A Brave New (online) World: Emerging Technologies at the Intersection of Science, Policy, and Rapidly Changing Media Environments

We live in an age where new technologies hit the marketplace at a rate that far outpaces society's ability to engage in meaningful political debates about their ethical, legal, and political implications. Synthetic biology, nanotechnology and Big Data are only a few recent examples. This coincides with a rapid deterioration of science journalism, i.e., the institution that has traditionally helped translate complex science for lay and policy audiences. This talk explores the future of societal debates about controversial science in our highly polarized policy environment. How can citizens make meaningful policy choices in an age of (anti-)science blogs and vicious online debates? And what can we learn from recent empirical work in the social sciences about strategies for navigating this brave new world of science policy? Featuring Dietram A. Scheufele, John E. Ross Professor in Science Communication, University of Wisconsin at Madison and Co-Pl, Center for Nanotechnology in Society, Arizona State University.