#STSTURKEY2019 Conference
STS TURKEY 2019 Conference will take place at the Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, on 10-12 September 2019; jointly organized by Istanbul Technical University, Program on “Science, Technology and Society” and Istanbul Technical University, Humanities and Social Sciences, supported by STS TURKEY.
We are delighted to announce that our keynote speaker is Prof. Dr. Wiebe Bijker (https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/w.bijker), who is a significant contributor to the field of Science and Technology Studies. Bijker's fields of research include social and historical studies of science, technology and society.
The STS TURKEY 2019 conference will be in Turkish. We will report from the conference in Turkish and English on our Twitter page along with the hashtag #ststurkey2019 and, also on our website.
For more information please visit the Turkish conference site at http://ststurkey.net/ststurkey2019
The Call for Abstracts (TR) is available here (*updated deadline for abstracts: April 7th*): STSTURKEY2019_BildiriCagrisi
STS TURKEY Science, Technology and Society Winter School 2019
24-26 January 2019 // Orient-Institut Istanbul, Cihangir, Istanbul
As the Turkish Scholarly Network for Science and Technology Studies, one of the objectives of STS TURKEY is to increase the visibility of STS in Turkey by promoting STS research and STS training activities in Turkey and – since our foundation, we have been continuously and intensively working on the development and dissemination of STS in Turkey.
Our first Winter School aims to convey the basic STS theoretical frameworks, important concepts and will introduce participants to related discussions in the STS field, as requested from students and researchers from different fields.
The STS TURKEY Winter School „Science, Technology and Society“ will be held on 24-26 January 2019 in the meeting hall of the Orient-Institut Istanbul, Cihangir. 11 different senior researchers will provide valuable training in 11 different subjects and the Winter School will be completed with a half-day discussion, where the participants have the opportunity to discuss their current research subjects. You can find the course list below.
Course list
STS and Technology
Social Construction of Technology - Emine Öncüler Yayalar, Asst. Prof. Dr., Bilkent University
Actor-network Theory and After - Harun Kaygan, Asst. Prof. Dr., Middle East Technical University
(Post) Phenomenology and Human Technology Relations - Melike Şahinol, Dr., Orient-Institut Istanbul
Feminist STS - Pınar Kaygan, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Middle East Technical University
STS and Science
History of Science - Feza Günergun, Prof. Dr., Istanbul University
Philosophy of Science - Aydan Turanlı, Prof. Dr., Istanbul Technical University
Science Communication - Arsev Umur Aydınoğlu, Asst. Prof. Dr., Middle East Technical University
Science and Society - Ali O. İlhan, Asst. Prof. Dr., Özyeğin University
STS and Law
Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Law - Başak Ozan Özparlak, Dr., Lawyer
Biomedicine and Law - Ipek Sevda Sögüt, Asst. Prof. Dr., Kadir Has University
Bioethics - Hakan Ertin, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Istanbul University
Organizer: STS TURKEY Coordination
Supported by: Orient-Institut Istanbul
Vacancy: Research Associate at the Orient-Institut Istanbul – Digital Health and Self-Tracking in Turkey
Vacancy: Research Associate at the Orient-Institut Istanbul – Digital Health and Self-Tracking in Turkey
The Orient-Institut Istanbul is currently seeking a doctoral or post-doctoral researcher to work on a project on „Digital Health and Self-Tracking in Turkey: Between Empowerment and New Barriers (VALID-TR)“, for the following part-time position, available immediately:
Research Associate (90%), 12 months (salary based on the salary scale of German institutions in Turkey for locally hired personnel)
About the project
The project investigates practices and technologies of digital self-measurement (i.e. health devices and apps, e.g. health tracking apps, robotic walking aids, wearables) and how these are embedded in social processes. The focus is on the social, ethical, and cultural dimensions of those health devices. The current trend is characterized by the fact that these applications should motivate users to work independently, preventively, and actively on the positive development of their own health and lifestyle via practices of self-quantification. However, such forms of health self-management and monitoring may entail new forms of discrimination against vulnerable groups, for example people with chronic diseases or children.
