Contemporary research into the values, bias, and prejudices within "Artificial Intelligence" tends to operate in a crux of scholarship in computer science and engineering, sociology, philosophy, and science and technology studies (STS). Even so, getting the STEM fields to recognize and accept the importance of certain kinds of knowledge— the social, experiential kinds of knowledge— remains an ongoing struggle. Similarly, religious scholarship is still very often missing from these conversations because many in the STEM fields and the general public feel that religion and technoscientific investigations are and should be separate fields of inquiry. Here I demonstrate that experiential knowledge and religious, even occult beliefs are always already embedded within and crucial to understanding the sociotechnical imaginaries animating many technologies, particularly in the areas of "AI." In fact, it is precisely the unwillingness of many to confront these facts which allow for both the problems of prejudice embedded in algorithmic systems, and for the hype-laden marketing of the corporations and agencies developing them. This same hype then intentionally obfuscates the actions of both the systems and the people who create them, while confounding and oppressing those most often made subject to them. Further, I highlight a crucial continuity between bigotry and systemic social projects (eugenics, transhumanism, and "supercrip" narratives), revealing their foundation in white supremacist colonialist myths of whose and which kinds of lives count as "truly human." We will examine how these myths become embedded into the religious practices, technologies, and social frameworks in and out of which "AI" and algorithms are developed, employing a composite theoretical lens made from tools such as intersectionality, ritual theory, intersubjectivity, daemonology, postphenomenology, standpoint epistemology, and more. This theoretical apparatus recontextualizes our understanding of how mythologies and rituals of professionalization, disciplinarity, and dominant epistemological hierarchies animate concepts such as knowledge formation, expertise, and even what counts as knowledge. This recontextualization is then deployed to suggest remedies for research, public policy, and general paths forward in "AI." By engaging in both the magico-religious valences and the lived experiential expertise of marginalized people, these systems can be better understood, and their harms anticipated and curtailed. / Doctor of Philosophy / The twenty-first century has been increasingly full of conversations about how human values, biases, and prejudices make their way into what is usually referred to as "Artificial Intelligence." These conversations have increasingly involved experts from not just science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), but also sociology, philosophy, and science and technology studies (STS). Even so, it's still often difficult to get the STEM fields to accept the importance of certain kinds experience and knowledge— especially that of marginalized people. Additionally, religious scholarship is often excluded from these conversations because many in the STEM fields (and the general public) feel that religion and science and technology should be separate fields of study. Here, I demonstrate that knowledge developed from lived experience and religious, even occult beliefs have always already been part of how we think about and understand many technologies, especially "AI." In addition, I show how people's unwillingness to accept the importance of our experience and beliefs is what leads to the prejudice embedded in algorithmic systems, and the hype-laden marketing of the people developing them. This same hype obscures the mechanisms of actions of both the systems themselves and the people who create them, and that obscurity makes it harder for the people most often oppressed by the systems to do anything about it. I highlight a line of connection between bigotry and large-scale social programs like eugenics, transhumanism, and the idea of the "supercrip," to reveal how they all stem from white supremacist colonialist myths about which kinds of lives count as "really human." These myths became part of the religious practice, scientific education, and social fabric from which "AI" and algorithms are developed. I combine tools from multiple fields to help show how mythologies and rituals of education, notions of what it means to "be a professional," and dominant cultural beliefs about knowledge all animate concepts such as learning, expertise, and even what counts as knowledge. By considering both the magical/religious elements and the lived experiences of marginalized people, we can chart new paths for research and public policy, toward making more ethical and just "AI."

