"Everyday. Not just in scholarly research work, but in the day-day discussions with other academic researchers. Critical STS theories and analytical tools allow me to communicate more effectively with natural scientists about the societal implications of their work, as well as engaging in two-way discussion about how their work is affected by socio-political structures larger than themselves. The main lesson I have drawn from my studies in STS, which I have come to understand as “everything is complex, and entangled, so proceed with grace” has paid dividends in my ability to connect with researchers outside my discipline at a level where mutual-trust building takes place. What emerges in at least my own personal sphere is a micro-culture of exchange and collaboration that has so far been invaluable to my intellectual development and academic work."
"I use what I learned in the STS program all the time! I created a reading list for my research team that includes pieces on (bio)medicalization, patient experiences of medical care, race, and gender by several STS scholars. STS also gave me the tools to think and talk about objectivity in new ways that have made me a better researcher and advocate of less traditional methods."
"The STS tools I learned at Drexel have been with me every step of my PhD work. STS is messy and indeterminate and no one agrees on what the field’s canon is, so having Drexel’s version(s) of STS with me as I work through Cornell’s version of it has helped me situate myself and figure out what about science and society is really deeply interesting to me. Drexel’s STS program offers a wonderfully representative breadth of disciplinary orientations—there are anthropologists, historians, sociologists, policy scholars, as well as several “undisciplined” folks. This breadth is an important part of what Drexel taught me about STS, and having that understanding has helped me stay intentional and open minded when exploring classes outside of Cornell’s STS program. I’ve come to realize that disciplines can be much more insular and structured than I previously realized, and Drexel prepared me to move around through and between them effectively. My experiences at Drexel helped me figure out how to use disciplinary ideas, tools, and structures to do truly interdisciplinary work."
"Yes, my research is informed by, and contributes to, three STS areas of literature: (1) construction and institutionalization of scientific models, (2) scientific construction and reproduction of human difference and inequality, and (3) the changing landscape of university-industry relations."
"Periodically. Its funny because my previous boss, who actually hired me, received her PhD in medical anthropology and had been exposed to a few STS courses during her study. Currently, we're working on a study which will attempt to get at the forces that drive some patients towards transfusion as opposed to transplant as a course of treatment for their disease. Parceling this out will involve similar questions and reasoning to get at the myriad of factors involved."
"Absolutely. A lot of the work that United for Brownsville does seeks to generate community-based goals for improving early childhood education in the neighborhood. Rather than seeking to achieve "expert"-imposed standards for educational development, we work with local families and service providers to generate collective goals that we collaboratively strive to meet. This resonates with a lot of the work in STS that is concerned with collaborations between different forms of expertise."
"Very much so. A lot of what I write - apart from taxonomy - concerns knowledge-making and particularly the role museums have played in the public perception of "science" (however defined) and nature. Organizing museum collections also requires considering the priorities of the communities that build, study and use them. There are many compromises that one negotiates in a quite different way after some STS training."
"Yes – always. The class I teach is steeped in an STS perspective. Also, as a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board on Equity and Diversity, I constantly draw upon my STS background which has proven extremely helpful."
"Yes, my work in sociology is firmly rooted in my STS background. My main research interest is health and medicine and the topics I research treat technoscientific medical devices as part of the social landscape in hospitals. I believe that STS concepts are crucial for making sense of an increasingly complex healthcare arena."
"While I don’t get to use a lot of the tools I gained from the STS program in my current work, I definitely notice a positive change in my professional writing skills (especially considering the amount of emails I send/receive every day haha). Occasionally I do get a chance to discuss various STS theories and current events with my communication colleagues. It’s interesting to see the overlap between STS and COM, and might be something I would like to continue researching in the future."