Science Communication - STAND-ALONE STUDY
Teaching dates:
Monday 24th and Tuesday 25th October 2022
Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th December 2022
Teaching is planned to take place at Madingley Hall, Cambridge. Participants will need to ensure they are available to attend on the above dates.
Course Director:
Dr Jane Gregory: jane.gregory@ice.cam.ac.uk
Scientific knowledge, authority and expertise: an introduction for science communicators
When we talk about ‘science communication’ we usually assume that ‘communication’ is the challenging part, and that ‘science’ can be taken for granted. However, it is clear that for some publics, and for academics in other areas of knowledge, ‘science’ can have other meanings and connotations.
We also know that while some people might look to science for answers to certain questions, other people might instead trust their faith leader, political leaders or their peer group for guidance about what to do. So when we communicate science outside of our immediate professional communities, we might run up against a variety of ideas about science, and different sources of information, and tensions can arise.
Being able to see science as others see it, and to recognise other sources of authority and expertise, is therefore a valuable skill for science communicators.
This course explores these issues by drawing on the literature from the philosophy and sociology of science to explore a range of perspectives on science as a form of knowledge, as a group of methods and as a social institution. It asks how and why we respect science as expertise, and explores what happens if this respect is withheld. Thus, the course examines, at a fundamental level, the relationships between science, politics and publics in terms of authority, trust, and public culture, and explores what this means for science communication. We will cover :
- how science came about, as a distinct form of knowledge and practice
- how science maintains its special identity and status in society
- the value of expert claims by scientists and others who use scientific knowledge
- the use of scientific knowledges as vehicles for ideologies about science, politics and society
- the cultural significance of non-scientific knowledges about nature and the self
- the ‘symmetrical’ approach to understanding challenges to science as knowledge
- science and science communication in the postmodern era.
This course will give students :
- insights into the academic debates about the character and value of scientific knowledge claims
- a wider understanding of the many ways in which scientific practices produce knowledge
- a greater appreciation of how knowledge claims are used in professional and public discussion
- familiarity with kinds and practices of expertise
- skill in handling discussions about alternatives to mainstream science
- awareness of the contribution of theories about scientific knowledge to science communication practice