We think of the lobotomy as utterly primitive and brutal; we shudder at the idea of it. The archetypal image of creepiness, violence, and unnecessary brutality was expressed in the book and movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This procedure weighs heavy on America’s conscience but in 1945 the procedure was characterized as being as gentle as ‘cutting through butter’ and the therapeutic effect was described as ‘cutting out worry’. How did the lobotomy gain such widespread acceptance? One part of the answer is that Walter Freeman advocated for it not just among his colleagues, but through the popular media outlets of his day as well. In this thesis I will claim that, starting in 1936, Walter Freeman influenced the positive portrayal of lobotomies in the American press. He participated in visual culture that promoted a convergence between medical culture and the popular press by cultivating a representation of the procedure that could appeal to both. His tools included narrative accounts, images, and a public dramatization of himself that was hard to resist. I will show how these efforts were quite successful in the beginning, but that by 1947 he started to lose control of the perceptions and narrative he had worked so hard to construct.

Essa pesquisa estuda o desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias de participação sociocultural da população atendida em Terapia Ocupacional. O foco da pesquisa esteve no processo de acompanhar os sujeitos e grupos vinculados ao Programa Permanente Composições Artísticas e Terapia Ocupacional (PACTO), projeto didático-assistencial do Laboratório de Estudos e Pesquisa Arte e Corpo em Terapia Ocupacional ligado ao Departamento de Fonoaudiologia, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. Num território híbrido de encontro entre a Terapia Ocupacional e os campos da Cultura, da Arte e da Cidadania, as questões de pesquisa foram, principalmente: como auxiliar e agenciar o trânsito e a circulação das pessoas e de suas produções realizadas em terapia ocupacional, com os espaços de produção artística e com os espaços de cultura, no contexto sociocultural da cidade de São Paulo na atualidade? Que tecnologias socioculturais favorecem essa participação? Amparados pela perspectiva do pensamento complexo e pelo viés cultural, buscou-se trabalhar num eixo transversal de análise, que parte das experiências artísticoculturais contemporâneas, vinculadas às produções éticas, estéticas e políticas na organização da vida. A pesquisaintervenção resultou na configuração de um estudo de caso, com uso dos procedimentos metodológicos da pesquisa-ação, e coleta de dados no período entre 2007 e 2008. Constatouse, a partir da análise qualitativa dos dados, a relevância de temas, tratados nas seguintes categorias: o tempo e a imaterialidade do trabalho; as relações de afeto, amizade e vínculo que estruturam redes de trocas e de criação; a diferenciação entre a produção de sujeitos e valores e a geração de renda; além da constatação da importância do terapeuta ocupacional como articuladores das redes sociais, para a efetivação do trabalho de criação e circulação das produções artísticas dos sujeitos e grupo estudados, operando na sustentação da artesania dos encontros. Como desdobramentos da pesquisa realizada, vislumbrou-se o surgimento de novas territorialidades no universo cultural da cidade, com ações voltadas para a invenção de mundos, onde as relações se pautam na cooperação, na convivência, no exercício da diferença e nos afetos. Instaurou-se a abertura de fendas no espaço-tempo contemporâneo, engendrando novas configurações da vida coletiva, que sustentem a existência de forma criativa e pulsante, e que possam ser multiplicadas. / This research studies the development of new technologies of socio-cultural participation of the population assisted in Occupational Therapy. The focus of the research was on the process of following up the subjects and groups bound to the Permanent Artistic Compositions and Occupational Therapy Program (PACTO), a didactic-assistance project of the Art ad Body Laboratory of Studies and Research in Occupational Therapy linked to the Department of Speech Therapy, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo. Within a hybrid meeting territory between Occupational Therapy and the fields of Culture, Art and Citizenship, the matters researched were mainly: how to help and enable the transit and circulation of people and their productions in occupational therapy in the spaces of artistic production and with the cultural spaces within the current socio-cultural context of the city of São Paulo? Which socio-cultural technologies favor such participation? Supported by the perspective of the complex thinking and under a cultural approach, we tried to work in a cross-sectional axel of analysis which starts in the contemporary artistic-cultural experiences linked to ethical, aesthetical and political production in the organization of life. The research-intervention resulted in the configuration of a case study by using research-action methodological procedures and data collection from 2007 to 2008. We verified, based on the qualitative analysis of the data, the relevance of the themes dealt with under the following categories: the time and immateriality of the work; affective relations, friendship and the bond structuring exchange and creation networks; the difference between the production of subjects and values and income generation; in addition to verifying the importance of occupational therapists as articulators of social networks to enable creative work and circulation of artistic productions of the subjects and group studied, operating to support citizenship in meetings. As the research unfolded, we could see that new territorialities in the cultural universe of the city came up with actions oriented towards inventing worlds where relations were based on cooperation, living together, exercising differences and affections. Cracks in the contemporary space-time were opened engendering a new configuration of collective life which sustains the existence in a creative and pulsing way and which can be multiplied.