Requirements
Applicants are expected to hold at least a master’s degree, preferably in the social sciences or the humanities. Those working on, or interested in, topics of health or medicine are especially encouraged to apply. Knowledge and skills in the field of Sociology of Medicine or Medicine, Science and Technology Studies, especially with regard to issues of e-Health in Turkey, Human Enhancement, the technologization/ quantification of the self and economies of life are beneficial. Competitive candidates will demonstrate expertise in qualitative research, especially in conducting interviews and ethnographic research.
Academic Turkish and English skills are required. German is preferable.
This job advertisement is aimed at qualified candidates committed to promoting interdisciplinary exchange and cooperation between the Orient-Institut Istanbul and the department of Industrial Design at Middle East Technical University. Candidates who qualify for doctoral studies may be considered for a PhD studentship at METU Industrial Design.
Workplace of the project will be at the Orient-Institut Istanbul.
We offer
The Orient-Institut Istanbul is an independent turcological and regional academic research institute of the Max Weber Foundation. Much of our work is conducted in cooperation with universities and independent academic institutions, both in Turkey and abroad. The institute also contributes to the scientific exchange between Germany and Turkey. For this project the key cooperation partner of the Orient-Institut is the Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences, with its project “Digitale Gesundheitsdaten zwischen sozialer Inklusion und sozialer Robustheit (VALID)” (project principle: Prof. Dr. Stefan Selke). Our VALID-TR project partner in Turkey is the Department of Industrial Design (Asst. Prof. Dr. Harun Kaygan) of the Middle East Technical University in Ankara.
The Orient-Institut Istanbul is committed to raising the number of women in research. Female researchers are especially encouraged to apply. Applicants with disabilities are treated with preference given comparable qualification.
Application
Applications must be submitted electronically as a single pdf document including a letter of motivation, an academic CV and diplomas. Please include the contact information for two academic referees.
Application deadline: December 15, 2018
Please submit your complete application to:
Prof. Dr. Raoul Motika
Director of the
Orient-Institut Istanbul
Susam Sokak 16 D.8
34433 Cihangir-IstanbulTurkey
For any questions about the application procedure, please contact:
Dr. Melike Şahinol, (“Human, Medicine and Society”) at sahinol@oiist.org
WorldCafé: Quo vadis Human, Transhuman, Posthuman?
The STS TURKEY coordination team is co-organizing the WorldCafé which deals with the leading question Quo vadis Human, Transhuman, Posthuman? with Middle East Technical University, Department of Philosophy and Applied Ethics (Ankara, Turkey).
The table hosts will cover following topics: Human Enhancement Technologies, Mass Surveillance, self-driving vehicles, human-robot conflicts in workplaces, AI Ethics, morality of machines and Future Studies.
The event takes place on November, 28, 5:00-7:00 p.m. within the scope of the 3rd National Conference on Applied Ethics (November 28-30, Turkish speaking conference) at Middle East Technical University, Ankara (Turkey).
We are very happy to be part of the WorldCafé team and excited to experience the power of collective knowledge.
For more information (turkish): 3UEK_WorldCafe_28Kasım2018 or visit the conference website.
Impressions from #stsdiaspora panel @easst2018
Here are some impressions from our panel “Colliding theories, cultures, and futures. STS view(s) beyond the horizon. Or: STS diaspora” at the EASST 2018 conference “Meetings – Making Science, Technology and Society together” held in Lancaster UK from 25-28th July 2018.
Panel description
We invite contributions that focus on practices of Science and Technology in Society in different cultural, historical and theoretical settings (especially outside of the US and Europe), shedding light on heterogeneous ways S&T can be studied in Societies and be (per)formed now and in the future.
Long abstract
Insofar as the US and Europe, especially the UK, represents the “centre” of STS as a discipline, so does a canonical literature. The boundaries of the centre is shaped by its peripheries, multiple and fluctuating: research students in the centre who undertake their case studies in the elsewheres, new PhDs going back home to teach, local STS experts and its neighboring disciplines who aspire for international recognition; as well as academics in disciplines that are not traditionally associated with STS literatures who benefit from and hope to contribute to theories and debates of STS. The special session aims to bring up for discussion the centre-periphery relations that make up STS scholars together with its political implications.
