Synthetic biology and the social sciences: making room for collaboration Andrew J Webster Annual Lecture on Science, Technology and Society 2023

Event details

Guest speaker: Professor Jane Calvert, University of Edinburgh: 'Synthetic biology and the social sciences: making room for collaboration'. 

Jane works in the sociology of the life sciences, and her current research focuses on attempts to engineer living things in the emerging field of synthetic biology. She has a long-standing interest in interdisciplinary collaborations of all sorts. 

We also have two respondents to Jane's lecture. The first is s: Dr Ros Williams from the University of Sheffield. Ros’ work spans across Science and Technology Studies (STS), critical media studies, sociologies of race and ethnicity, and of health and illness. The second is Dr Koichi Mikami from Keio University in Japan. Koichi is interested in exploring the role of social sciences and humanities in the governance of science and technology. 

Venue: The National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, YO1 9TL. 

Places are free but registration is required. Doors open at 17:30 for an 18:00 start. 

About Andrew J Webster

To commemorate the life and work of Professor Andrew Webster, the Department of Sociology and SATSU established an annual lecture series that will showcase research in the broadly conceived area of science, technology and society. 

A Professor in the Sociology of Science at the University of York since 1999, Andrew was the founder and director of the Science and Technology Studies Unit, which he established originally at Anglia Ruskin University in 1988. He was Head of the Department of Sociology at York between 2004-2009 and then the Dean of Social Sciences. He was elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Science in 2007.