The 19th Annual Meeting will be held virtually from August 12th-14th, 2020. We will keep our single-track structure that we have always had in SDN (via a single Zoom room for the meeting), and will be replicating the more social catching up of in-person meetings by asking attendees to join a special Slack workspace for the meeting.
More information about the meeting logistics will be sent to all attendees. The link above for access to the papers is password-protected and the password will be provided to registered participants.
What happens at the Annual Meeting?
The Annual Meeting provides a forum for presenting sophisticated empirical research on important topics in the contemporary politics of science and technology. These meetings train young professionals, foster dialogue among scholars and policy practitioners from across the globe, and build an improved knowledge base for public policy by highlighting issues of importance to the United States and the global community.
Speakers are expected to submit papers before the meeting, and attendees are expected to read each of these before the sessions where they are discussed. There are no ‘streams’ in SDN, so that everyone can hear all presentations if they so wish.
In between the paper sessions are Plenary Panels, featuring prominent members of the Network discussing pressing issues of science and democracy.
These academic sessions are usually complemented by more social periods, where Network members can catch up with each other and meet new colleagues.
Do I need to be a member of the Network to attend?
While you do not need to be a member of the Network to attend, it is assumed that attendance means that you are interested in becoming a member. Membership is currently free, as membership is more about being a part of a thought collective rather than paying dues.
Day 1: Wednesday August 12th
| US Pacific | US Eastern | London | India | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6:30am | 9:30am | Community connection time in Zoom room | 2:30pm | 7:00pm |
| 6:45am | 9:45am | Meeting Introduction Sheila Jasanoff | 2:45pm | 7:15pm |
| 7:00am | 10:00am | Paper Session 1 – Democratic Imaginations Chair: Ben Hurlbut, Arizona State University Balancing authority and meaning in global environmental assessments Jasper Montana, University of Oxford COVID-19, Science, Democracy, and Nature Marc Saner, University of Ottawa Rediscovering Liberalism in Longino’s Critical Contextual Empiricism: A Co-Productionist Analysis Matthew Sample In God We Trust: John Rawls and the Objectivity of Liberal Reason Hilton Simmet, Harvard STS | 3:00pm | 7:30pm |
| 7:30am | 10:30am | Paper Session 1 – discussion | 3:30pm | 8:00pm |
| 8:30am | 11:30am | SDN Zoom room open and small group/grad student meetings | 4:30pm | 9:00pm |
| 9:30am | 12:30pm | BREAK | 5:30pm | 10:00pm |
| 10:30am | 1:30pm | Plenary Panel A – STS in Time of Crisis Chair: Stephen Hilgartner, Cornell University Remarks from: Warwick Anderson, University of Sydney Ruha Benjamin, Princeton University Craig Calhoun, Arizona State University Candis Callison, University of British Columbia Leo Saldanha, Environment Support Group Andy Lakoff, University of Southern California | 6:30pm | 11:00pm |
| 11:30am | 2:30pm | Plenary Panel A Discussion | 7:30pm | 12:00am* |
| 12:00pm | 3:00pm | BREAK | 8:00pm | 12:30am* |
| 1:00pm | 4:00pm | Paper Session 2 – Knowledge and Citizenship in Latin America Chair: Pierre-Benoit Joly, INFRIS Constitutional Reform, Rights of Nature, and Science: Reflections from Chile and Ecuador Javiera Barandiaran, UC Santa Barbara Denia Djokic, Harvard STS Building a different “normal” in a Brazilian coastal region: EcoSol-agroecology networks respond to the Covid-19 crisis Les Levidow, Open University Davis Sansolo, UNESP, Brazil Old, broken, disposable: A Latin-American situated critical discourse analysis of the public health narrative about at-risk population groups in the COVID-19 pandemic Gabriela Arguedas-Ramirez, Universidad de Costa Rica Ignorance as power? Chloroquine and the coproduction of truth in Brazil under Bolsonaro Paulo FC Fonseca, Federal University of Bahia Barbara E. Ribeiro, University of Manchester / Manchester Institute of Innovation Research Leonardo F. Nascimento, Federal University of Bahia | 9:00pm | 1:30am* |
| 1:30pm | 4:30pm | Paper Session 2 – Discussion | 9:30pm | 2:00am* |
| 2:30pm | 5:30pm | SDN Zoom Room Open for casual discussion | 10:30pm | 3:00am* |
