Preface and Introduction

Preface

In this preface, we will introduce the Editorial Collective, our goals, and our experiences as they have opened the imaginative space for this book. This includes our engagement in a series of NSF-funded activities including a workshop and a multi-institutional research undertaking called Collaborative Research and Education Architecture for Transformative Engagement with STS, or CREATE/STS, as well as how we approached the editorial work of this project.

Chapter 1: Introduction - STS Critical Education Learning Goals and Practices

In the introduction, the Editorial Collective will welcome readers to the book by describing STS pedagogies and their potential uses. We offer an intellectual genealogy to introduce conditions of possibility and limitations for this book. We describe the burgeoning movement of critical pedagogy in STS and address the efficacy, affordances, and constraints of such strategies in the classroom, and different orientations to the promises offered by STS sensibilities. We situate our efforts in the context of institutional structures and power relations and frame our hopes for its value to our STS communities.