This thesis presents my original contribution to knowledge, a combination of critical media and performance theories to analyse the production and augmentation of postdigital experiential spaces in Punchdrunk Theatre Company. Distributed agency is key to Punchdrunk's work, with makers within the company and audiences both being active participants in meaning-making, across complex and detailed interfaces. In order to investigate the making cultures on ‘both sides' of the interface, I undertook a two-year participant study as a researching designer within the company during the build of the productions The House Where Winter Lives and The Drowned Man in 2011-2014, gathering field data in the form of extensive interviews with members of the company and audience participants, supported by diary notations and photographs. I studied the processes and methods that extend, distribute and regulate agency to both audiences and makers within the company, and identified devices and features of the interaction design of the company that produce the immanent subject-event relationships that support immersion in their work. A core aspect of this research concerns the relationship between immersion and the sublime, and how subject-event relationships (immanent vs. transcendent) contribute to engendering sublime interactive experiences. I have analysed the consequences of this for the modelling of participation in interaction design, and how it influences conditions of possibility within interactive systems across physical, digital and blended media. The conclusion of this research includes the definition of a postdigital sublime, and proposes a delinquent system aesthetic that integrates proxies for gravity through articulation of the ‘shadow side' of interaction design.

Global climate change is becoming increasingly evident. There has been increased attention paid to the impact of human activity on climate. As a rising power, China’s energy needs to fuel its rapid economic growth with the resulting potential impacts of climate change presents an enormous climate policy dilemma not only for China but also for the entire world. The role of China is an issue of perennial concerns at the international climate change negotiation: its energy saving, emission reduction and clean production reflect China’s dual objectives about sustainable development and efforts on international legal obligations.Education abroad is an integral part of China’s development strategy. The abroad Chinese students who possess the knowledge, technologies skills and ideas, as well as information are playing an important role to assist China retain or increase its competitive advantage. The aim of this paper is to analyze the abroad Chinese students’ opinion on China’s role under the circumstance of global climate change, with main focus on three aspects: Energy consumption and environment situation in China; Several current domestic policies regarding problems of climate change and energy consumption in China; Issues facing the country on its road map to future mitigation action regarding climate change.Alongside the interviews carried out within ten overseas Chinese students, using the social science of Science, Technology and Society (STS) especially its public understanding of Science and Technology as the theoretical perspective, this thesis is exploring the interviewees’ attitudes toward current China’s climate change related issues from a deeper sense of human, culture and public perspective.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:16:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4935.pdf: 2174593 bytes, checksum: a1f73647659d99bd54c883f5a9bd3d85 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-24 / The objective of this study is to analyze the scientific dissemination in the magazine Galileu. Through a presentation of the configuration of the journalistic practice and theoretical frameworks Discourse Analysis affiliated with the French line, I intend to discuss how the relationship is established and textual imagery on the cover of the publication in order to present what is the effect desired by the player : to present the scientific production or sell the number. To complement the research, I intend to present, based on a section of the same magazine, composed of articles written, who the characters are presented and what is, in fact, the relevance of these within the scope of science. / O objetivo deste estudo é analisar como é feita a divulgação da ciência nas capas da revista Galileu. Através de uma apresentação de como se configura a prática jornalística e de arcabouços teóricos filiados à Análise do Discurso de linha francesa, pretendo discutir como se estabelece a relação imagética e textual na capa da publicação de modo a apresentar qual é o efeito pretendido junto ao leitor: apresentar a produção científica ou vender o número. Para complementar a pesquisa, pretendo apresentar, com base em uma seção da mesma revista, composta por artigos assinados, quem são os personagens apresentados e qual é, de fato, a pertinência dos mesmos dentro do âmbito da ciência.

