The first time I was introduced to the president of my university, on the periphery of a crowded academic meeting, he naturally asked what field I was in. Without thinking I said “STS” and immediately regretted it. “History” would have been the safer choice. There was no STS department or program at the National University of Singapore (NUS), or anywhere else in my newly adopted country, and few people I’d met there had heard that acronym. “That means science, technology, and society,” I quickly added, hoping I wasn’t sowing even more confusion. He was an engineer. “Ah, I do STS too!” he exclaimed to my surprise, with eyes lit. “I’m attending the STS conference in Japan.” I wasn’t aware of any such conference, but before I could clarify, he was being introduced to another assistant professor, and I stood there...
Making STS Singaporean
Gregory Clancey is associate professor in the Department of History, leader of the STS Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, and master of Tembusu College, all at the National University of Singapore. Clancey received his PhD in the historical and social study of science and technology from MIT. He has been a Fulbright Graduate Scholar at the University of Tokyo and a Lars Hierta Scholar at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. His book Earthquake Nation: The Cultural Politics of Japanese Seismicity (2006) won the Sidney Edelstein Prize in 2007.
Gregory Clancey; Making STS Singaporean. East Asian Science, Technology and Society 1 March 2018; 12 (1): 81–89. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/18752160-4196431
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