Nov 22, 2024
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2024-25
SOC 2450 - Science in Action
This interdisciplinary course investigates the dynamics of science, society, and culture by exploring science in action and how science is conducted and constructed in everyday settings, how scientists translate their expertise to the public to influence behavior and policy, how activists utilize and challenge science in pursuit of social change, and the complex ways in which science is transforming our social, political, and global landscape. Students gain insight into the social, cultural, and ethical aspects of scientific practice, learn to effectively use and communicate scientific expertise in the public sphere, contemplate inclusive and equitable visions of scientific practice, and acquire necessary skills to engage as informed citizens in a world heavily shaped by science.
Credit Hours: 3
OHIO BRICKS: Arch: Connected World
Repeat/Retake Information: May be retaken two times excluding withdrawals, but only last course taken counts.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 3.0 lecture
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Course Transferability: OTM course: TMSBS Social & Behavioral Sciences, OTM course: TMSBS Social & Behavioral Sciences
College Credit Plus: Level 1
Learning Outcomes:
- Students will be able to explain the primary terminology, concepts, and theoretical approaches used in the interdisciplinary study of science, society, and culture from anthropological and sociological perspectives.
- Students will be able to describe the primary quantitative and qualitative research methods used in the analysis of scientific practices and their societal implications.
- Students will be able to critically reflect and discuss their own assumptions about science, its role in society, and their responsibilities as informed citizens.
- Students will be able to identify how social, cultural, and institutional contexts shape the production of scientific knowledge and how distinct cultures of research institutions shape scientific practices and knowledge production.
- Students will be able to discuss how scientific methods, peer review, and scientific journals produce credible knowledge.
- Students will be able to identify challenges and strategies involved in communicating scientific expertise to the public, explain scientific boundary-work, and discuss how science is used and contested in social activism.
- Students will be able to identify ways science shapes social identities, such as race, gender, and sexuality, and discuss how these processes create, maintain, and challenge social inequalities.
- Students will be able to discuss ethical considerations and power dynamics involved in the increasing reliance on standardization, quantification, and algorithms, and explain implications for human agency.
- Students will be able to identify and evaluate the roles of science in shaping global social identities, global inequalities, and risk society, and critically discuss more inclusive and equitable understandings of scientific practice.
- Students will be able to develop and articulate a well-informed position on the complex interplay between science, society, and culture, while acknowledging limitations and logically presenting conclusions and related outcomes in a priority order.
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