STS 4500

This was Professor Rider's first semester at UVA, and they did an excellent job. For each class period (2x a week), we were assigned readings of 20 to 30 pages that were largely encouraged but not required to understand the topic. In class, they expounded on the topic from the reading and held an open discussion, which students were welcome to contribute. The topics varied from how STS research is conducted, how Elon Musk's restructuring of Twitter impacted the company culture, how scientific texts describe sperm and egg in gendered terms, and the stories of Susan Fowler, Joy Buolamwini, and Ed Pierson. Their lecture topics included STS concepts like technosolutionism, SCOT, maintenance vs innovation, infastructure, and actor-network theory, which they were very knowledgeable about. Online quizzes after each class were simple, reflecting on what was taught or following a specific question that they asked. They also had assignments that helped us develop and build upon our prospectus topics, with occassional lectures dedicated to working on our writings and inviting the STS librarian to share thesis resources. They were very accomodating with late work and were always available to talk to regarding assignments or life. 100% would recommend them as a teacher, and will be taking their 4600 course in the spring.