Yesmar Oyarzun's Sketch 7
Hi Yesmar! Your sketch 7 resonated with me a lot. I think you identify a crucial aspect of the question of 'STS beyond academia,' which is, what if the 'beyond' that we're invested in is still within or via other academic or professional realms? I struggled in my sketch with figuring out who my audience might be, and I'm realizing that that was not because I wasn't sure who I wanted to speak to, but because they didn't feel "beyond" enough. I also really liked what you said about not only thinking about dermatologists but WITH them as well. I would love to hear more about your experiences/plans with publishing with dermatologists, since I've been trying to sort out similar possibilities in my research too.
Meredith Sattler's Sketch 6
Hello Meredith! I love your biosphere 2 diagrams, and tracing their "mis-readings" and how they come to function/do work beyond their original meaning would be super interesting. They reminded me too of something I've noticed in my scientist interlocutors' diagrams: all the arrows and flow-chart-like depictions. I started seeing so many flow charts (and more "metaphorical" ones as well, i.e. as visual slang as you say, for non-chemical reactions, non-chemical or non-energy flows, etc.) that I wanted to slow down and not just take this form of visual representation for granted. In my work, for example, there is a big focus on converting certain raw materials into renewable products, and I've been curious about what conversion versus breakdown versus separation/refining might mean--and how these ideas might be reflected in such things like the flow chart slang. But this is still very early in my thoughts about this! I would love to hear more about what you think the flows and arrows mean/do in your interlocutors' diagrams.
Jonathan Wald's Sketch 2
Hi Jonathan! I was so interested to hear about the bureaucrats' bodies and their "generally depressed demeanor," since this seems like such a contrast with the scientists I work with who, while acknowledging the boring parts of lab work, still always love the nitty gritty science. So there are two groups of actors working on climate solutions/responses broadly speaking with quite different subjectivities perhaps. But one site where these two groups converge is the PowerPoint presentations! I have so many slidedecks in my data files. I'd love to think with you more about the work that PowerPoints do and how they're able to be so frequently mobilized by different kinds of actors.
Edited later to briefly reply to your comments on my sketch 2: Thanks so much for these thoughts, they are very helpful! Yes, it was cool to read through your sketch 2 and see similar and different takes on a closely related project topic too. I think you're spot on that the merging or separation of these different (subjectivity) realms is a great place from which to flesh out the stakes of my interlocutors' work. And as you say, there are surely other realms that are not even included here as well, and that exclusion is notable.
I also very much agree that the issue of holistic versus particularist approaches is important and complicated. I find myself struggling with that a lot. I tend to get very wrapped up in small technical things and have a hard time bridging them with larger pictures. That's why I was interested in this sketch, because it seems so helpful to at least first identify all these different kinds of scales.