Who Owns Knowledge?

A Symposium on Science and Technology in the Global Circuit

 

mp3 Audio Archive
This daylong symposium took place on April 18, 2006. An audio archive of this event is now available on this page. Each speaker's talk appears as an mp3 file next to his or her name. These can be streamed (by double clicking) or downloaded (by right click "save as" or Mac equivalent). Please let us know if (and how) you find these audio files useful.

Listeners less familiar with critical science and technology studies are invited to peruse these readings

Check for updates here, at http://culturalstudies.gmu.edu More information call 703.993.2851, or e-mail.

 

SPONSORED BY: The Cultural Studies PhD Program at George Mason University

CO-SPONSORED BY: George Mason University Office of University Life, Office of the Provost, College of Arts and Science, School of Computational Sciences, Center for Global Ethiics, Center for Global Studies, New Century College, Department of Sociology and Anthropology; and The Science and Technology Studies Program, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Northern Virginia Center, Alexandria)

The "new science wars" (debates around stem cell research, global climate change, and intelligent design) raise anew long-standing questions central to the field of science and technology studies. Panels and speakers at this daylong event considered socially relevant questions having to do with the imbrication of science, technology, and culture: How does politics shape science (and vice versa)? What economic and institutional factors drive R&D? Who "owns" biological or medical information? Is race (genetically) real? What are the ethical implications of new reproductive and medical technologies? How might we make scientific knowledge and its application more equitable?  
 
9 - 10:20 AM
States of Knowledge: Science in Political and Institutional Contexts
           

CHAIR:
Daniele Struppa
(Mathematics, GMU)

   
Hugh Gusterson (Associate Professor of Anthropology, MIT): "Do Nuclear Weapons Scientists Matter Anymore? Military Science After the Cold War."

  Gusterson mp3
Itty Abraham (Research Fellow, East-West Center; SSRC): "Strange Bedfellows: Postcolonial Critics, Hindu Nationalists, and Questions of Science."

  Abraham mp3
Stanley Aronowitz (Professor of Sociology, CUNY): "Changing Conditions of Scientific Labor."

 

Aronowitz mp3



  Panel Q&A mp3
 
10:30 - 11:50 AM
BUT IS IT SCIENCE YET? FAKERY, TRICKERY, AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

CHAIR
: Jonathan Marks (Anthropology, UNC-Charlotte)

   
Mario Biagioli (Professor of the History of Science, Harvard): "Who Steals Knowledge? Plagiarism in Science."

  Biagioli mp3
TroyDuster (Professor of Sociology, NYU): "Biomarkers and Biomarketing: The Molecular Reinscription of Race for Profit."

  Duster mp3
Chris Mooney (Washington Correspondent, Seed magazine; Senior Correspondent, The American Prospect): "The Republican War on Science: Intelligent Design, Stem Cell Research, and Global Climate Change."

  Mooney mp3


  Panel Q&A mp3
 
1 - 2:20 PM
Who Owns "Life?" Biological Property, Pharmaceutical Patents, and Industrial Agriculture
 

CHAIR:
Denise Albanese
(English, GMU)

   
Daniel Kevles (Professor of History, Yale): "Patents and Patrimony: Intellectual Property Rights in the Human Genome."

  Kevles mp3
Cori Hayden (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Berkeley): "Pharmaceutical Publics: Rethinking Research, Development, and (Re)Distribution."

  Hayden mp3
Susan Merrill Squier (Professor of Women's Studies and English, Penn State): "Poultry Science, Chicken Culture: Globalizing Industrial Agriculture."  

  Squier mp3



  Panel Q&A mp3
         
2:30 - 4:50 PM
B
rave New World: The New Frontiers of Science, Technology, and Democracy

CHAIR:
Roger Lancaster
(Cultural Studies, GMU)

   
Rayna Rapp (Professor of Anthropology, NYU): "Standing on the Biological Horizon: Genetic Citizenship, Health Activism, and Pharmaceutical Economies.

  Rapp mp3
Jeremy Crampton (Associate Professor of Anthropology and Geography, Georgia State): "The Biopolitics of Geosurveillance and Security."

  Crampton mp3
Langdon Winner (Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute):
"The Right to Shape Technology: An Unfinished Project for Democracy."
 

  Winner mp3


  Panel Q&A mp3
         
5 - 6:15 PM
RECEPTION & ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
 



Roundtable mp3 (part 1)


Roundtable mp3 (part 2)

   
         

WHO OWNS KNOWLEDGE? - WHO DID WHAT?
(CREDITS)

Organizer/Editor: Roger N. Lancaster.

Consultants: Denise Albanese, Hugh Gusterson, Daniele Struppa.

Production, Coordination, and Editing: Sean Andrews (web site), Elaine Cardenas (publicity and outreach), Robert Gehl (audio), Pawin Malaiwong (travel), Pia Muller (local transportation), Tara Sheoran (graphics and publicity), Vicki Watts (event production).

Advisory Board: Dina Copelman (History), Jean-Paul Dumont (Anthropology), Mack Holt (History), Rosemary Jann (English), Paul Smith (Cultural Studies), and Steven Vallas (Sociology) at George Mason University; also Barbara Allen (Virginia Tech, Alexandria Center), David Bearinger (Virginia Humanities Foundation), and Doris Zallen (Virginia Tech, Blacksburg).

Student Production Group: Lisa Andion, Stacey Cumberbach, Casey Garcia, Randa Kayyali, Rachel Martin Klingler, Jessica Lang, Mik’hail Petin, Lia Uy-Tioco, Fan Yang, Nuh Yilmaz.

 

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