| 3:15pm | 6:15pm | END Day 1 | 11:15pm | 3:45am* |
Day 2: Thursday August 13th
| US Pacific | US Eastern | London | India | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6:30am | 9:30am | Plenary Panel B: Comparative Methods Chair: Sheila Jasanoff, Harvard STS Remarks from Silke Beck, UFZ Leipzig Stephen Hilgartner, Cornell University Brice Laurent, MINES ParisTech Shobita Parthasarathy, University of Michigan and James Wilsdon, University of Sheffield | 2:30pm | 7:00pm |
| 7:30am | 10:30am | Paper Session 3 – Futures and Forecasting Chair: Sam Weiss Evans, Harvard STS Distributing Epistemic and Ethical Risks: A Comparative Study of Forecasting Earthquakes Li-an Yu, Bielefeld University Blue Skies and Long Nows: The Future in Technomoral Reasoning of San Francisco Bay Area and Boston Startup Biotechnology Annie Hammang, Arizona State University Performing a Linear Model: The Professor Group on Energy Policy Kamilla Karhunmaa, University of Helsinki Towards Smart Decline? A comparison of sociotechnical systems used to prioritize demolitions in Ohio Mattijs Van Maasakkers, Ohio State University | 3:30pm | 8:00pm |
| 8:00am | 11:00am | Paper Session 3 – discussion | 4:00pm | 8:30pm |
| 9:00am | 12:00pm | BREAK | 5:00pm | 9:30pm |
| 9:15am | 12:15pm | Plenary Panel B: Comparative Methods, Cont. Re-convening and discussion | 5:15pm | 9:45pm |
| 10:00am | 1:00pm | BREAK | 6:00pm | 10:30pm |
| 12:30pm | 3:30pm | Paper Session – 4 Digital Citizens and Publics Chair: Rachel Douglas-Jones, IT University of Copenhagen Hacking Humans? Social Engineering and the Construction of the “Deficient User” in Cyber Security Nina Klimburg-Witjes, University of Vienna Alexander Wentland, MCTS, Technical University Munich Imagining of Infrastructuring Publics in the Making of Smart City Vienna Pouya Sepehr, University of Vienna Seeing Like a Data Infrastructure: Low-resolution Citizens in the Aadhaar Identification Project Ranjit Singh, Cornell University Just Right: An Imaginary of Data and Justice Margo Boenig-Liptsin, UC Berkeley | 8:30pm | 1:00am* |
| 1:00pm | 4:00pm | Paper Session 4 – discussion | 9:00pm | 1:30am* |
| 2:00pm | 5:00pm | SDN Zoom room open for discussions | 10:00pm | 2:30am* |
| 3:00pm | 6:00pm | END Day 2 | 11:00pm | 3:30am* |
Day 3: Friday August 14th
| US Pacific | US Eastern | London | India | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6:30am | 9:30am | Paper Session 5 – Embodied and Lawful Knowledges Chair: Stephen Hilgartner, Cornell University Traditional Knowledge as Intellectual Property: Accommodating Indigenous Lifeworlds with Neoliberalism in India Indrani Barpujari, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis Ujjal Kumar Sarma, Indian Institute of Forest Management Co-producing Biotechnology and Democracy in Community Science Labs Dan Santos, Clark University Surrogacy and the coproduction of parenthood and constitutional law in France and Germany Daniela Schuh, University of Vienna Trustworthy Wars? the Change of Motivation for a National Cybersecurity Policy Amit Sheniak, Hebrew University of Jerusalem | 2:30pm | 7:00pm |
| 7:00am | 10:00am | Paper Session 5 – Discussion | 3:00pm | 7:30pm |
| 8:00am | 11:00am | BREAK | 4:00pm | 8:30pm |
| 8:15am | 11:15am | Teaching STS Online Chair: Sam Weiss Evans, Harvard STS Remarks from Margo Boenig-Liptsin, UC Berkeley Ulrike Felt, University of Vienna Ben Hurlbut, Arizona State University and Chris Lawrence, Harvard STS | 4:15pm | 8:45pm |
| 9:15am | 12:15pm | BREAK | 5:15pm | 9:45pm |
| 10:30am | 1:30pm | Paper Session 6 – Professing Knowledge: Citizens, Experts, and Activists Chair: Shobita Parthasarathy, University of Michigan Contested Imaginaries and the Democratization of the Forest Resources in South Asia Rajiv Ghimire, Arizona State University Doctors in the Streets – Climate Activism and the Health Professions August Lindemer, University of Sheffield Cross-Boundary-Work: can extreme citizen science breathe life into science? Fabien Moustard, University College London Accounting for Power: The Controversial Calculation of Interregional Fiscal Flows in Divided Belgium Damien Piron, UCLouvain | 6:30pm | 11:00pm |
| 11:00am | 2:00pm | Paper Session 6 – Discussion | 7:00pm | 11:30pm |
| 12:00pm | 3:00pm | BREAK | 8:00pm | 12:30am* |
| 12:15pm | 3:15pm | Meeting wrap-up; plans for next year | 8:15pm | 12:45am* |
| 12:45pm | 3:45pm | SDN Zoom room open for discussion and goodbyes | 8:45pm | 1:15am* |
| 1:30pm | 4:30pm | END Day 3 | 9:30pm | 2:00am* |