When we think of communities of the future, we have to think of new social contracts between universities and society with a different ecology, and an intense compatibility towards transdisciplinarity. We know that today there is a need for truly fundamental reflections and questions on knowledge as the building block of global societies…

Andrew Feenberg, in his book "Questioning Technology", offers his theory of "democratized rationalization" as a critical alternative to Jacques Ellul's essentialist perspective. Feenberg argues that Ellul has confused the tendency toward efficiency in technological discourse with the essence of technology, thereby disallowing for a "positive…

Leadership and leadership development are popular topics today. Concurrent with the construction of leadership theory, leadership development has emerged as a practice, with programs, consultants, reports, and networking opportunities proliferating. Given the reality of limited resources, it is critical that investments in and approaches to…

Scholars have argued that the history of science might facilitate an understanding of processes of science. Focusing on science education for citizenship and active involvement in debates on socioscientific issues, one might argue that today's post-academic science differs from academic science in the past, making the history of academic science…

Examines how decisions concerning research, development, and the application of science and technology take place within the framework of democracy and the U.S. political system. Maintains that the decision making process for basic research, technological development, and applications follow, respectively, the general political models of…

It is the thesis of this work that the intellectual and social movements of the sixties beyond conservatism, classical liberalism, new liberalism, and various versions of Left philosophy have generated a space for the construction of a neoteric philosophy. The neoteric influence of today's reality points out that philosophy must move beyond…

Believes that the enterprise of science should reflect a participatory form of democracy by allowing for public involvement. (Contains 66 references.) (Author/WRM)

Explores qualities of diversity and sharing in the context of science education in light of larger societal goals around public school education. Argues that tensions between competing visions constructs a space in which children actualize fundamentals of a democracy. Presents two stories about children whose additions to elementary science…

Discusses people's need for facility in calculating and using mathematical techniques to participate in the understanding and transformation of their society. Topics discussed include the relationship between democracy and education; democratic competence; democracy in a technological society; the role of mathematics in society; and reflective…

The Internet, after the automobile and television, is the third technological innovation this century powerful enough to challenge and mutate our disintegrating collective vision of community. Although useful for exchanging e-mail and performing fact-based research, the Internet inherently denies and denigrates the crux of direct democratic…

Teaching science is justified by linking scientific ways of thinking with the advancement of democratic society. Claims that science education must reflect the ways in which the theories and practices of science are constrained by the real world. Presents three goals of science education that can help defend it from antiscientific criticisms.…

Examines developments in information technology that might endanger individual privacy and legislative responses to these threats by the English-speaking democracies, i.e., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Guidelines for the responsible use of information technologies are proposed. (CLB)

Issues in the field of information science that should be addressed as the nation and the world enter the 1990s are discussed in eight articles. Some of the topics addressed include U.S. federal information policy, whether the United States should rejoin UNESCO, information technology in developing countries, and the potential impact of the…