Shannon N Conley | James Madison University (original) (raw)

Papers by Shannon N Conley

She conducts research on engineering practice and pedagogy around the world, exploring its origin... more She conducts research on engineering practice and pedagogy around the world, exploring its origins, purposes, and potential futures. Marie's interest in values and engagement in professional cultures also extends to innovation and its experts. With Matthew Wisnioski and Eric Hintz, Marie co-edited Does America Need More Innovators? (MIT Press, 2019).

Springer eBooks, 2019

I. INTRODUCTION This essay draws on a qualitative, socio-legal study which explored how the judic... more I. INTRODUCTION This essay draws on a qualitative, socio-legal study which explored how the judiciary, lawyers and social workers evaluate social work evidence within care proceedings in England, across and between the disciplines of law and social work. First, the contemporary context for social work practice in care proceedings in England is explained and approaches to studying social work expertise are outlined. The empirical study is then briefly described, followed by a discussion of findings relating to judicial evaluations of social work evidence within legal proceedings. Collins and Evans' (2007) theory of expertises was applied in the study to analyse the presentation of social work evidence, and the evaluation of professional social work expertise by judges in care proceedings, with a focus on interactional and metaexpertises. This new application of the theoretical framework within an empirical, socio-legal study enables a focus on interdisciplinary communication and evaluation within legal proceedings, understanding expertise as more than expertise in 'doing' social work or law.

Journal of Responsible Innovation, Nov 9, 2022

Lab spaces can teach STEM ethics by highlighting and creating opportunities to practice the four ... more Lab spaces can teach STEM ethics by highlighting and creating opportunities to practice the four key dimensions of the AIRR framework of Responsible Innovation (RI): anticipation, inclusion, responsiveness, and reflexivity. In this paper, we introduce 'Futures Labs'∼ as a pedagogical approach to train students in RI skills and encourage them to become aware of, and more concerned about, the broad social, political, ethical, and environmental dimensions of innovation. Our approach additionally trains students in a wide range of explicitly employable capacities (such as scenario building, foresight, communication, and collaboration skills). We conceive of the Futures Lab as a part of a broader permeation of RI-oriented educational practices within STEM institutions. Through practical experience in Futures Labs, students learn not only how to apply RI frameworks, but also get a feel for why doing so matters. The paper concludes with a practically-oriented discussion of exercises employed at each institution's Futures Lab.

Journal of Responsible Innovation, Dec 4, 2020

Springer eBooks, Apr 10, 2012

Anticipatory governance has emerged as an important new concept for understanding the governance ... more Anticipatory governance has emerged as an important new concept for understanding the governance of science and technology (Guston 2008; Barben et al. 2007). Anticipation, as discussed in this literature, moves away from the idea of “prediction,” and “denotes building the capacity to respond to unpredicted and unpredictable risks” (Guston 2008, 940). The dictionary defines predict (2009) as an ability to know the future, to “foretell on the basis of observation, experience, or scientific reason.” Given the uncertain nature of future technological trajectories and lack of certainty regarding risks related to emerging technologies (such as nanotechnology), however, it is generally impossible to “predict” the future of technologies on any but the shortest of time scales. Instead, anticipatory governance seeks to build society-wide capacities for governing science and technology: to inquire into, assess, and deliberate (1) what new and emerging technologies might mean for society; (2) how they might contribute to enhancing societal outcomes or to creating novel risks; and (3) what kinds of future technological societies people might desire to inhabit. At the same time, anticipatory governance seeks mechanisms to feed insights from these assessments and deliberations back into the process of scientific and technological innovation to help inform the construction of technological futures (Guston and Sarewitz 2002).