Heterogeneous practices and interpretations in different cultural settings thus shape our understandings of Science and Technology in a wide variety of ways. Against this backdrop, we invite papers dealing with (i) STS meeting within the fieldworks’ situation, (ii) how STS researchers themselves influence their societal context (if so, is there a Western normativity in the way “doing STS at home”), (iii) how do S&T develop under colliding or meeting aspects of Western STS and “(Middle)Eastern” or “African”, etc., (iv) what differences in the understanding of S&T can be identified regarding this clash, (v) which socio-technical practices are developing under which previously unseen “new religiosities”, and finally (vi) we would like to find out how new alliances and forms of cooperation across borders can be possible, and how this may create new futures for STS.
You can find the abstracts for the #stsdiaspora panel here: STS_diaspora.
Convenors
- Melike Sahinol (Orient-Institute Istanbul)
- Arsev Aydinoglu (Middle East Technical University)
- Harun Kaygan (Middle East Technical University)
- Cansu Guner-Birdal (Technical University of Munich)
STS TURKEY 2018 Conference Information
Thank you for your interest in STS TURKEY 2018 Science and Technology Studies for Society Conference.
We had more than 40 submissions from 20 different universities and research institutions. We could only accept 64% of these as full paper presentations.
Early Bird Registration is open now!
Register untill July 13th 2018 to benefit from discount: http://ststurkey.net/tr/ststurkey2018_kayit/
The program will be available soon (the conference language is Turkish).
CfP: Science and Technology on the Silk Road: Past and Present Practices, Future Perspectives in Turkey
CfP: Science and Technology on the Silk Road: Past and Present Practices, Future Perspectives in Turkey
Deadline: January 15, 2018
Turkologentag 2018: 3rd European Convention on Turkic, Ottoman & Turkish Studies Bamberg (Germany), September 19-21, 2018
This panel, organized by Dr. Melike Şahinol (Orient-Institute Istanbul, “Human, Medicine, and Society”), Asst. Prof. Dr. Arsev Umur Aydinoglu (METU, TEKPOL Research Center) and Asst. Prof. Dr. Harun Kaygan (METU, Industrial Design), and co-organized by Cansu Guner-Birdal (Technical University Munich, Munich Center for Technology in Society), will focus on Studies on Science and Technology on the past and present Turkey, and on future perspectives on Science and Technology Studies in Turkey.
Historically Turkey has been for distant cultures and communities a locus for the exchange of diverse merchandise, of ideas and knowledge, of science and technology, not least medical and military technologies. Once a scientific, technological and philosophical hub, today the overwhelming pace of developments in fields of Science and Technology seems to have curbed the emergence of much-needed debates on the social dimensions of those developments and their historical precursors and homologues in Turkey. There is, for instance, the mind-blowing Human Enhancement Technologies (e.g. Reproductive Technology, Plastic Surgery, Human Genetic Engineering, Neurotechnology, Cyberware, 3D bioprinting, etc.) entering the public eye through science communication as well as fiction, even being encountered more and more often in everyday life. The almost-ubiquity of such technologies is in strong contrast with the institutional absence and academic underrepresentation of Social Studies of Science and Technology, together with the lack of institutionalized Technology Assessment in Turkey. Within such a picture, Turkey could be viewed as a contested space where manifold communities, organizations, government apparatuses, technologies, as well as diverse discourses, epistemologies, systems of belief and regimes of value co-exist in flux, contributing to the production and reception of scientific knowledge and technology.
We invite contributions that draw on case studies to critically engage with the socio-cultural, historical and techno/bio/political dimensions in Turkey, triggered by but not limited to following fields: Governance of S&T, Energy and Sustainable Development, Information and Communication Technologies, Industry 4.0, Emerging Technologies, Healthcare and Life Science. We highly encourage contributors on chasing specificities of Turkish examples possibly contributing to the general STS literature, while grounding the cases with sounded theories like socio-technical imaginaries, ANT or any other related conceptual bases.
