• All readings are available on the course fileshare
• Required readings must be done by the start of class (14h35) on the date noted on the schedule
• Discussion worksheets rely on a careful engagement with the reading
• If you are struggling with a reading, don’t get frustrated! Some of these are really dense.
  Come to class with your points of confusion, questions, frustrations, that’s what the discussions are for

• Discussion worksheets, completed in groups, account for 37% of final grade
• Distributed and completed on the course fileshare (Nextcloud)
• Due at the end of class (automatically collected)
• Worksheets marked out of 10 points — average of peer assessments and TA score.
• Midway though the semester, there will be a round of peer assessment on group participation that will not affect final score
• At the end of the semester, there will be another round of peer assessment on group participation that will be used to adjust final score up or down by at most 10%

• Each student is responsible for submitting two discussion questions over the course of the semester, contributing 15% to the final grade.
• Topics will be assigned randomly at the end of the second week.
• Each is marked on a 10-point scale based on the engagement and originality of the question.
• For each discussion, the instructor may pick some discussion questions to use in class. Submissions that are used in class receive an automatic 10/10.

• Completing peer assessments contributes a total of 8% of the final grade
• Starting Sept 21, students complete a weekly peer assessment of another group’s worksheet (6% total)
• Group members will evaluate one anothers’ contribution at the end of the term (2% total)

• Midterm exam: Oct 22, in class
• Final exam: Date TBD during finals week
• Both exams will consist of a list of prompts/questions
• Students pick a subset to respond to
• Geared toward helping students keep up with the majro themes and connections in the course — short, focused responses are best!
• (more info later)

Plato and Aristotle in the marketplace of ideas

Theme 1: Scientific outcomes are social

• The discoveries, inventions, publications, and ideas produced by scientists are not outside of
  society.
• Scientific discoveries are guided by social processes.
• Scientific discoveries have social implications.
• The meaning and implications of scientific ideas depends on social context.

Mushroom cloud over Nagasaki resulting from atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. in 1945

Theme 2: Scientific practice is social

• Science is done by scientists in social settings.
• Scientists live in diverse social contexts that influence their behavior, expectations, beliefs, ideals, …
• Laboratories and other research institutions are themselves social settings.
• Doing science involves interacting with other scientists, funding agencies, political entities, and non-scientists.

Theme 3: Science aligns with power

• Science is not neutral.
• Scientific questions, practices, and findings tend to align with prevailing power structures.
• The veneer of objectivity in science can reinforce oppressive dynamics along racial, gender,
  economic, disability, and geographic lines.

Map of “IQ estimates” from Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen (2006). (note that this representation has been thoroughly debunked)

Theme 4: The history of science is a social history

• The meaning of ‘science’ has changed over time, and those changes trace historical patterns.
• The history of Western science is inextricable from the European enlightenment and European colonialism.
• Contemporary science reflects our current historical moment.