Doing STS in and through Germany

Dear all,

We are thrilled to inform you that it is now possible to apply for stsing membership! ✨
To apply, we kindly ask you to fill out the application form available here and send a filled-out and signed version to membership@stsing.org. 

We will also provide other options (i.e. web formular) to apply for membership as soon as they are available.

On behalf of the stsing board.
Simon David Hirsbrunner

We signed the statute [Vereinssatzung] on the 27th of October. Check here for the agenda. Here is the document of the Satzung. The board to be elected has the task of founding the association and organising elections for an ordinary board. Details were discussed during the meeting and recorded in minutes (to be published).

The preparation of this was mainly done on Mattermost, but we are also available for questions of any kind beyond this platform.

Here's an update: It worked out fine.

These following persons were elected:

• Baldeep Grewal, University of Potsdam
• Laura Kocksch, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Johanna Sentef, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
• Kevin Hall, Philipps-Universität Marburg
• Paula Helm, Universität Tübingen
• Simon Hirsbrunner, FU-Berlin
• Estrid Sørensen, Ruhr-Universität Bochum

The positions will be allocated as soon as possible.

Our virtual social meeting in Prague was a success, with roughly 70 people joining us.

The most important result from the meeting: we will formally set up the association. This bureaucratic step is a means to "live the association in a participative and inclusive way", as Estrid Sørensen explained in her report of the organizational group's suggestion. Take a look at the statute to get an idea of what Estrid's visualizations (see below) imply. Most importantly, however, just join us on Mattermost where this structure is already explored. Since the Prague event, the list of registered members has grown steadily, as have the visits to this very website. 

Seven people are required, while we also need to elect the council members. We don't want to have power concentrated, and at the same time, we want to invite at least four PhD students to participate in this. The list of candidates for the board reflects this. The council is only supposed to accompany and prepare the work of the working groups, but being situated at the interface is, of course, informative and exciting. Join Mattermost to learn more, or drop a message to the Access Points of the Orga group.

Thanks again to Catharina Lüder and Ingmar Lippert for the moderation, and the inputs by Veit Braun (events), Simon Hirsbrunner (Mattermost), Stefan Laser (website), and Estrid (as indicated above).

Join us for a "social", you can find the event on the programme:

stsing – doing STS in the German research landscape

Thu, August 20, 1:40 to 3:00pm CEST (1:40 to 3:00pm CEST), virPrague, VR 24

STS is growing in Germany. A range of dispersed networks and organisations contributes to infrastructuring conversations between scholars doing STS research and teaching within or on Germany. We invite you to a conversation about how to further design our mutual engangement. We expect a range of harmonies, alliances and frictions to be voiced and recognised. That might offer generative food for thought and discussion to intensify relations. Looking forward to meeting you!

We will also use the event to briefly introduce the recent efforts of stsing, most importantly the main idea behind the Satzung. 

If you want to discuss a specific theme relating to STS in and through Germany during the meeting, do not hesitate to write to Catharina Lüder. She is the chair and collects themes.

stsing is an open platform to assemble people attached to the field of Science and Technology Studies that work in and through the German landscape. This is our new website, a basic design ready for interactions during the EASST/4S conference in (virtual) Prague.

The next important step of stsing is the establishment of a new association. Check the proposal we put online (go to statute). To get an idea of the structure and stsing's history check our organizing.

We particularly suggest you join our Mattermost chat-instance (see the organizing again, for more info).