Undergraduate Course: Colonial Science and Its Legacies (SCSU10001)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Science Studies Unit |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This interdisciplinary option aims to introduce issues surrounding the history and sociology of science and technology as they were mediated by colonial empires. To achieve this aim we will examine the social construction and implementation of scientific knowledge in a variety of disciplines, spaces and time periods, with an emphasis on India and Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The course includes material from roughly 1750 until the 1960s and will use examples from around the globe, although with emphasis on Indian and African contexts. Our concerns in this course will include:
the role of scientific knowledge as a justifier of colonial intervention;
the appropriation of local knowledge and its incorporation into western science;
mechanisms for technology transfer;
how western science influenced, and was influenced by, the wider world;
the influence of place on scientific knowledge;
the history of development schemes and the necessity of understanding this history for current development policy and analysis.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
be able to offer their own analyses of the practices of colonial science using theoretical tools from within the history and sociology of scientific knowledge and technology;
possess an advanced knowledge of the historiographical and sociological literature which addresses the themes of the course;
gain experience in dealing with primary source materials and learn to assess these materials critically;
develop their skills in essay-writing and oral presentation.
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Assessment Information
2 x 500 word short responses to a weekly seminar worth 10% each
1 x 4000 word essay (80%) on a topic not already discussed in short responses
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Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lawrence Dritsas
Tel: (0131 6)50 4011
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Sue Renton
Tel: (0131 6)50 6958
Email: |
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