Science and Technology Studies Commons^™

Operation Summer Care: Territories Of The Stewardship-Hospitality Complex, George Papamattheakis

Masters of Environmental Design Theses

Operation Summer Care studies the expanding interest that the hospitality industry takes in the biogeophysical environment. Natural surroundings have long been an essential operational precondition of tourism in the global sunbelt, but contemporary environmental anxieties increasingly motivate different strata of hosts to take a more active role in environmental management. Usually the domain of the state, biogeophysical entities and their spaces—plants and animals, sand formations, wetlands, entire ecosystems and protected areas—are measured, ordered, and managed by actors adjacent to the tourism industry. At the same time, the socio-technical mechanisms of environmental intervention and calculation are conveniently framed as practices of …

Fair Play: Notes On The Algorithmic Soccer Referee, Michael J. Madison

Articles

The soccer referee stands in for a judge. Soccer’s Video Assistant Referee (“VAR”) system stands in for algorithms that augment human deciders. Fair play stands in for justice. They are combined and set in a polycentric system of governance, with implications for designing, administering, and assessing human-machine combinations.

The Law Of Black Mirror - Syllabus, Yafit Lev-Aretz, Nizan Packin

Open Educational Resources

Using episodes from the show Black Mirror as a study tool - a show that features tales that explore techno-paranoia - the course analyzes legal and policy considerations of futuristic or hypothetical case studies. The case studies tap into the collective unease about the modern world and bring up a variety of fascinating key philosophical, legal, and economic-based questions.

A Ulysses Pact With Artificial Systems. How To Deliberately Change The Objective Spirit With Cultured Ai, Bruno Gransche

Computer Ethics - Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) Proceedings

The article introduces a concept of cultured technology, i.e. intelligent systems capable of interacting with humans and showing (or simulating) manners, of following customs and of socio-sensitive considerations. Such technologies might, when deployed on a large scale, influence and change the realm of human customs, traditions, standards of acceptable behavior, etc. This realm is known as the "objective spirit" (Hegel), which usually is thought of as being historically changing but not subject to deliberate human design. The article investigates the question of whether the purposeful design of interactive technologies (as cultured technologies) could enable us to shape modes of …

Making It Pay To Be A Fan: The Political Economy Of Digital Sports Fandom And The Sports Media Industry, Andrew Mckinney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a series of case studies and sociological examinations of the role that the sports media industry and mediated sport fandom plays in the political economy of the Internet. The Internet has structurally changed the way that sport fans access sport and accelerated the processes through which the capitalist actors in the sports media industry have been able to subsume them. The three case studies examined in this dissertation are examples of how digital media technologies have both helped fans become more active producers and consumers of sports and made the sports media industry an integral and vanguard …

Yardwork: A Biography Of An Urban Place By Daniel Coleman, Vivian M. Hansen

The Goose

Review of Daniel Coleman's Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place.

Bibliography For Interstices 2018: Beyond Human: Emotion And Ai, Kristin Laughtin-Dunker

Library Displays and Bibliographies

An annotated list of materials in the Leatherby Libraries to accompany the Interstices 2018: Beyond Human: Emotion and AI event held at Chapman University in February 2018. The event featured Lisa Joy, co-creator and executive producer of HBO’s Emmy winning hit series Westworld, Jon Gratch, Director for Virtual Human Research at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies and Caroline Bainbridge, a Professor of Psychoanalysis and Culture in the Department of Media, Culture and Language at the University of Roehampton London. The Leatherby Libraries also hosted two book club discussions of The Positronic …

Cognitive Sociology, Michael W. Raphael

Publications and Research

Cognitive sociology is the study of the conditions under which meaning is constituted through processes of reification. Cognitive sociology traces its origins to writings in the sociology of knowledge, sociology of culture, cognitive and cultural anthropology, and more recently, work done in cultural sociology and cognitive science. Its central questions revolve around locating these processes of reification since the locus of cognition is highly contentious. Researchers consider how individuality is related to notions of society (structures, institutions, systems, etc.) and notions of culture (cultural forms, cultural structures, sub-cultures, etc.). These questions further explore how these answers depend on learning processes …

Understanding How Intentionally Unplugging From Cell Phones Shapes Interpersonal Relationships And The Undergraduate College Experience, Jadelin P. Felipe