Submitted by Alison Vanceto (alison-vanceto@hotmail.com) on 2017-01-11T10:12:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseMCS.pdf: 2511110 bytes, checksum: 11366621b03df8a5dc8a599f042407e4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2017-01-13T19:36:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseMCS.pdf: 2511110 bytes, checksum: 11366621b03df8a5dc8a599f042407e4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2017-01-13T19:36:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseMCS.pdf: 2511110 bytes, checksum: 11366621b03df8a5dc8a599f042407e4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-01-13T19:37:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseMCS.pdf: 2511110 bytes, checksum: 11366621b03df8a5dc8a599f042407e4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016 / Não recebi financiamento / The aging and the consequent Brazilian demographic change point us to a profound socio-economic transformation of the country. It is estimated that the elderly population will triple in the coming decades, from 20 million in 2010 to 65 million in 2050. Many actors are responsible for implementing the National Health Policy for the Elderly, among them are the local health managers and articulators health of the elderly. The aim of this study is to analyze the social representations of the National Health Policy for the Elderly in a regional health department, the light field of science, technology and society. This is a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive. The methodological approach was to document analysis and field exploration, through semi-structured interviews. The results point to incipient front practices to a well-structured policy, the social representations of groups influence their deployment. Low public participation, especially the elderly and the distancing of the research to the practice of these municipalities are short of expectations of policy. The field of science, technology and society contributes to reflections on the appropriation of science and technology, it was observed that in his views prevail the harsh health technologies. The intention of this thesis was to analyze the policy and practices in the current scenario, with no claim assessment, was intended to bring reflections on this policy by the look of social representations and studies of science, technology and society We can conclude that the regions implement the National Policy differently, with demands and perceptions appropriate to their reality, even if they receive national and international guidelines. / O envelhecimento e a consequente mudança demográfica brasileira nos apontam para uma profunda transformação socioeconômica do país. A estimativa é que a população idosa triplique nas próximas décadas, passando de 20 milhões em 2010 para 65 milhões em 2050. Muitos atores são responsáveis pela implementação da Política Nacional de Saúde da Pessoa Idosa, entre eles estão os gestores municipais de saúde e os articuladores de saúde do idoso. O objetivo deste estudo é analisar as representações sociais da Política Nacional da Saúde da Pessoa Idosa em um Departamento Regional de Saúde, à luz do campo da Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, de natureza exploratória e descritiva. O percurso metodológico foi o de análise documental e exploração de campo, através de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Os resultados apontam para práticas incipientes frente a uma política bem estruturada, as representações sociais dos grupos influenciam na sua implantação. A baixa participação pública, em especial do idoso e o distanciamento da pesquisa com a prática destes municípios estão aquém das expectativas da política. O campo da ciência, tecnologia e sociedade contribui com reflexões sobre a apropriação da ciência e tecnologia, observou-se que em suas concepções prevalecem às tecnologias de saúde duras. A intencionalidade desta tese foi trazer reflexões sobre esta política pelo olhar das representações sociais e estudos da ciência, tecnologia e sociedade. Pode-se concluir que as regiões implementam de forma diferente a Política Nacional, com demandas e percepções adequadas a sua realidade, mesmo que estes recebam diretrizes nacionais e internacionais.

