Editors: Sarah R Davies (University of Copenhagen) & Ulrike Felt (University of Vienna)
Public communication of science is a key way that people encounter scientific knowledge. Whether in mass media, science museums, public events, or online, science communication is used by audiences in different ways and for multiple purposes. This volume will gather together work that takes a critical Science and Technology Studies approach to such public communication. Building on STS traditions of exploring questions of scientific authority, democracy, and public knowledges, it will interrogate science communication activities to ask: what is happening to science, to publics, and to communication within public communication of science?
We are particularly concerned with the diverse spaces and places that science communication takes place within, the different issues that get addressed, the formats and modalities developed, and the connections and differences between these. How is it different to communicate physics and health research? Or environmental issues and biology? What different qualities does scientific knowledge take on as it is represented online, in an event space or festival, or through a museum exhibit? We welcome contributions that reflect on these wider questions of how and why specific forms of science communication are articulated as they are, as well as studies of different actors involved in communication and their geneaologies of involvement. We are also interested in approaches that seek to connect STS literature with other fields that study science communication, such as risk communication, health communication, or museum studies.
We anticipate that chapters will draw on empirical material and case studies, rather than being purely theoretic. Questions and topic areas for papers may include, but are not limited to, the following:
· What are the specificities of communicating different forms of scientific knowledge, such as environmental knowledge, medical research, or physics?
· How is scientific knowledge represented within different science communication formats, and how do the affordances of those formats shape such representations?
· How are different forms of science communication produced and consumed, and what role do topics and formats play in such production and consumption?
· How are identities – such as those of scientists, science communicators, or citizens – negotiated through public communication?
· How is science communication shaped by the spaces and places it appears in, and how does it in turn work upon those spaces and places?
In order to ensure a coherent volume, our plan is to hold a workshop where authors can present and discuss their manuscripts (provisionally, late May 2017 in Vienna). At this stage we are therefore requesting the submission of extended abstracts (approximately two pages, or 1,000 words, including a detailed outline of the paper, explanation of empirical material, and summary of key arguments) for consideration. Abstracts should be submitted to srdavies@hum.ku.dk before January 31st 2017. Enquiries can also be directed to this address.