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of what motivated college students—the Unplugged Students—to intentionally use their cell phones less and how they understood the impact that unplugging had on their interpersonal relationships and college experience. Nine undergraduate college students from four private schools were interviewed in one-on-one semi- structured interviews. These students, considered non-users, provided a particularly useful perspective as these students made a conscious choice to counteract social norms and experienced both being plugged in and unplugged. Cell phones and the act of unplugging proved to make up a complex and more nuanced topic than …

The Social Implications Of Wellness, Mary G. Fisher

BU Well

This paper presents the existing health disparities between populations of varying socio-economic statuses in the US as part of a broader discussion of the modern wellness industry. The discussion highlights the threat modern wellness poses to the individual and society and the implications these threats have on the health and future of the US if the wellness industry is left unchecked.

The Future Of Arabic Music: No Sound Without Silence, Nesma Magdy Khodier Vcuq

Theses and Dissertations

For centuries, Arabic music has been intrinsically linked to Arab culture and by extension bonded to the environmental landscape of the region, reflecting their emotions, moods, and behaviors. Numerous technological advancements in the latter half of the twentieth century, have greatly affected the rich legacy of Arabic music, significantly impacting the natural progression of traditional Arabic musical genres, scales, and instrumentation.

This thesis serves as an introduction to generative methods of music production, specifically music generated through gestures. Through generative music, and its unique ability to map gestures to different musical parameters, music can be produced using computer algorithms.

The …

Documenting Mass Rape: Medical Evidence Collection Techniques As Humanitarian Technology, Jaimie Morse

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Aim: Emerging global networks of human rights activists, doctors, and nurses have advocated for increased collection of medical evidence in conflict-affected countries to corroborate allegations of sexual violence and facilitate prosecution in international and domestic courts. Such initiatives are part of broader shifts in human rights advocacy to document human rights violations using rigorous, standardized methodologies. In this paper, I consider three principal forms of medical evidence to document sexual violence and their use in these settings: the patient medical record, the medical certificate, and the sexual assault medical forensic exam (commonly known as the “rape kit”).

Methods: Combining archival …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Steps Toward A Socio-Technical Categorization Scheme For Communication And Information Standards, Joann Brooks, Anne W. Rawls

JoAnn M. Brooks

Socio-technical systems continue to grow larger and more complex, comprising increasingly significant portions of contemporary society. Yet systematic understanding of interrelationships between social and technological elements remains elusive, even as computers and information systems proliferate. In this paper, we draw on ethnomethodology to distinguish several different kinds of processes through which communication and information are constituted. We discuss the distinctive properties of each in an effort to develop systematic understanding of basic elements of socio-technical systems. In particular, we offer a basic categorization of communication and information standards, noting the constitutive importance of their accompanying social practices. Implications for theory …

Steps Toward A Socio-Technical Categorization Scheme For Communication And Information Standards, Joann Brooks, Anne W. Rawls

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

Socio-technical systems continue to grow larger and more complex, comprising increasingly significant portions of contemporary society. Yet systematic understanding of interrelationships between social and technological elements remains elusive, even as computers and information systems proliferate. In this paper, we draw on ethnomethodology to distinguish several different kinds of processes through which communication and information are constituted. We discuss the distinctive properties of each in an effort to develop systematic understanding of basic elements of socio-technical systems. In particular, we offer a basic categorization of communication and information standards, noting the constitutive importance of their accompanying social practices. Implications for theory …

El Desarrollo De La Ciencia Política En México. Una Mirada A Través De Los Estudios Sobre El Estado De La Disiciplina, J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

Se presenta una revisión de los títulos publicados hasta 2009 que han analizado la situación de la ciencia política en México o algún aspecto de ésta. Destaca el crecimiento y la diversificación de autores e instituciones, de las revistas publicadas y de los enfoques y temas recurrentes. Hasta fines de los años noventa se ven autores recurrentes y momentos de auge en las publicaciones asociados a coyunturas como congresos, procesos de modificación a planes de estudio, etc., Después de estos años hay la emergencia de nuevos autores y enfoques de estudio, y que el desarrollo de estos trabajos en su …

Theorizing Embodied Communicative Organizing: Fleshing Out Genre With Goffman’S Situational View, Joann Brooks

JoAnn M. Brooks

No abstract provided.