Panel language will be English and Turkish.
Please send abstract proposals to the panel conveners Dr. Melike Şahinol (sahinol@oiist.org), Asst. Prof. Dr. Arsev Umur Aydinoglu (arsevu@gmail.com), Asst. Prof. Dr. Harun Kaygan (hkaygan@metu.edu.tr), and Cansu Guner-Birdal (cansu.birdal@tum.de), not longer than 250 words, latest by 15 January 2018. Accepted paper givers will be notified latest by 25 January 2018. After that date, the whole panel application will be submitted to the conference organization team.
Methodology Lab: Grounded Theory Methodology and computer-assisted analysis with ATLAS.ti
In 2018, Dr. Melike Şahinol (Orient-Institut Istanbul) organized a methodology lab in which research projects were presented and discussed. In particular, it dealed with the methodological implementation of Grounded Theory and computer-assisted analysis with ATLAS.ti.
STS TURKEY meets DASTS: Report
Report on the visit to Aalborg University, Techno-Anthropology Lab (TANT-lab) and Center for Medical Science and Technology, Copenhagen University:
In the course of the founding of STS TURKEY, the initiators have already made contact in advance with regard to future cooperations with international STS networks. STS TURKEYs coordinatiors received a pleasingly high positive response. The following report is about the beginning of a STS network collaboration between STS TURKEY and DASTS - the Danish Association for Science and Technology Studies.
At the start of the partnership, our founding member Dr. Melike Sahinol (Orient-Institute Istanbul, OII) was invited by Prof. Dr. Torben Elgaard Jensen for the period from 11-13. November to Aalborg University. Torben Elgaard Jensen is a former chairman of DASTS and leader of the Techno-Anthropology Research Group at Aalborg University.
On November 11th, Torben and Melike mainly discussed the beginnings of the founding of DASTS and STS TURKEY. Torben explained how DASTS evolved from a small group (2006) into a network of over 500 members. He showed the informative DASTS website, pointing out that STS TURKEY members have also the opportunity to submit papers. In this context, Melike reported on the current efforts of researchers of Istanbul Technical University, Middle East Technical University, OII and Istanbul University to establish a STS TURKEY Journal. They also discussed how DASTS and STS TURKEY could play a key role in (student) exchange programs between universities in Denmark and Turkey. Possibilities of collaboration were discussed as main issues. Torben showed Melike a very impressive video "Datasprints: Doing Things Together. Fast.", which is about fast and effective collaboration. In this short video the concept of datasprints and its use by TANT-lab is illustrated through the example of TANT-labs sprint on obesogenic environments with the Governing Obesity project (https://vimeo.com/148249099). The TANT-Lab is located under the Techno-Anthrolopology Research Group at the Institute for Learning and Philosophy.
The following day, Melike had a meeting with Prof. Dr. Klaus Lindgaard Høyer, who is Professor at the Center for Medical Science and Technology Studies at the University of Copenhagen. Klaus and Melike discussed about the numerous thematic interfaces between Melike’s research area "Human, Medicine and Society" at the OII and the Medical STS Center at the Copenhagen University. They also discussed opportunities for student exchange programs and the ability to jointly organize videoconferences.
In the evening, Melike gave a public talk at TANT-lab on "Brain Computer Interfaces: The ‘techno-cerebral subject’ as a bio-technical form of the cyborg" followed by a discussion (pre-announced on the DASTS website: http://www.dasts.dk/?p=3840).
On November 13th, Melike participated in an event on the EU Data Protection Directive and the handling of personal data in social science projects.
During her 3-day stay, she met some STS Scholars, who also showed great interest in cooperation.
Overall, the visit was considered successful. STS TURKEY is very happy to to start a collaboration with an internationally known STS Network partner like DASTS. The cooperation will in future include joint workshops and conferences. This cooperation is intended to benefit students of STS Turkey network members in particular. We thank both Prof. Ass. Christopher Gad (current chairman of DASTS, Technologies in Practice, IT-University of Copenhagen) for the coordination of the meeting, as well as Prof. Dr. Torben Elgaard Jensen for the warm invitation and the given insights.