Essa pesquisa estuda o desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias de participação sociocultural da população atendida em Terapia Ocupacional. O foco da pesquisa esteve no processo de acompanhar os sujeitos e grupos vinculados ao Programa Permanente Composições Artísticas e Terapia Ocupacional (PACTO), projeto didático-assistencial do Laboratório de Estudos e Pesquisa Arte e Corpo em Terapia Ocupacional ligado ao Departamento de Fonoaudiologia, Fisioterapia e Terapia Ocupacional da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo. Num território híbrido de encontro entre a Terapia Ocupacional e os campos da Cultura, da Arte e da Cidadania, as questões de pesquisa foram, principalmente: como auxiliar e agenciar o trânsito e a circulação das pessoas e de suas produções realizadas em terapia ocupacional, com os espaços de produção artística e com os espaços de cultura, no contexto sociocultural da cidade de São Paulo na atualidade? Que tecnologias socioculturais favorecem essa participação? Amparados pela perspectiva do pensamento complexo e pelo viés cultural, buscou-se trabalhar num eixo transversal de análise, que parte das experiências artísticoculturais contemporâneas, vinculadas às produções éticas, estéticas e políticas na organização da vida. A pesquisaintervenção resultou na configuração de um estudo de caso, com uso dos procedimentos metodológicos da pesquisa-ação, e coleta de dados no período entre 2007 e 2008. Constatouse, a partir da análise qualitativa dos dados, a relevância de temas, tratados nas seguintes categorias: o tempo e a imaterialidade do trabalho; as relações de afeto, amizade e vínculo que estruturam redes de trocas e de criação; a diferenciação entre a produção de sujeitos e valores e a geração de renda; além da constatação da importância do terapeuta ocupacional como articuladores das redes sociais, para a efetivação do trabalho de criação e circulação das produções artísticas dos sujeitos e grupo estudados, operando na sustentação da artesania dos encontros. Como desdobramentos da pesquisa realizada, vislumbrou-se o surgimento de novas territorialidades no universo cultural da cidade, com ações voltadas para a invenção de mundos, onde as relações se pautam na cooperação, na convivência, no exercício da diferença e nos afetos. Instaurou-se a abertura de fendas no espaço-tempo contemporâneo, engendrando novas configurações da vida coletiva, que sustentem a existência de forma criativa e pulsante, e que possam ser multiplicadas. / This research studies the development of new technologies of socio-cultural participation of the population assisted in Occupational Therapy. The focus of the research was on the process of following up the subjects and groups bound to the Permanent Artistic Compositions and Occupational Therapy Program (PACTO), a didactic-assistance project of the Art ad Body Laboratory of Studies and Research in Occupational Therapy linked to the Department of Speech Therapy, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo. Within a hybrid meeting territory between Occupational Therapy and the fields of Culture, Art and Citizenship, the matters researched were mainly: how to help and enable the transit and circulation of people and their productions in occupational therapy in the spaces of artistic production and with the cultural spaces within the current socio-cultural context of the city of São Paulo? Which socio-cultural technologies favor such participation? Supported by the perspective of the complex thinking and under a cultural approach, we tried to work in a cross-sectional axel of analysis which starts in the contemporary artistic-cultural experiences linked to ethical, aesthetical and political production in the organization of life. The research-intervention resulted in the configuration of a case study by using research-action methodological procedures and data collection from 2007 to 2008. We verified, based on the qualitative analysis of the data, the relevance of the themes dealt with under the following categories: the time and immateriality of the work; affective relations, friendship and the bond structuring exchange and creation networks; the difference between the production of subjects and values and income generation; in addition to verifying the importance of occupational therapists as articulators of social networks to enable creative work and circulation of artistic productions of the subjects and group studied, operating to support citizenship in meetings. As the research unfolded, we could see that new territorialities in the cultural universe of the city came up with actions oriented towards inventing worlds where relations were based on cooperation, living together, exercising differences and affections. Cracks in the contemporary space-time were opened engendering a new configuration of collective life which sustains the existence in a creative and pulsing way and which can be multiplied.