Theorizing Embodied Communicative Organizing: Fleshing Out Genre With Goffman’S Situational View, Joann Brooks

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Proyecto De Investigación: La Primera Agencia Espacial Mexicana: La Comisión Nacional Del Espacio Exterior (1962-1977), J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

No abstract provided.

Proyecto De Investigación: Los Mexicanos En Las Operaciones De La Segunda Guerra Mundial, J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

No abstract provided.

Free Speech And The Myth Of The Internet As An Unintermediated Experience, Christopher S. Yoo

All Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, a growing number of commentators have raised concerns that the decisions made by Internet intermediaries — including last-mile network providers, search engines, social networking sites, and smartphones — are inhibiting free speech and have called for restrictions on their ability to prioritize or exclude content. Such calls ignore the fact that when mass communications are involved, intermediation helps end users to protect themselves from unwanted content and allows them to sift through the avalanche of desired content that grows ever larger every day. Intermediation also helps solve a number of classic economic problems associated with the Internet. …

Mother Earth "Speaks": Change Yourself, Change The World, Use The Archetypal Energy "Harmony" As A Guide, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

In relation to the Cosmos, we all, as human beings, live on this tiny planet we call Earth, a planet that supports and sustains life, as we know it. There are many different kinds of people, plants, and animals functioning in harmony with soil, air, and water--all linked to one another in a complex web of life to form one Earth community. Unfortunately, we often take this miracle and ecosystem of life for granted. When, however, we take the ecosystem of life too much for granted, Mother Earth "speaks," reflecting imbalances and dis-harmonies. When Mother Earth "speaks," her message is …

El Staff Presidencial En México. Del Secretario Particular A Las Oficinas De La Presidencia, J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

J. R. Joel Flores-Mariscal

No abstract provided.

Understanding Virtuality: Contributions From Goffman’S "Frame Analysis", Joann Brooks

JoAnn M. Brooks

Virtual interactions are normally assumed to be separate and distinct from the “real world,” yet they are also situated within material reality. In this paper I propose that a situated approach to understanding virtuality can be developed through drawing from Goffman’s Frame Analysis (1974/1986). I explain how Goffman’s terminology and concepts afford a way of integrating the study of virtual interaction with the study of social interaction more generally. His frame analysis approach offers constructs useful for distinguishing virtual worlds from each other and from real worlds in a way that is consonant with perspectives on human-computer interaction. His language …

Understanding Virtuality: Contributions From Goffman’S "Frame Analysis", Joann Brooks

School of Information Studies - Faculty Scholarship

Virtual interactions are normally assumed to be separate and distinct from the “real world,” yet they are also situated within material reality. In this paper I propose that a situated approach to understanding virtuality can be developed through drawing from Goffman’s Frame Analysis (1974/1986). I explain how Goffman’s terminology and concepts afford a way of integrating the study of virtual interaction with the study of social interaction more generally. His frame analysis approach offers constructs useful for distinguishing virtual worlds from each other and from real worlds in a way that is consonant with perspectives on human-computer interaction. His language …

The Blogosphere And The New Pamphleteers, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

The future of the free dissemination of information lies in the blog, some may say. The internet has entirely transformed how we receive and consume information. It’s the newest incarnation of information dissemination. From the insights of Alexis de Tocqueville, “Feelings and opinions are recruited, the heart is enlarged, and the human mind is developed only by the reciprocal influence of men upon one another.” Bloggers are a powerful force in the distribution of information and ideas and the creation of communities of conversation. Throughout history, the dissemination of information, news, opinions, and ideas has continuously transformed. In the 18th …

Kuhn's Paradigm As A Parable For The Cold War: Incommensurability And Its Discontents From Fuller's Tale Of Harvard To Fleck's Unsung Lvov, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

In a journal issue dedicated to a discussion of Steve Fuller's Thomas Kuhn: A Philosophical History for Our Times, I argue that Kuhn’s limited acknowledgment of Fleck’s influence on his The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was due to a foundational incommensurability between the standard conceptual framework for philosophical studies of science and Fleck’s historico-social and praxis-oriented approach to scientific progress. The incommensurability in question constituted an insurmountable tension between the kind of language and thinking manifest in Fleck’s study and the conceptual language evident in Kuhn and characteristic of one might still call the received view’ in philosophy of science. …