Science and Engineering Ethics, Nov 9, 2011

This commentary builds on Haico te Kulve and Arie Rip's (2011) notion of ''engagement agents,'' i... more This commentary builds on Haico te Kulve and Arie Rip's (2011) notion of ''engagement agents,'' individuals that must be able to move between multiple dimensions, or ''levels'' of research, innovation, and policy processes. The commentary compares and contrasts the role of the engagement agent within the Constructive Technology Assessment and integration approaches, and suggests that on-site integration research represents one way to transform both social and natural scientists into competent and informed ''engagement agents,'' a new generation of researchers that possess the knowledge and capacities to forge ''novel linkages'' between the oftentimes disparate terrains of science, politics, and policy. Keywords Engagement Á Integration Á Genetics Á Constructive technology assessment Haico te Kulve and Arie Rip (2011) discuss the importance of what they term ''engagement agents,'' that is, actors who can move fluidly among the discourses and terrains of scientific, industrial, and political activity. As advances in science and technology continue to outpace regulatory and policy efforts, there is a growing need for individuals who possess interactional scientific competence and who can also navigate political, governmental, and industrial terrains. Such individuals to some degree already operate within industry itself and thus have become the focus of engagement exercises. The authors also acknowledge their own role as engagement agents when facilitating these exercises. Thus, engagement agents are appropriately the focus of several important questions: Who are these agents,

Science Fiction Studies, 2018

Using approaches from Science and Technology Studies (STS), political theory, and literary critic... more Using approaches from Science and Technology Studies (STS), political theory, and literary criticism, this paper investigates the use of monstrous motifs in British approaches to the governance of reproductive technologies and the role of the literary imagination as an “anticipatory” governance capacity in thinking through new and emerging technologies. The analysis is divided into three cases. The first case discusses the social and scientific context from which Frankenstein (1818) emerged. It draws from insights in literary criticism to explore motifs related to reproduction, birth, and monstrosity within the text and Mary Shelley's own life. The second case discusses the context surrounding the publication of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932). It serves as a transition, linking Shelley and Frankenstein to modern considerations of reproduction and technology. The third case examines the context leading up to the birth of “test-tube baby” Louise Brown in 1978 and the how the stories, metaphors, and themes generated by Frankenstein and Brave New World permeated the debates around the innovation of reproductive technologies in Britain.

Journal of Responsible Innovation, Aug 6, 2020

This paper focuses on explicating and understanding important State and societally-wide capacitie... more This paper focuses on explicating and understanding important State and societally-wide capacities of the nation-state to govern emerging technologies. It examines the governance around preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) from 1978-2001 in the United Kingdom. When analyzed as a whole, the informal and formal mechanisms in British society suggest a latent form of proto-anticipatory governance around PGD technology, and that there are important and understudied linkages between anticipatory governance (AG) and Responsible Innovation (RI) that need to be explored. Additionally, I contend that an overlooked element of anticipatory governance, 'ensembelization,' should be considered the fourth capacity of anticipatory governance, just as 'responsiveness' is the fourth dimension of RI. The ongoing case of PGD governance, and more recently, gene editing governance, will perhaps be one of the most challenging, provocative, and important places for development and deployment of RI and AG capacities.

Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Society, Oct 5, 2012

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings, Sep 10, 2020

and her research and teaching focus on social, policy, and ethical issues related to emerging sci... more and her research and teaching focus on social, policy, and ethical issues related to emerging science and technology. Additionally, her previous and current work focuses on the development and implementation of tools and approaches for socio-technical integration across disciplines. Conley also conducts research in pedagogy and responsible innovation, participates in the scholarly community of Studies of Experience and Expertise (SEE), is a member of the Science and Democracy Network, and was elected president of the Communities of Integration Network in 2016.

