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- The timeliness of a national knowledge cluster in the humanist study of science.
Our world is shaped by science and technology. This fact is a source of both social hope and anxiety.
In the face of such hope and anxiety, there must be expert voices not merely from within the scientific community but also from scholars in the humanities and social sciences who study the human practice and the historical and conceptual development of the sciences. A knowledge cluster in the humanist and social studies of science brings together leading Canadian and international scholars who study science and technology as a human endeavour to form a strategic exchange with scientists, journalists and policy makers interested in the broader social and cultural significance of science and technology within the public, private and natural spheres. Clustering the humanist and social study of science also serves as a foundation for the formation of science policy in Canada and explores the place and importance of science and technology in Canadian lives.
- Mobilising strengths, identifying themes.
Canada is at the leading edge in scholarly humanistic study of sciences. It has yet to see a coordinated national effort in targeted knowledge exchange and partnerships in such scholarship. The strategic knowledge cluster in the humanistic and social study of science identifies specific interdisciplinary strengths in Canadian scholarship and delineates a precise and focused set of interrelated themes of particular interest to Canadian scholars, the public and the public stakeholders. The themes of this knowledge cluster will focus upon: 1. the historically evolving methodologies, authorities and objects of the sciences and technology, 2. the status of scientific practices and skills as well as the material cultures of science and technology, 3. scientific communication, both within science and between science and the larger society, and 4. the geographical aspects of science and technology. The cluster enlists the expertise of leading Canadian and international scholars to address these themes. It will do so by establishing a "hub and spoke" structure of networking, workshopping and interface with the wider community. It enrols specified local and national partnerships in the public, media, museums and policy studies.
- Developing and managing the knowledge cluster.
The national knowledge cluster in humanistic and social study of science will grow in a three-phase development - beginning by grounding the scholarly and timely nature of these particular themes and strengths, reinforcing them by partnering them with strategically targeted local institutions in a series of six "nodes" spread across the country, coordinated from a centre. The nodes will then exchange scholarship in a circulating encounter with the themes, and, most importantly, will reach out to the wider stakeholders and public. With coordination from the centre and initiative from the nodes, the cluster will give solidity to these partnerships, with the goal of establishing long-term stable foundations of encounter between humanistic scholars of science and the various publics in Canada.
- Partners, stakeholders and leverage.
As the cluster grows, the specific research agendas will be matched with programmes in science museums, public schools, government and NGO science policy groups, outlets for science journalists, and other public activities. An important goal of the cluster will be to create the means by which Canadian researchers can participate more fully in the critically important public discourse regarding science and technology in Canada and our global economy and culture. The cluster activities will be a primary site for public engagement with science and technology in Canada.
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