Vorlesung: Introduction to Sociology of Technology and Innovation
Instructors: Prof. Dr. Petra Ahrweiler; Blanca Luque CapellasShortname: 02.149.16811
Course No.: 02.149.16811
Course Type: Vorlesung
Requirements / organisational issues
Zielgruppe:- Bachelor Studierende im Studiengang Soziologie (Kern- und Beifach) [po 2011, 2016]
- Bachelor Studierende im Studiengang Wirtschaftspädagogik (Schwerpunktfach "Sozialwissenschaften")
- Master Studierende im Studiengang Humangeographie im Kontextfach „Soziologie“
- Master Studierende im Studiengang Sportwissenschaft
Stellung im Studiengang:
- B.A. Soziologie Kernfach: Modul "Gegenstandsbezogene Soziologien (Orientierung A)" [po 2011]
- B.A. Soziologie Kernfach: Modul "Gegenstandsbezogene Soziologien (Orientierung B)" [po 2011]
- B.A. Soziologie Beifach: Modul "Gegenstandsbezogene Soziologien (Orientierung A)" [po 2011]
- B.A. Soziologie Beifach: Modul "Gegenstandsbezogene Soziologien (Orientierung B)" [po 2011]
- B.A. Soziologie Kernfach: Modul "Gegenstandsbezogene Soziologien (Orientierung)" [po 2016]
- B.A. Soziologie Beifach: Modul "Gegenstandsbezogene Soziologien (Orientierung)" [po 2016]
- B.Sc. Wirtschaftspädagogik Schwerpunktfach "Sozialwissenschaften": Modul "Aufbaumodul Soziologie"
- M.Sc. Humangeographie: Modul „Kontextfach Soziologie“
- M.Sc. Sportwissenschaft: Modul 9 „Schlüsselqualifikationen“
Contents
Overview:Every year since 2002, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has published its list of the ten technologies it predicts will have the greatest innovative impact long-term. For 2024, these are: AI for everything, Super-efficient solar cells, Apple Vision Pro, Weight-loss drugs, Enhanced geothermal systems, Chiplets, The first gene-editing treatment, Exascale computers, Heat pumps, Twitter killers. Such lists are created annually; some technologies prove to be just bubbles, others exceed all expectations eliciting challenging societal debates such as the current ones about energy transition technologies, e-mobility or Industry 4.0. However, one issue is beyond all question: Technology changes society, and, vice versa, societal institutions and organisations shape and influence technologies as „social projects“ by fostering, funding, enabling, producing, limiting and preventing them.
Connecting technologies to application, utilisation, deployment and exploitation contexts, i.e. what we call innovation, provides additional social dynamics. Besides technological innovation targeting new commercial products and processes, social innovation applying new organisational structures gains in increasing importance. Often, technological innovation and social innovation meet such as with digitalising public sector services. New technologies and innovations are „radical game-changers“: they have the potential of changing the world we live in quickly and drastically. However, as future objects they are neither predictable nor accessible; with these characteristics they challenge the institutions concerned with societal planning, policymaking and coordination.
This lecture introduces to Sociology of Technology and Innovation – the field, which analyses social phenomena around the production, the structures and the consequences of technologies and innovation. The lecture will provide a brief history of both, Sociology of Technology and Sociology of Innovation. Then, major concepts in both areas will be discussed. For technology, issues will be addressed such as: technology as actor, socio-technical systems, technology and social structure, technology assessment, emerging technologies, techno-futures, technology and foresight, technology and ethics, technology and gender etc. For innovation, introductions will be provided to concepts such as innovation models, innovation systems, technological innovation, social innovation, open innovation, innovation networks, responsible research and innovation, Nexus innovation etc. The lecture will suggest a joint approach to an integrated Sociology of Technology and Innovation using some illustrative examples from recent developments in Artificial Intelligence to demonstrate why this is a useful perspective for understanding the complex social dynamics in technology and innovation.
Finally, the lecture will address governance issues around technology and innovation and connect their sociological analysis to complexity-adapted methodologies in the social sciences.
Learning outcomes:
This course comprises basic texts and programmatic contributions of central scholars in Sociology of Technology and Innovation. It provides an overview of the field and a first introduction to its concepts, debates and state of the art.
Course Requirements and assignments:
For this lecture, no pre-class preparation or class presentation is required. Students will receive an agenda with literature references in the first session of the course, and can obtain a slide deck of the lecture after each session.
Assignment: Exam
The only assignment of this lecture is a written exam as post-class work (Klausur).
Additional information
Ist ein Prüfungsverfahren in einer der gegenstandsbezogenen Soziologien durch die Anmeldung zur Prüfung begonnen worden, muss die Prüfung auch in dieser gegenstandsbezogenen Soziologie zu Ende geführt werden.Studierende anderer Fächer, die als Gasthörer teilnehmen möchten, können einfach die erste Sitzung besuchen (Vorlesungen sind generell für alle Studierenden zugänglich.) Falls bei digitalen Veranstaltungen kein Link ersichtlich ist: Wenden Sie sich bitte ans Studienbüro Soziologie.
Dates
| Date (Day of the week) | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 10/24/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 10/31/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 11/07/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 11/14/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 11/21/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 11/28/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 12/05/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 12/12/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 12/19/2024 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 01/09/2025 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 01/16/2025 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 01/23/2025 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 01/30/2025 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |
| 02/06/2025 (Thursday) | 12:15 - 13:45 | 00 421 N 6 1341 - Naturwissenschaftliches Institutsgebäude |