Past Events

Authority, Expertise and Power in Mexican Forests: A Discussion with Andrew Mathews

Tuesday May 22, 2012 4-6:00 PM Engineering 2, 599 Join us for a discussion of Science & Justice member Andrew Matthew’s recently released book, Instituting Nature: Authority, Expertise and Power in Mexican Forests (MIT Press). Greater knowledge and transparency are often promoted as the keys to solving a wide array of governance problems. In Instituting… Continue Reading Authority, Expertise and Power in Mexican Forests: A Discussion with Andrew Mathews

Are You My Data? Symposium

With a human genome sequenced and a map of variable sites in that genome created, governments and many other public and private actors now seek to make genomic data relevant to health, medicine and the society. However, to do so they must navigate the conjunction of two different approaches to data. Within the biomedical domain there are important, well-articulated infrastructures and commitments arising out of concerns about individual rights, patient privacy and the doctor-patient relationship that limit access to biomedical data. This stands in stark contrast to the culture of open access forged by those who worked on the Human Genome Project, and that has continued to be a central commitment of ongoing Human Genome research. Thus, architects of the genomic revolution face competing, complex technical and ethical challenges that arise from this meeting of these domains with substantially different ethos. Additionally, the rise of social media has led to a broad and contested discussion about the proper relationship between persons and data and who profits through access to it. Continue Reading Are You My Data? Symposium

Eating Information? Food and Metabolism in Epigenetic Perspective

Hannah Landecker (UCLA Center for Genetics and Society) January 26, 2012, 3:00-5:00 PM Engineering 2, Room 399 Epigenetics has turned food and its metabolism into a problem that is not just about how the body turns food its basic components–carbohydrates, fat, protein-but how food acts as a signal of the environment–both biological and political. Hannah… Continue Reading Eating Information? Food and Metabolism in Epigenetic Perspective

Information, but Meaning? The Value of Genomics

Science & Justice Working Group Meeting Andro Hsu with discussion by Ted Goldstein and Whitney BoeselNovember 9, 2011Engineering 2, Room 5994:15-6:15 PMAndro Hsu (VP of Products at GigaGen and former science writer and policy advisor at 23andMe) will join us for a discussion of what we are learning—both about policy/society and biology—as increasing resources are put into turning the… Continue Reading Information, but Meaning? The Value of Genomics

“Another World is Plantable!” Film Screening with director Ella von der Haide

Documentary on Community Gardening and Food Justice in North America 2010   Urban community gardening is a phenomenon that is spreading throughout the world. At the core of the films are gardening activists who explain how and why their gardens are a “green oasis” within the city, as well as projects of resistance that bring “another world”… Continue Reading “Another World is Plantable!” Film Screening with director Ella von der Haide

Ella von der Haide: Film Screeing

Ella von der Haide: Film Screeing Wednesday, October 26 2011 4:15-6:15 PM, Location TBA Filmmaker, community garden activist, and feminist theorist Ella von der Haide will be screening two new films about agro-ecology and community gardening, titled “Community Gardens in the US” and “Seed Saving, Seed Activism and Seed Legislation.”

Conference: The State of Science and Justice: Conversations in Honor of Susan Leigh Star

The conference will broadly discuss the role of justice in the topics and methods of Science & Technology Studies. The themes of the conference are organized around the work of Leigh Star, a friend and mentor to many members of the UCSC Science & Justice community. Geoffrey Bowker (Professor and Senior Scholar in Cyberscholarship, University of Pittsburgh), Leigh’s partner, will give the keynote presentation. Continue Reading Conference: The State of Science and Justice: Conversations in Honor of Susan Leigh Star