Students who successfully complete this subject will be able to convincingly interpret and respond to cases of technoscientific failure through an understanding of: the contexts in which judgments of failure are made; the range of empirical factors and causes that may be implicated in failure; the theoretical grounds upon which causal claims are made and are contested; and critical assessments of common responses to technoscientific failure. Students will also conduct a case study of their own.

• have developed research skills;

• have developed critical thinking and analysis;

• be able to think in theoretical terms;

• be able to understand social, ethical and cultural contexts;

• be able to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically;

• have developed written communication skills;

• have developed public speaking skills;

• have developed good time management and planning;

• be able to work as a team.

An essay of 1000 words 20% (due 1/3 through the semester), a case study report of 2000 words 40% (due at the end of semester), an essay of 2000 words 40% (due at the end of semester). Students will have the opportunity to participate in group work.

A subject reader will be available from the Bookshop.