INFO 439: Sociology of Information, Knowledge, and Science

Knowledge is power, right? But it doesn't always feel that way in our modern world, even though information is at our fingertips, and data are increasingly open-access or available upon request. What does this information overload mean for knowledge producers and the scientific professions? How do we make sense of it? Who, if anyone, curates and interprets it, and to what end? This course explores how we socially organize the knowledge of our physical and social worlds extracted from the modern deluge of data and information, and the consequences it holds for us. We examine how systems of knowledge like social categories, scientific paradigms, cosmologies, and diffusion networks are symbiotically connected with us, as we both sustain and perpetuate these systems while also being defined and subjugated by them. We consider how these systems of knowledge that catalyze technological and scientific advances might shape our world in the future.