Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Techno-science, Philosophy of the Social Sciences

1. Diversifying
Phil Sci Teaching
Federica Russo
Philosophy & ILLC | University of Amsterdam
russofederica.wordpress.com |@federicarusso

2. My core Phil Sci teaching portfolio
 BA > 3rd year Philosophy of Science
 MA > Philosophy of the Social Sciences ; Philosophy of Techno-Science
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3. Who sits in my class? (Zoom!)
 BA > philosophy students; natural sci /medicine students
 MA > philosophy students; social science, art (history), law, history students
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4. The challenge
 Offering a methodological and interdisciplinary perspective to students that
 Have very different backgrounds and motivations
 Often have not been exposed to Phil Sci before
 Have been exposed only to critical approaches to science
 Know close to nothing about scientific practice
 …
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5. Any standard course won’t do
 A wide range of textbooks in Phil Sci, Phil Tech, Phil Social Sci is available
 BUT:
 Mainly about Anglo-American literature
 Largely within tradition of Analytic philosophy
 Present topics / authors as The Canon, ignoring other traditions
 Do not problematize contextual and relative character knowledge production
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6. My strategy: give options
 Options may concern:
 Available approaches in Phil Sci, e.g.
 Analytic Phil Sci, History & Philosophy of Sci, Phil Sci in Practice, Historical Epistemology,
Feminist & Postcolonial Approaches, …
 Topics
 Provide refs for a range of topics that are not addressed in the course; freedom in
choosing a topic for a presentation
 Assessment form
 A flexible portfolio to work on continuously during the course
 Make space and time to develop their own interest
 Plan individual study sessions; can choose ‘jolly’ topics for the portfolio
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7. Actionable options?
Options
1. Available approaches
2. Topics
3. Assessment form
4. Make space and time to develop
their own interest
Actions triggered
1. Decide autonomously what kind of
Phil Sci they want to learn about
and write about
2. Select topics / problems /
questions relevant to them
3. Decide how to engage with the
whole course, develop their own
take on Phil Sci.
4. Take responsibility for their own
study time and topics
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8. Actions, beyond the course
 Students reported to me that they were able to:
 Make better methodological decisions in the context of their scientific training
 Defend more cogently their own approach
 Decide what kind of involvement they wanted to have in e.g. science & society,
fighting gender imbalance, …
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9. “What is the take-away lesson from my
presentation with regard to the Actionability
of Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning?”
 What leaning environment for my students?
 Open for discussion about
 Workload, study-life balance
 Time management and respect for others’ commitments
 Competitiveness vs cooperativeness in class
 We continuously link our environment to the outside world:
 Why making ‘the class’ a ’safe space’?
 How to change other environments we belong to?
 How is our conceptualization of the world (philosophy!) related to / influenced by /
influencing the world itself?
 …
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10. Actionability in the time of Corona
 Online does not replace in-person. But we do are “Onlife”!
 Whence the relevance of Phil Techno-Science
 Be open about opportunities, limitations, risks of online teaching
 E.g.: combine asynchronous/synchronous activities; online group dynamic is very
different; privacy
 Use online class time to help socializing, discussing, supporting each other
 Online activites don’t replace in-class ones, but I try to create a sense of online
community around the course
 Foster and exercise patience, tolerance, and mutual help in handling/using online
tools
 Teachers had to quickly set up online teaching; Students had to adapt to no interaction;
Wifi not always stable; We are all connected from private, possibly shared spaces …
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11. Thanks for your attention and
for the opportunity to discuss
Diversifying
Phil Sci Teaching
Federica Russo
Philosophy & ILLC | University of Amsterdam
russofederica.wordpress.com |@federicarusso