What does it mean to engage in responsible research at this moment in history? How can scholars take up research that helps to understand and resolve conflicts that divide contemporary societies? What lessons can be learnt from societies of the past, and how can we demonstrate their relevance to our future? Should researchers combine academic and political agendas? Can we as historians and scholars become political, without compromising research integrity? How do we construct responsibility in research across agendas, areas, time periods and demographics?

Led by Professor Wiebe Bijker, at this workshop we will work on conceptual and methodological issues in bringing together approaches of STS and History of Technology to answer some of these enduring questions in our practice. In doing so, we locate politics equally in the empirical data we produce, the actors we follow, in the material objects we study as much as in the concepts and methodological choices we make.

We will draw on our own research, as well as use cases from Professor Bijker's work across Europe and Asia, from nanotechnology to handloom weaving, policy making and publishing.

Workshop Structure

• On Monday 3 September 2018, there will be two sessions (10:00–12:30, 13:30–15:30) followed by an open lecture at 16:30–18:00.
• On Tuesday 4 September 2018, last session (10:00–12:00).