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University of South Carolina |
I. Courses on Nanotechnology
| Communicating Risk ((SPCH 790A)) in 2005 Fall
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| Department: | NanoScience and Technology Studies |
| The course includes a major component examining how risk is communicated when the artifact does not exist. It will examine the differences between strategic or crisis communication which is mostly perception management after a disaster and special communication used to market science and technology to government agents and the general public. A study of nanotechnology will be used to better evaluate the role of hyperbole in communication and the special demands associated with arguments from different paradigms or mindsets. The communication between government agents, between government agents and researchers, between government agents and researchers and the general public, between disciplines in the nano-science, between disciplines in the nano-science and the general public, and overall role and status of a public sphere in science and technology decision making in the United States. |
| Nano Philosophy (Phil 760) ((Phil 760)) in 2004 Spring
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| Department: | NanoScience and Technology Studies |
| Course description: Nanotechnology and nanoscience are two new emerging fields. They deal with the manipulation, construction and control of phenomena at the nanoscale (basically, the scale of atoms and molecules). In this course, we will examine three main philosophical issues that emerge from nanoscale research: (1) What is the nature of the phenomena studied at the nanoscale? How exactly are nanophenomena constructed and manipulated? (2) What are the mechanisms of representation devised to understand such phenomena? In other words, how exactly are nanophenomena represented? (This raises a number of issues: from the role of various microscopy devices in the laboratory to the imaginative contributions provided by science fiction.) (3) Are there intrinsic risks involved in the development and application of nanoscience and nanotechnology? If so, how should we assess them? Given the interdisciplinary nature of nanoscience research, besides in-class discussion, the course will also feature a number of guest speakers from several areas of nanoscience research. |
| Societal Implications of Nanotechnology (SCCC281B) in 2004 Spring
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| Department: | NanoScience and Technology Studies |
| Nanotechnology is at the forefront of a series of technologies that promise to revolutionize our lives. Whether the revolution is for good or ill remains contentious. Most people, however, know very little about nanotechnology and have not considered the possible revolutionary effects. This course will use the excellent resources available at USC to consider these effects. We will look at the social and ethical implications of nanotechnology, but will begin by coming to understand just what nanotechnology might be. With the help of the scientist at USCs nanocenter we will look at what is currently possible and what the future might hold in nanotech. Then with the help of a multidisciplinary group of researchers here at USC who are working through an NSF grant to explore the way nanotechnology moves from the laboratory to the world, we will examine the social and ethical issues surrounding nanotech. We will read work by among others, Eric Drexler, Bill Joy, Andrew Feenberg, policy documents from the NSF and the ETC group, a fair amount of unpublished work by different participants in the debates about nanotech, some nano science fiction, as well as whatever material becomes current during the course. The students will be expected to write a temp paper, as series of short discussion papers, and a nanotech bibliography. The students will need a bit of extra flexibility as on occasion field trips will be required as well as attendance at some of the Imaging and Imagining the Nanoscale conference at USC in March. This course will give students the opportunity to watch and perhaps participate in an unfolding research program and will lead to a better understanding of both nanotechnology and current science and public policy issues. |
| Enhancing Humans (SCCC360) in 2003 Fall
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| Department: | NanoScience and Technology Studies |
| The convergence of new technologies in the areas of nano-science, biology, computer and information science, and cognitive science now make possible radical enhancement of human capacities. These are associated with new forms of reproduction (cloning), genetics (including germline genetic engineering), pharmaceuticals (for enhancement of strength, stature, or cognitive abilities), and human-machine hybrids (including brain implants for direct human/machine interface). These technologies may soon allow for a significant alteration of human capacities, and longer term, may even alter what we understand as human.
In this course we explore the philosophical, social and ethical issues associated with such enhancements. Throughout the course we move between theoretical discussions that inform ethical analysis of enhancements (e.g., the therapy/enhancement distinction, the nature of humanity, political theory) and the enhancement technologies that are on the horizon (e.g., cosmetic surgery, pharmaceuticals, genetics, human-machine interfaces, nanotechnology, etc.). The goal is to formulate a framework for assessing the appropriateness of proposed enhancements. |
| Arguments in Science and Technology (SPCH 712) in 2003 Spring
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| Department: | NanoScience and Technology Studies |
| This course combines materials from courses previously taught in the Honors College and experimental courses. We are flooded with communication about science and technology and the implications they may have on the world around us. Arguments about science and technology are crafted. This course reviews: how scientific orthodoxy and politics influence messages; how messages about unnatural sciences are marketed; how scientific methodologies are modified and corrupted to make persuasive appeals; and how arguments about science and technology are mediated. The course then covers three case studies: Nazi racial science, robotics and artificial life, and nanotechnology. The last stage of the course examines two contemporary paradigms: transhumanism and posthumanism, and uses them to criticize the arguments made by futurists and technological prognosticators. The course ends with a serious examination of the can-should (just because we can do something does not mean we should) conundrum in argumentative discourse between science and citizen consumers and ends with a review of some responses. |
| Nano Culture and Science Studies Seminar Series (Seminar Series) in 2006 Spring
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| Department: | NanoScience and Technology Studies |
| 3/28 What is Social Acceleration?
4/4 The Role of Metaphor in the Discussion of Nanotechnology
4/11 Invisible Origins of Nanotechnology: Herbert Gleiter and the Neglected Role of Materials Science
4/13 Developments and Trends in Regulating Nanoparticles: A Response to Davies
4/20 Technology as an instrument of US Foreign policy in Europe in the early Cold War |
II. Instructor(s) teaching on Nanotechnology:
III. Programs, Majors and Minors
| Major: Nano Science and Technology Studies |
IV. Centers and Conferences
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