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Chemistry and its relationship with the sport has been plaiyng a key role, through scientific and technological advances to the appearance of new substances and materials. Due to its great social relevance and being a matter of knowledge of students, the theme "sport" was chosen for the development of this research, a different approach being made to work out the scientific content of Organic Chemistry, third-year of high school students belonging to a public school of the city of Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. From the work with students during the school year of 2013 different issues were addressed , such as the chemistry of sporting goods, through debates and discussions on scientific and technological advances in sports, the history and evolution of sporting goods and the study of polymers, biochemistry of exercise, in which issues related to the power needed to care were addressed, the study of different nutrients in foods, cellular metabolism and bioenergetics; as well as the study of prohibited substances in sports, desired by athletes in competition effects and side effects caused by improper intake of these substances. Data from this study were collected from questionnaires, textual productions, research papers, and records of the researcher in relation to the development of interventions, and analyzed by discursive textual analysis. Among the activities of this work, we highlight the experiment of synthesis of nylon 6,6, the preparation of a glossary as paradicdatic material, entitled "A, B, C. .. Chemical and Sports," and the resolution of several cases relating to doping in the Olympics in 2012 through Case Study. We are able to see the results from this research that the use of the theme "sport" favored the understanding of scientific knowledge of chemistry and its relationship with other areas of knowledge, by developing teaching methodologies that allowed the students' active participation, promoting greater interest and involvement of them in carrying out activities in the school. / A Química e sua relação com o esporte vêm desempenhando um papel fundamental, através dos avanços científicos e tecnológicos para o surgimento de novas substâncias e materiais. Devido a sua grande relevância social e por ser um assunto de conhecimento dos estudantes, a temática esporte foi escolhida para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa, sendo realizada uma abordagem diferenciada para trabalhar os conteúdos científicos de Química Orgânica, com estudantes da terceira série do ensino médio pertencentes a uma escola pública estadual da cidade de Santa Maria, RS, Brasil. A partir do trabalho desenvolvido com os alunos durante o ano letivo de 2013, foram abordados diferentes assuntos, tais como: a química dos materiais esportivos, através da realização de debates e discussões sobre os avanços científicos e tecnológicos nos esportes, o histórico e a evolução dos materiais esportivos e o estudo dos polímeros; a bioquímica do exercício físico, em que foram abordados assuntos relacionados aos cuidados necessários com a alimentação, ao estudo dos diferentes nutrientes presentes nos alimentos, o metabolismo celular e a bioenergética; assim como o estudo das substâncias proibidas nos esportes, os efeitos desejados pelos atletas em competições e os efeitos colaterais ocasionados pela ingestão indevida destas substâncias. Os dados desta pesquisa foram coletados a partir de questionários, produções textuais, trabalhos de pesquisa, e registros da pesquisadora com relação ao desenvolvimento das intervenções, sendo analisados através da análise textual discursiva. Dentre as atividades deste trabalho, destacamos a realização do experimento de síntese do náilon 6,6, a confecção de um glossário como material paradidático, intitulado A, B, C...da Química e do Esporte , e Estudo de caso através da resolução de diversos casos referentes ao doping nas Olimpíadas de 2012. Podemos evidenciar a partir dos resultados desta pesquisa que a utilização da temática esporte favoreceu a compreensão de conhecimentos científicos de química e sua relação com outras áreas do conhecimento, através do desenvolvimento de metodologias de ensino que permitiram a participação ativa dos estudantes, promovendo um maior interesse e envolvimento dos mesmos durante a realização das atividades no âmbito escolar.

The following thesis will merge the field of legal studies with the field of Science, Technology, and Society, and will focus on issues surrounding the gun control debate. The goal is to ultimately bring new light to this hot- button legal topic through the use of STS scholarship. STS tools and theories, which have previously been absent from most gun control discussions, have much to contribute to the discourse in terms of motivating the need for gun control, fully understanding the user-gun relationship, breaking down misconceptions about the technology and its role in society, and further understanding the complex societal network within which guns exist in America. This will begin first with a discussion of the legal history and background of firearms in the United States, and will be followed by an STS analysis of technological agency and somnambulism as they can be applied to guns. Following this, the Actor Network in which firearms in America are imbedded will be explored, in order to better understand why they have been so difficult to regulate. Although this thesis will be heavily policy and law-focused, the aim is not to propose any specific new policy, but instead to use STS to conceptualize gun issues from a new perspective that will allow misconceptions and blockades to be confronted head-on.