To introduce participants to, or further develop their competences in, sociotechnical theory and analytical methods from the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS). The course is, thus, intended for beginners as well as participants already familiar with STS.

• Engage research methods to identify relevant actors and issues in product and service innovation.
• Utilize a broad concept of design and innovation in the analytical treatment of design and use issues relating to artefacts and services.
• Address processes of enrolling disparate, heterogeneous sources of knowledge in design and innovation.
• Consider the student's present framing of research questions, and possibilities for their further qualification and development through reframing.
• Actively engage the course contents to ongoing dissertation work.

The course is divided into two interrelated parts, where the first will provide a brief, yet focused introduction to STS, delimited to the approaches: Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Social Construction of Technology (SCOT).

In the second part, these STS approaches will be treated more specifically in relation to how the theoretical constructs and frameworks for analysis serve toward the understanding of innovation and design.

Domestication of Technology and Symbolic Interactionism (through the notion of ‘boundary objects’) will be treated also.

The course underscores in its examination of design and innovation through STS, the idea of actor engagements, as well as the material, symbolic and discursive aspects in the configuration of design and innovation processes and practices. The course will address issues such as activities of the firm and networked collaborations, and design-use relationships in innovative undertakings.

Kursuslitteratur

Steder: Danmarks Tekniske Universitet og Aalborg Universitet.