Science and Technology Policy

Syllabus for ENVS 5100
University of Colorado
Spring 2008

Lisa Dilling
Tuesdays 11:00-1:30 PM

Location: Office 211 - CIRES Center for Science and Technology Policy, 1333 Grandview Ave (View map).

Contact Information:

Phone:  303-735-3678
email: ldilling@cires.colorado.edu

Overview and Purpose of the Course

The U.S. has maintained a high level of commitment to publicly-funded science and technology since the end of World War II.  From agriculture to defense to space studies to basic disciplinary research, a vast scientific enterprise has emerged as a result.  The utilization of science and technology in society has also grown exponentially, with discoveries in drug therapies, computing, genetics, communication technology and many other areas fundamentally changing the way we live our lives.  The field of science and technology policy research seeks to understand how we decide what science and technology is prioritized and funded, how we justify such expenditures in society, how we conduct science and technology for societal benefit, and how we govern the use of scientific and technological results in society.  Scholars in STP research ask questions such as: “Can research help solve a particular problem?  If so, how much is required, how do we organize our efforts, and how do we judge success? What science is “the right science?to do?  How does science benefit society, and how might public investments improve quality of life?  What policies do we need to supply the human resources involved in science and technology?  What is the appropriate role of government versus private industry?  What is the appropriate role of scientific advice in society? How is science used in decision making?  What is the appropriate way to govern or monitor the scientific or technological community and its output?  How can the public interact to ensure democratically-held ideals such as participation and transparency are upheld in the production or use of highly technical information??/P>

This course seeks to introduce students to science and technology policy research and, as a result, set the stage for improved understandings of science and technology and their broader outcomes in society.

Requirements of the Course

Seminar Format

The course is a seminar, which means that we each share responsibility for pedagogy.  There are a considerable amount of readings in the course and consequently the course has been structured in a way to allow for sharing responsibility for learning.  The formal requirements of the course include informal weekly one-pagers, 2 or 3 weeks for each of you of leading seminar discussions, 2 smaller assignments (interviews and 2009 S&T pitch), attendance at several outside-class events and an individual term project.

Readings

There are a lot of readings for this class, and many more will be made available for those interested in pursuing issues further.  All required articles will be made available either by email or from the course WWW site, and most in PDF or HTML format. Copies of required books will be available on reserve in the library.

There are 4 books that we will read for the class:

1. Greenberg, D. 2001. Science, Money, and Politics, University of Chicago Press.
2. Pielke, Jr. R. A. 2007. The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK). 
3. Sarewitz, D. 1996. Frontiers of Illusion, (Temple University Press: Philadelphia).
4. Stokes, D. 1997. Pasteur's Quadrant (Brookings Institution Press: Washington, DC).

Guest Speakers

We currently have two guest speakers lined up:

Johannes Loschnigg, former Staff Director of the Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives

Roger Pielke, Jr., ENVS Professor and author of “The Honest Broker"

As opportunities allow, we may also have other guests able to join our class. 

Weekly One Pagers

Every week you are expected to turn in a one-page essay.  The essay will be due every Friday to be submitted via the course email list-serv: envs5100@sciencepolicy.colorado.edu

You might consider addressing the following two items in your submission:

1. The most important thing I learned from the class discussion and/or readings was . . .
2. The thing I still don’t understand is . . .

You are of course free to discuss any topic related to the class beyond these two questions as well.

The purpose of this exercise is to allow you an opportunity to discuss aspects of the readings, integrate other material with the week’s focus, or to raise questions about what was unclear or unanswered by the readings.  A secondary purpose is to ensure that you have an opportunity to provide me with feedback on the readings and your progress/satisfaction in the course.

Periodic Assignments

There may be periodic assignments throughout the term, and if assigned we will discuss them in advance during lecture.

Seminar Leads

I will ask each of you to select 2 or 3 of the weeks when we do not have visitors to organize and lead part of the seminar discussion. You are free to organize the class in whatever manner makes sense and you are free to add supplementary materials to the readings. Some ideas are preparation of “reader’s guides?to the week’s readings, role play, field trip, invited guest, lecture, questions posed for discussion, etc. You are free to assign a deliverable (e.g., short paper) to the class. Dates will be negotiated early in the semester.

Faculty Interviews

I’d like each of you to interview a faculty member who is participating in the STP program and to report back to the class.  Details on this will be provided in the first few weeks of the term.  You will be presenting your interview results to the class in March.

Faculty members for the STP program can be found here: http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/stcert/faculty/

Presidential Election 2008

Being in an election year, we have the perfect opportunity to examine some of the current issues in S&T that may be important in the election.  This assignment will give you the chance to pitch some issue of science or technology policy as you might to the incoming administration in 2009 (whichever party may win!). More details to follow in class.

Outside Events

There are a wide range of science and technology policy events always going on in Boulder. This spring we will have a seminar series organized by the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. You are required to attend 2 additional events outside of class (they do not need to be talks at our Center), and provide a report back to the class on the event and its relationship to class themes. Here are a number of events scheduled for this term at the Policy Center, meeting time is at noon unless otherwise announced:

• Elizabeth McNie, Linking Knowledge with Action: Lessons from Indonesian Agroforestry Research, 12:00pm, Feb. 11, 2008
• Lisa Dilling, Department of Geography ?Colloquia, CU-Boulder, 3:30pm in GUGG 205, February 29, 2008
• Elizabeth McNie, Exploring the Agora: Co-producing useful Climate Science for Policy, 12:00pm, March 17, 2008.
• Joe Ryan, Abandoned Mine Cleanups, the Clean Water Act, and Environmental Good Samaritans, 12:00pm, March 31, 2008.
• Paul Komor, New energy education programs at CU: What does it mean to teach 'energy'?, 12:00pm, April 14, 2008.
  

Click here for an entire schedule of the Center’s talks.

Individual Term Projects

You will be responsible for completing a semester-long project on a topic of your choosing. The project must result in a deliverable, however, the deliverable can take many forms. You can write a paper, prepare an issue overview summary, a weblog, a poster for presentation at a conference, organize a workshop, prepare a proposal for funding, etc. etc. I would like a 1 page description of your final project by February 5.

Grading

Your grade will be determined as based on your efforts on all of the above.

Assignment Tracking Table

Assignments throughout the term:
- attending 2 outside events and reporting back to the class
- seminar discussion leadership