Welcome to the course I look forward to working with each of you. My name is Jim Collier. The more or less "official" details of background reside on my department web page. (In looking at the page, if you have any interest in the Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective, please let me know.) I am very excited to be teaching this course for the first time in a long time. On the more personal front, my partner, Monique Dufour is teaching for STS and History this year. We dearly love, and have dedicated songs to, our cat—Spenser (and you have to post a cat picture on the interwebs, no?):
I am a great fan of progressive bluegrass music, or new acoustic music, in particular the band New Grass Revival. Ah, 1980's bluegrass … Enjoy! And, again, welcome to the class.
I would like you to use this page to enter a brief personal profile.
Hello, everyone! My name is Kristen Koopman, and this is my second year in the PhD program down here in Blacksburg. I'm interested in researching the relationship between science and science fiction, but I can't get more specific than that yet. I have a dog, Dizzy, and recently came into possession of a very cranky, very pushy eighteen-year-old cat, Krulik, when my dad moved out of the country for work. He is addicted to cheese, as you can see in the following picture:
I know absolutely nothing about bluegrass, but I do have an inexplicable love for the musical genre of "nerd humor." Just kidding, it's totally explicable: jokes about robots! That's basically me in a nutshell.
Hi, everyone! I am Seungmi Chung. I am also a second year student in PhD student in STS program. I have deep interest about space and consider astronaut as my research topic. In addition, I am interested in expert studies, too. Unfortunately, I do not have any pet in the U.S. But I love animals and animal puppet(I am not sure what is the right expression. puppet? stuffed animal? or animal doll?)
I love to see stars in night and to trip new places. Thank you.
Hello fellow STS’ers. I am Stephen Morton. This semester I will complete the Masters Program in STS and plan to continue my studies as a PhD student starting this coming fall. Like Seungmi, I to am interested in space, more specifically space medicine which will be my PhD research topic. I currently work at NASA Headquarters which is located in Washington, DC and am assigned to the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate, which is involved in the human exploration of space. When I have free time my hobbies include going and working out with my dear friend, my wife, where we engage in walking on the treadmill, swimming, and lounging around together in a Jacuzzi. During the winter we vacation in Washington State near the US / Canadian boarder and in the summer we visit our son who is going to school in Hawaii on the island of Oahu. I have one pet named Prince which is a wired hair terrier, kind of elderly, but is still engaging fetch and retrieve ……go get em. I am interested in this class because I believe that it will help me construct good questions and help me defend my research proposal arguments, skills of which are needed in order to be relevant in STS.
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Hi, I am Lou. My vocation is Internet-backbone engineering; however, my avocation is the study of innovation. I am in my third year of the Ph.D. STS program in NOVA. As the Internet continues to affect most aspects of life, from the economic, the social, and the cultural; I hope to use my place of employment (Verizon) as a platform for research to imagine a future shaped by the ubiquitous computing of the Internet-of-Things. Equally important, I seek to apply and extend STS frameworks to the practice of technological foresight; for this reason this class will help develop a deeper understanding of the questions to ask about the future. On the personal side, I am married with two young adult children, but an empty nest. My wife and I both enjoy physical fitness, love going to the movies, and once in a while go Salsa dancing. I am an avid fan of Afro-Cuban rhythms and while studying Philosophy of STS, I play my conga drums to let it all sink in.
Hi everyone, I'm Caitlin Wang Fleisig. This is my first semester as a commonwealth campus STS student. I finished my undergraduate studies in international relations in 2013, and spent most of 2014 living in China. I am hoping to find my place in the academic world, and (I think) I would love to work in policy- but for the time being I work as a piano/violin/guitar teacher in Alexandria. I look forward to exploring this program more in the coming semesters and to working with you all in this one!
Hello! My name is Chelsea Ford-Gladieux. I enjoy spending time with my huge big family (as my son would say), which includes my husband, two children (sometimes disguised as dogs, bees, or super heroes) and two dogs. I work for the federal government as an industrial hygienist, analyzing occupational exposures to CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive) concerns, which can be interesting (to me) relating it to course work. The STS program has been enjoyable as a Masters student. This semester, I hope to improve my critical writing skills with my own topics of interest. So, please feel free to send me any advice on what has helped you in the program to become a better writer, as I would love to finish my thesis in 2015!
Hello STS-ers! My name is Maureen Smith, most people call me, “Mo.”
Long ago I spent 20 years working for a large commercial bank, but decided to change careers and become a math teacher. Now, and for the past 10 years, I have been fulfilling that dream. I am currently a high school math teacher by day, motorcycle enthusiast and New Rider Trainer by weekend and STS student by day and night! This is my third STS class, thus, still a “newbie.” I am blessed to be the guardian of a lively and sweet German Shorthaired Pointer – her name is Brilliance, but I call her Brillie! I became interested in STS thanks to a couple of dear friends who told me I would love the study of it, along with the debates! So far so good. I look forward to engaging with each of you and learning everything that I can!
Thanks. Mo.
PS - I have no idea how to insert a picture!