2012 - Fourth International Conference on Science in Society

Welcome to the website of the Fourth International Conference on Science in Society, to be held at the University of California, Berkeley, USA from 17 to 19 November 2012. This Conference will address disciplinary and interdisciplinary challenges in the sciences, and in particular the relationships of science to society.

Key themes addressed by the Conference include the social impacts of science, the values and ethics of science, the pedagogies of science, the knowledge-making processes of science, the politics of science and the economics of science. At first glance, the scope and concerns of the Conference are enormous. However, in contrast to conferences with a specialist disciplinary focus, this Conference aims to explore, in an interdisciplinary spirit, linkages between different areas of concern and practices of investigation. We welcome presentation proposals which range from broad explorations of philosophical, theoretical, methodological and policy questions, to proposals which present finely grained evidence of the connections of science to society in microcosms of research, teaching and practice.

Participants at the Conference will include researchers, teachers, administrators and policy makers from the basic natural-physical sciences, the applied sciences, the social sciences, history and philosophy of science, the humanities, and the professions.

Plenary speakers will include some of the world’s leading thinkers in the various fields which are concerned with the relationships of science to society, as well as numerous paper, colloquium and workshop presentations by practitioners, teachers and researchers.

Participants are welcome to submit a presentation proposal either for a 30-minute paper, 60-minute workshop, or a jointly presented 90-minute colloquium session. Parallel sessions are loosely grouped into streams reflecting different perspectives or disciplines. Each stream also has its own talking circle, a forum for focused discussion of issues. For those unable to attend the Conference in person, virtual participation is also available.

We encourage all presenters to submit written papers to The International Journal of Science in Society, a fully refereed academic Journal. Virtual participants may also may also submit papers for consideration by the Journal. All Conference participants who have finalised their registration will receive a complimentary online subscription to the Journal. This subscription is valid until one year after the Conference end date.

If you would like to know more about this Conference, bookmark the Science in Society site and return for further information-the site is regularly updated. You may also wish to subscribe to the Conference and Journal Newsletter.

For all inquiries, please contact the Conference secretariat.