SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE aa 2022-2023
Prof. Cleto Corposanto
LT: Sociology
Course Information
8 ECTS, 48 HOURS, 2° year, II semester.
Teacher information
The student reception is scheduled at the end of the lesson. Students and undergraduates can request further meetings by sending an email to the address cleto.corposanto@unicz.it
Course Description
The course is divided into 2 modules of 24 hours each:
Module 1: Science and society
The module will deal with issues concerning the link that exists between science and societỳ in order to highlight the role that sociology plays in the mechanisms and processes that take place in contexts linked to discovery.
What has been discussed will be deepened through concrete examples and case studies relating to today’s context, with an eye also to the past, to highlight the transformations that have occurred with the passage of time.
Module 2: Complexity and complex systems
The module will address the issues of complexity and complex systems also in seminar form with the intervention of some of the most important national and international scholars on the subject.
Course objectives and expected learning outcomes
At the end of the course the student must have acquired the key concepts of the sociology of science not only from a theoretical point of view but must also be able to apply the knowledge learned in today’s contexts, with particular attention to scientific innovations. In particular, the student must have learned the link that exists between the sociology of science and the interactions that exist with other scientific-disciplinary fields.
Program
- Why we need to rethink science: the re-emergence of scientism and science as a humanistic enterprise
- The foundations of human and scientific knowledge: gnoseology and epistemology
- Society in science: Popper, Kuhn, Feyerabend, Merton, Latour
- Complexity as an ontological event
- Complex systems
Estimate of the hourly commitment required for the individual study of the program
Preparation for the exam requires a study of approximately 150 hours in addition to the 48 hours of lessons held in the classroom.
Teaching methods used
Lectures, seminars, exercises, cooperative learning, case studies.
Learning resources
Mandatory textbooks:
- Gobo G.- Marcheselli V., Sociologia della scienza e della tecnica. Un’introduzione, Carocci, Rome 2021
- Corposanto C., Questioni di sociologia pubblica. Metodo, relazioni, emozioni, Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli, 2022
Recommended reading:
- T. S. Kuhn, The structure of scientific revolutions, Einaudi editore, Turin, 2009 (original edition 1962)
- Benasayag M. (with Cohen T.), Cinque lezioni sulla complessità, Feltrinelli, Milan, 2020
- Morin E., Conoscenza, Ignoranza, Mistero, Raffaello Cortina, Milan 2018
Support activities
Seminars dedicated to the study of specific issues.
Attendance mode
The methods are indicated in Article 8 of the University’s Didactic Regulations.
Method of assessment
The general procedures are indicated in the University teaching regulations in Article 22 available at the link http://www.unicz.it/pdf/regolazione_didattico_ateneo_dr681.pdf
The final exam will be carried out with an oral interview.
