Application description:
In a technological society, the display of technology, communication about technology, and even winning trust are all important actions and skills. What does technology come in the form of? How do scientists communicate with ordinary people? How do they gain the trust of society? When people face the unknown, these related actions help reduce uncertainty. Because people cannot experience everything firsthand, they must rely on or trust the knowledge and experience of others. For individuals, trust is a specific psychological state; at the level of social and collective, social trust can also be considered a form of “social capital.” Societies with high levels of mutual trust are more likely to create a sense of security within society, which helps promote various actions and can also reduce various costs.
Polish microbiologist and immunologist Ludwik Fleck (1896-1961) proposed a constructivist scientific philosophy theory as early as the early 20th century. Fleck argued that we should approach the dynamic relationships between cognitive subjects, objects of cognition, and social collectives from a historical and social perspective, while emphasizing that individuals may simultaneously belong to multiple cognitive collectives, foreshadowing today’s trend of “interdisciplinary,” pluralistic recognition, communication, and cross-domain innovation.
If cross-domain communication or the simultaneous presence of multiple collective entities becomes an important foundation for understanding technology, then how should STS research explore the structural characteristics of these collective entities and the forms of communication among them? In an era where the division of academic professional research is becoming increasingly fine-grained, social media streaming is prevalent, and the “industry-government-academia-media” four-helix chain is vigorously driving society forward, how should communication proceed in the face of phenomena such as the “Anthropocene,” post-truth, the “thing-non-thing (information),” and the distortion of “relativism” into a non-standard concept? How should technology be presented? How should trust in society for technology be built?
Contest theme:
I. The past, present and future of museums: empire, colonialism and decolonization
II. Museum technology displays and educational promotion
III. The History of the STS Theory and Its Acceptance and Appropriation in the Academic Community in Taiwan
IV. Scientific education, technical education, popularization of science, communication and trust in science
V. Citizen science, public participation in science, science controversies and communication
VI. Gender and Technology
Seven. STS and interdisciplinary and innovative research
8. Other STS issues
Submission form:
A. Individual papers: Please provide a 800-1200 word paper abstract.
B. Self-organized papers: 3-4 papers per group, written by the organizers with a topic and organizing statement, and attached with a summary of each paper.
C. Poster paper (A0 size): Please provide an abstract of 800-1200 words.
D. Discussion Forum: Please provide a summary of 800-1200 words.
Important schedule:
- Abstract submission deadline is 5pm on February 28, 2025
- The submission deadline for the annual conference has been extended to March 10, 2025, 11:59 PM.
- Summary review results announced on April 30, 2025
Organizers:
Taiwan Society of Technology and Social Research
National Museum of Natural Sciences
Co-organizers:
Science and Technology Research Center of National Chengchi University in Medicine, Science and Technology and Society
Chung-Ling University Department of Applied Philosophy
This activity is supported by the National Science and Technology Committee.