What is 4S?
The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) is an international, nonprofit scholarly society founded in 1975. 4S fosters interdisciplinary and engaged scholarship in social studies of science, technology, and medicine (a field often referred to as STS). Membership in the society is open to anyone interested in understanding developments in science, technology, or medicine in relation to their social contexts.
All About 4S Membership
For renewals, the member directory, and meeting registration, visit the
04/24/2018 Mullins Prize. Sydney News: Making & Doing presentations online. STS Across Borders. Sydney’s activist communities.4S News
4S President’s Message – April 2018
From the 4S Sydney Program Chairs
04/23/2018
We are pleased to announce that the preliminary program is available and registration is open for 4S Sydney! The program includes well over 1,000 presentations from leading lights of STS alongside our most exciting emerging scholars from across the globe.
On the registration page you will find information on...
(...more)STS Making & Doing 2018
04/23/2018
Due to its great success at previous 4S conferences in 2015 and 2017, 4S Sydney is hosting the STS Making and Doing session for the third time. The Sydney Making and Doing program will have nearly 40 participants sharing their on-the-ground practices and innovations in scholarly knowledge work in a wide range of...
(...more)4S President’s Message – March 2018
03/24/2018
2018 Edge Prize, STS Mentoring Prize, and STS Infrastructure Award. 1200 presentations from an impressive diversity of countries have been accepted for the Sydney meeting. The program committee has also arranged for 4S to partner with Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.
(...more)Backchannels
Backchannels provides an outlet for alternative-format scholarly communications, publishing shorter, timelier, media-rich communiques of interest to the global STS community.
Notes and Reflections from an “Energy Safari”
Reflections / Turner Adornetto
In late January of 2018, twenty-eight young Tanzanian citizens of diverse backgrounds gathered in Arusha, Tanzania for an Energy Safari.
Trusting One’s Sound: Synthesis, Scholarship, and the Self
Reflections / Einar Engström
Einar’s essay discusses how his identity as an electronic musician prepares him to think ethically about technology and sonic sensibilities.
Missionary science and knowledge making: the Jesuit priest-scientist in India
Reflections / Joseph Satish
In this post, Joseph tries to understand if and how Jesuits’ missionary goals and their scientific practice overlap in contemporary India, and how can this discussion can contribute to the discussion on the interplay of science and religion in STS studies.
Interview: The Production of Disability in Educational Systems
Reflections / Leo Matteo Bachinger
We spoke with Lois Letchford about the stigma of disability in our educational system. Her new book "Reversed. A Memoir" illuminates key STS themes in recounting her and her son's experiences with disability.
Reaching Out, Looking In: On Research, Refusal, and Responsibility
Reflections / Tess Lanzarotta
We are reposting Tess Lanzarotta's reflection on the role of research outreach in Indigenous communities, published on Somatosphere.
Becoming More Capable
Reflections / Alex Taylor
This month we are reblogging Alex Taylor's exploration of capability and dis/ability, published on Platypus — The Castac Blog.
Signs of a New Australasian STS Community Emerging: Notes from a First Meeting
Report-backs / Barbara Bok
Barbara Bok reports on the launch of the Australasian STS graduate network and the how STS was adapted to Australian conditions.
We Have Never Been Digital Anthropologists
Reflections / Rebekah Cupitt
Rebekah Cupitt reflects on how the foundations of ethnography relate to the digital.
Innovación por fuera de la ley, Narcosubmarinos y los ESCT
Reflections / Javier Guerrero
Narcosubmarinos, una mirada desde los ESCT
The Bow Valley and ‘People’ Without a History
Reflections / Tina Loo
Multispecies ethnographies—of grizzlies in this case—through artistic visualizations let us question our actions in the world and the future we make.
New in...
Critical Engagement:
"Engaging STEM Ethics Education"
By Kelly Ann Joyce, Kendall Darfler, Dalton George, Jason Ludwig, and
Kristene Unsworth
Research Article:
"Images of Marie Curie: How Reputational Entrepreneurs Shape Iconic
Identities"
By Lisa Alaimo, Lori Chambers, and Antony Puddephatt
Thematic Collection:
"Engaging the Underground: An STS Field in Formation"
By Abby J. Kinchy, Roopali Phadke, and Jessica M. Smith
"Groundwater Modeling and Governance: Contesting and Building (Sub)Surface
Worlds in Colorado’s Northern San Juan Basin"
By Adrianne C. Kroepsch
"Engineering and the Politics of Commensuration in the Mining and Petroleum
Industries"
By Jessica M. Smith and Nicole M. Smith
"Black Gold, White Power: Mapping Oil, Real Estate, and Racial Segregation
in the Los Angeles Basin, 1900-1939"
By Daniel G. Cumming
"Shelf Projects: The Political Life of Exploration Geology in Senegal"
By Robyn d'Avignon
"From Dearth to El Dorado: Andean Nature, Plate Tectonics, and the
Ontologies of Ecuadorian Resource Wealth"
By David Kneas
"Commentary: STS of the Underground"
By Trevor Birkenholtz
New in...
Technoscience Updates
The most recent postings to the Profession pages, emailed monthly to 4S members.