#30 Don’t Look Up! How Hollywood Imports Science Policy into Films | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
Hollywood chooses to portray experts in particular – sometimes peculiar – ways. Those choices have profound impacts on how audiences think about subjects as diverse as dinosaurs, robots, and climate catastrophes. But do those portrayals also change the way we think about the experts themselves and the process of expertise? Does Hollywood play some kind of under-the-table role in teaching us which experts to trust? That’s the theme for today’s podcast. Today, we listen in on a conversation between three experts here in STS who study science policy making as a process. They talk about a...
info_outline
#29 Can Comedy Help Us Tackle Conversations About Climate Change? | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
Ever heard of climate change comedy? Here’s the idea. The climate crisis dominates our news. But more and more, messages about action are ignored. Fatalism is growing. People seem frozen with the scale of the problem. It’s clear we need new ways to tackle these tough conversations. In this episode, STS’s very own Grace Tyrrell explores the growing niche of climate change comedy. With her guest Dr Matt Winning, an environmental researcher and comedian, Grace shows us how climate change comedy works and she explores the question of how these two ideas can fit together. Grace is finishing...
info_outline
#28 Promising Potential for Generative AI at University: Is it a Personal Tutor for Every Pocket | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
Mandy dives optimistically into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on education as we know it. Think ChatGPT and all those related tools called generative AI. Along the way, we touch on some fundamental and relevant concepts from science and technology studies - including the Turing Test and technological determinism - that can help us gain a more nuanced understanding of emerging technology and big tech. With insights from UCL experts and others in Silicon Valley, we explore the incredible potential of AI to enhance university education, plus we dip into some of the...
info_outline
#27 Top Stories in Science Journalism from STS Students | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
The assignments students do in STS modules today are nothing like what they used to be. These days, they build portfolios with all sorts of things: short writing, long writing, posters, blogs, in-class presentations. Add to these, projects like podcasts, film clips, campaign strategies, briefing papers, debates, and full-on project proposals. Research of different kinds. They all require hard work, creativity, and rising to the challenge. We diversify our curriculum because we know the future holds work as varied as we do ourselves each day. We want our students skilled up, practiced, and...
info_outline
#26 Women in History of Science Through 53 Original Sources | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
Women in the History of Science brings together primary sources that highlight women’s involvement in scientific knowledge production around the world. Drawing on texts, images and objects, each primary source is accompanied by an explanatory text, questions to prompt discussion, and a bibliography to aid further research. Arranged by time period, covering 1200 BCE to the twenty-first century, and across 12 inclusive and far-reaching themes, this book is an invaluable companion to students and lecturers alike in exploring women’s history in the fields of science, technology, mathematics,...
info_outline
#25 Are We Over-Hyping Mindfulness for University Students? | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
Chances are you’ve had something to do with “mindfulness” recently. Maybe you’ve been sent to “mindfulness” training. Or, perhaps you’ve been listening to a mindfulness podcast. Or, perhaps you’re using a “mindfulness” app, such as HeadSpace. In this episode, Franziska Link investigates the growing use of mindfulness therapies at universities, such as UCL, in their provision for student support and welfare. What good are they? What do they involve? What are the pros – and the cons – of this approach. Franziska interviews four people with quite different relationships to...
info_outline
#24 Who Are Museums REALLY Speaking For (And What About The Rest of Us) | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
Alex Hancock explores how research about museum collections is helping to connect British museums with more of the publics they claim to support. His emphasis is on decolonisation, engagement, and white European power. Ultimately, how do structural inequalities manifest in our museums, and how do we move to a new set of relationships? Alex undertook this project for the STSNewsRoom in summer 2021. His reporting focused on two specific events. First, Alex discusses with Tannis Davidson the “” exhibition at UCL Grant Museum of Zoology, which explores legacy of empire through objects in the...
info_outline
#23 Journalism from STS Science Communication Master’s Students 2022 | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
We sampled undergraduate projects in a previous episode. Now, it time for the Master’s students. Today’s episode offers a sampler of student-made podcasts. These were created by Master’s students in our science journalism module, run by Dr Jean-Baptiste Gouyon. The assignment was straightforward: imagine you’re working for a news magazine. Create a three-minute feature about a recent piece of research at UCL. The piece must include a short interview segment, and it must make sense within the context of the show. They have a tight deadline, and they have to work pretty much with the...
