3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

Constructing histories of science, technology, and medicine is a craft. It is a practice of knowledge production, an engagement with empirical evidence, and an attentiveness to the limitations of our sources. As a graduate student, having a great topic and a brilliant mind is not enough. One needs to learn the tools of the profession, master disciplinary methods, and develop personal habits that make scholarly work effective, sustainable, and enjoyable. This seminar focuses on the how-to aspect of science, medicine, and technology studies. We will ask and answer questions such as: How do I find an archive? What if I don’t have an archive? What if questions I find interesting cannot be answered in an archive? Can I rely on digital databases? Should I do something with DH? How do I keep writing if my mind is blank? How do I find that quote I saw somewhere three years ago? We will take a deep dive into various histories of science, technology, and medicine created by scholars working with different kind of materials, different methodologies, and different theoretical underpinnings. We will learn about various sources available to scholars of science, medicine, and technology, explore methods to investigate those sources, master the practical skills of research, and develop individual practices of day-to-day scholarly work.