Science and Society Journal Club
The Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) journal club focuses on the relationship between science & society. It provides a forum for graduate students, postdocs and interested faculty members to freely discuss and share opinions on issues at the intersection of science and policy making. It also offers graduate students in scientific programs who are considering careers in law, ethics, policy or a similar field, a place to develop their interests by thinking about current issues and identifying future avenues for development.
Coordinators of the journal club: Subhashini Chandrasekharan PhD and Shandra Robertson.
Those interested in participating should contact Shandra Robertson.
Upcoming Meetings
November 20th, 2009 (12pm)
Our guest lecturer will be Dr. Alex Rosenberg, R. Taylor Cole Professor of Philosophy, who will be discussing a chapter from his book, "Reality: The Rough Guide". Book excerpt is below. The topics will include the following:
1. Does an understanding of science commit you to "scientism" (including atheism and its corollary tenets)?
2. Should scientists stay in the closet about the implications of science for "the persistent questions" (e.g. Is there a God?) simply because it is politically favorable to do so?
3. Why is science so hard to market to the general public? Can it ever compete with religious claims about physical reality given its inherent disadvantages in capturing public interest?
Because these might be sensitive topics for some attendees, we would like for everyone to put forth their best effort to have a dispassionate academic debate about these issues. It will be very interesting to have biologists, science policy experts, and a philosopher of biology discuss these topics.
Please RSVP if you plan to attend. Reading material for this meeting can be found here.
Thanks & hope to see you there! For questions, please contact Shandra Robertson.
Other upcoming dates:
December 11th, 2009
Lisa Warner and Peter Cruz-Gordillo
Past meetings of the Journal Club
October 23rd, 2009
The next meeting of the IGSP Science & Society Journal Club will be on Friday, October 23 at 12:00 p.m. in 100 North. Pizza will be served. Sayan Mukherjee, Shubha Chandrasekharan, and Stoyan Georgiev will be presenting Studies of genetic diversity in India: Implications for health and society. Please read the following material before attending the meeting; Population Structure and Eigenanalysis, Tracing India’s Invisible Threads and Reconstructing Indian Population History.
Please email Shandra Robertson back if you are interested in participating.
March 20th, 2009
The next meeting of the IGSP Science & Society Journal Club will be on Friday, March 20th at 12:00 p.m. in 100 North. Pizza will be served. Matthew Cook will be presenting. Please read the following material before attending the meeting; Popularizing Science in 1879, Carl Sagan, an Astronomer Who Excelled at Popularizing Science, Is Dead at 62, and The Power of Words.
February 27th, 2009
The next meeting of the IGSP Science & Society Journal Club will be on Friday, February 27th at 12:00 p.m. in 100 North. Pizza will be served. Felipe Garcia will present on international scientific cooperation and regulating the spread of scientific knowledge and reagents. Reading materials can be downloaded here and here.
January 23rd, 2009
The next IGSP Science & Society Journal Club is scheduled for Friday, January 23rd at 12pm in 100 North. Audrey Howell is going to be leading a discussion the most important "Science & Society" issues for the next few years you can download the reading materials here and here.
December 5th 2008
The next IGSP Science & Society Journal Club is scheduled for Friday, December 5th at 12pm in 100 North. Felipe Garcia is going to be leading a discussion on U.S. policies on human embryonic stem cells. You can download the reading for this week here.
Please email Jennifer Avery back if you are interested in participating.
September 12th 2008
The next IGSP Science & Society Journal Club is scheduled for Friday, September 12th at 12pm in 100 North. Subha and Andreas are going to be leading a discussion on the dual use issue, how genomic information can be used for the both the benefit and detriment of society. We'll be using one particular example as a starting point. (Homer et al, attached). The news article (also attached) provides a nice summary of the results and a discussion of the implications.
June 20th 2008
On Friday, June 20th at 12pm in 100 North. Patrick Lynch will be presenting, and there are two background articles which will be discussed at the meeting (Therapeutic Misconception and Beyond Informed Consent).
May 9th 2008
On Friday, May 9th 2008 at 12pm in 100 North, Bill English will be presenting on the topic of "Devaluing Science". Please make sure you read the review of a book called "The Honest Broker: Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics" by Roger A. Pielke, Jr. (Cambridge, 2007). The other article, "The New Politics of Technology", is optional.
March 7th 2008
Presenter: Audrey Howell
Where does science fit into politics - Is a Science Debate for Presidential candidates a good idea?
January 25th 2008
Presenter: Jeremy N.Block
History of Science Policy since WWII in the United States: Vannevar Bush and beyond
December 14th 2007
Presenter: Subhashini Chandrasekharan PhD
Topic-Framing Science