info_outline
#22 Thinking About Internationality: Is Science the Same Everywhere? | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
It’s one of those fundamental tenets taught to every student: science is international; it’s the same everywhere, it respects no borders; the work is the same no matter where or when you are. Assessing this idea is a core task in STS. Our philosophers, historians, and sociologists work overtime on case studies to explore internationality. Our policy and communication experts grapple with variations and work to understand where there is consensus and where there’s consensus. In this episode, Beatrice Han (BSc Sociology and Politics of Science student) investigates science and...
info_outline
#21 Responsible Media Coverage: Hype in Our Stories About Chatbots | WeAreSTS
WeAreSTS
Is AI sentient? Do machines have souls? I’ve got an even better question: are these questions the most important ones we should be asking? Headlines claiming machines could be alive are definitely eye-catching. But hype does not come unaccompanied: misinformation, fear, and fake news are close friends with sensationalism. They target audiences who probably know enough about the topic, but not enough to critically analyse the information fed to them. Understanding the role the media plays in opinion-making about new science and technology is vital when we are dealing our own decision making...
info_outlineProfessor Charlotte Sleigh talks about the STS1Book for 2021, a book she has co-written with Professor Amanda Rees. It’s called "Humans". In our conversation, we talk about the book and some of its main ideas.
We also talk about the book as one in a long series of projects Charlotte has undertaken in the general area of “animal studies,” a research topic in STS that has evolved in important ways in the past ten years. For example, Charlotte is an highly praised expert on the cultural history of ants, both in terms of scientific research and in terms of different cultures around the world. She’s also currently president of The British Society for the History of Science, one of the top global organisations supporting research, writing, and discussion in this area.
One of the projects Charlotte mentioned was:
Stone, Christopher D. “Should Trees Have Standing?–Towards Legal. Rights for Natural Objects.” Southern California Law Review 45. (1972): 450-501
This was later developed into a book:
Stone, Christopher D. Should Trees Have Standing? Law, Morality, and the Environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Our interview was recorded in 2021 just after Charlotte arrived in STS as Lecturer (Teaching) in Social Studies of Science. This appointment is in addition to her role as an Honorary Professor.
For more about Charlotte:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/people/charlotte-sleigh
Also, check out the book’s co-author, Dr Amanda Rees:
https://www.york.ac.uk/sociology/our-staff/academic/amanda-rees
The book we discussed:
Amanda Rees and Charlotte Sleigh. 2020. Humans (Reaktion Books). ISBN 978-1-78914-214-3.
The STS1Book programme is an initiative by UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) that asks all students and staff to read one book in common during the year. This serves as a foundation for interdisciplinary conversations and debate within our community. Each year we try to bring the authors into the department to work with our students to interpret the work and also simply to meet important practitioners in the subject. Find out more about the STS1Book programme:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/about-sts/sts1book-programme
For more about the British Society for the History of Science:
https://www.bshs.org.uk
Featuring
Interviewee: Professor Charlotte Sleigh, STS Honorary Professor and Lecturer (Teaching) in Social Studies of Science. Twitter: @KentCHOTS
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/people/charlotte-sleigh
Interviewer: Professor Joe Cain, UCL Professor in History and Philosophy of Biology. Twitter: @profjoecain
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/cain
Music credits
“Rollin At 5,” by Kevin MacLeod
This music is available free via the service FilmMusic.io
https://filmmusic.io/song/5000-rollin-at-5
The license is available:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Production information
Editing and post-production for this episode by Professor Joe Cain.
“WeAreSTS” producer is Professor Joe Cain.
Podcast information
“WeAreSTS” is a production of the Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at University College London (UCL). To find out more, and to leave feedback about the show, visit us online:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/podcast
Talk about us on social media. Twitter: @stsucl #WeAreSTS
STS students and staff can get involved with our podcast in quite a number of different ways:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/wearests-five-ways-students-can-be-involved