APG5239 · Science, technology and futures

Overview

More than ever, science and technology are transforming our futures, but not always in ways that are desirable, ethical or just. Artificial intelligence, digital platforms, reproductive technologies, climate science, energy technologies, and infrastructural systems – these are all transforming human societies, environments, and imagined futures. Yet technologies are not simply neutral tools, nor is science merely a source of objective knowledge. They are embedded in cultures, institutions, places, and power relations. In this unit, you will learn perspectives from anthropology, human geography, and Science and Technology Studies, to analyse how scientific knowledge and technological systems embody social values, how they transform relationships between humans, environments, and digital worlds, while also being transformed by these same forces in return. The unit also emphasises how visions of the future - such as digital transformations, bioengineering, and sustainable development – shape present decisions, institutions, and forms of governance. Through this lens, you will develop the analytical tools to critically engage with technological change and to imagine how alternative approaches might enable more diverse and ethical futures.

Areas of study: International Development Practice

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. explain key concepts and debates in the anthropology and geography of science, technology, and futures;
2. critically analyse how scientific knowledge and technological systems, and infrastructures shape social life and imagined futures, while also being shaped by them;
3. apply qualitative research methods from anthropology, human geography, and Science and Technology Studies to conduct independent research to investigate a contemporary issue involving technology;
4. critically appraise dominant visions of technological futures and assess their implications for inequality and governance;
5. design and communicate an evidence-based intervention that responds to a complex challenge involving science or technology.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.