Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 10 x 1 Hour Lectures |
| Seminar | 10 x 1 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | 1 x 2500 word essays, on phase 1 | 50% |
| Semester Exam | 3 Hours 1 x 3 hour examination on phases 2 & 3 | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | resubmit failed 1 x 2500 word essays, on phase 1 | 50% |
| Supplementary Exam | 3 Hours 1 x 3 hour examination on phases 2 & 3 | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate familiarity and knowledge of key theoretical approaches towards understanding the cultural relationships of science.
2. Demonstrate an ability to read, analyze and reflect critically on a range of evidential material drawn from historical, literary and other contexts.
3. Demonstrate an ability to research independently.
4. Demonstrate an ability to communicate ideas effectively, both orally and in writing.
Aims
The module aims are:
The module aims to provide students with a thorough grounding in recent approaches to understanding the cultural interconnections between several major aspects of scientific & technological activity, and by doing so, to offer a critical understanding of the place occupied by science in contemporary culture.
Brief description
The module takes the concept of scientific revolution, drawn from the work of philosopher Thomas Kuhn, as its starting point for investigating the ways in which historians, sociologists and other theorists have tried to understand science as a cultural activity. Taking three key episodes in the history of science and technology, it will interrogate the cultural place occupied by science by looking both at how other aspects of culture informed science and at how scientific concepts and ideas infiltrated other areas of culture.
Content
The content detailed below is indicative and may be amended depending on staff availability.
Week 1: SCIENCE AND CULTURE - Introduction
Week 1: Introduction: Are There Two Cultures? What are scientific and technological revolutions
Phase 1: DARWINIAN TRANSFORMATIONS
Week 2: The Politics of Evolution – social Darwinisms and beyond
Week 3: History and Humanity – anthopocentricity under pressure
Week 4: Darwin’s Reception – internalising a conceptual revolution
Phase 2: COLD WAR CULTURES
Week 5: The Space Race – new frontiers for the World Series
Week 6: A Nuclear World – from sabre-rattling to missile parades
Week 7: Q Branch – technology and espionage in partnership
Phase 3: A DIGITAL WORLD
Week 8: Development of the Web – introducing computers to each other
Week 9: Social media – ‘friends’ in far places
Week 10: Digital news – citizen-journalism, wiki-leaks and techno-activism
Other phases/themes may include: Energy & Empire, War & technology, Electricity & the Victorians
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | |
| Communication | will be developed in written work and discussion work |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | will be developed as a result of feedback and response |
| Information Technology | will be developed in related study and research work |
| Personal Development and Career planning | |
| Problem solving | will be developed in relation to assessment tasks and questions |
| Research skills | will be developed in the written assessments |
| Subject Specific Skills | will be developed Reasoning and assessment of empirical evidence |
| Team work | will be developed in small-group seminar activities |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 5