This project would not have been possible without the support, mentoring, and insight of my advis... more This project would not have been possible without the support, mentoring, and insight of my advisor, Dr. Clark Miller. Dr. Miller's advice has never steered me wrong. He has challenged and encouraged me as a scholar over the past seven years, and I will be forever grateful that he took me on as his mentee. Dr. Erik Fisher has also been a valued mentor and a tremendous positive influence in my academic journey. Dr. Fisher's energy and passion for his work is inspirational. I feel honored to have been a fellow in Dr. Fisher's Socio-Technical Integration (STIR) Project, which is an experience that I will carry with me throughout my academic career. The STIR project also provided essential funding that enabled me to conduct my laboratory studies and get a "lay of the land" of broader governance dynamics around reproductive technologies in Canada and the United Kingdom. Dr. David Guston has also provided valuable insight into my work, for which I am sincerely grateful. Dr. Guston cultivated an academic environment, through the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes and the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU, which has been incredibly supportive and encouraging as I progressed through my PhD. I am also grateful to my scientist collaborators in Canada and the United Kingdom. Without them, chapter seven would not have been possible. Finally, thank you to my graduate student colleagues from CSPO and CNS who have been my academic community and intellectual support system over the years. Special thanks to my friend and colleague Monamie Bhadra, who has provided valuable insight and feedback on multiple chapters in this project.

Science and Engineering Ethics, Jul 23, 2020

This paper presents an experimental approach for engaging undergraduate STEM students in anticipa... more This paper presents an experimental approach for engaging undergraduate STEM students in anticipatory ethical reasoning, or ethical reasoning applied to the analysis of potential mid-to long-term implications and outcomes of technological innovation. The authors implemented two variations of an approach that integrates three key components-scenario analysis, design fiction, and ethical frameworks-into five sections of an introductory course on the social contexts of science and technology that is required of STEM majors. The authors dub this approach Creative Anticipatory Ethical Reasoning, or CAER. Scenario analysis is a strategy emerging from business consulting for grounded analysis of plausible future trajectories to inform planning. Design fiction is a creative hands-on activity that blends science fiction and design prototyping to facilitate critical thinking with respect to the societal dimensions of a plausible future technology. The authors present the following findings: in each of the variations, students demonstrated significant engagement with CAER and a substantive shift in their conception of what constitutes responsible innovation and ethical conduct in science and technology. Specifically, their integration of ethical reasoning with stakeholder perspectives and scenario analysis reframed technologies, from unproblematic solutions for societal problems to socially-embedded forms of life that might diverge from designers' intentions. This suggests that CAER could be a useful pedagogical intervention for expanding students' ethical engagement to consider the potential unintended consequences of technological innovation.

2022 IEEE Global Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (GCAIoT)

Journal of Responsible Innovation

Lab spaces can teach STEM ethics by highlighting and creating opportunities to practice the four ... more Lab spaces can teach STEM ethics by highlighting and creating opportunities to practice the four key dimensions of the AIRR framework of Responsible Innovation (RI): anticipation, inclusion, responsiveness, and reflexivity. In this paper, we introduce 'Futures Labs'∼ as a pedagogical approach to train students in RI skills and encourage them to become aware of, and more concerned about, the broad social, political, ethical, and environmental dimensions of innovation. Our approach additionally trains students in a wide range of explicitly employable capacities (such as scenario building, foresight, communication, and collaboration skills). We conceive of the Futures Lab as a part of a broader permeation of RI-oriented educational practices within STEM institutions. Through practical experience in Futures Labs, students learn not only how to apply RI frameworks, but also get a feel for why doing so matters. The paper concludes with a practically-oriented discussion of exercises employed at each institution's Futures Lab.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Jun 17, 2021

The Third Wave in Science and Technology Studies, 2019

This chapter argues that it is inappropriate to use the term “interactional expertise” in the con... more This chapter argues that it is inappropriate to use the term “interactional expertise” in the context of laboratory ethnographies and engagement studies, such as the Socio-technical Integration Research (STIR) Project, where “embedded humanists,” who are not experts in laboratory science, use approaches from the social sciences and humanities to engage natural scientists. It posits that the goal in these situations is not to become an interactional expert in a particular field but to become conversational and knowledgeable to the extent of being able to ask questions that facilitate ethical and societal reflection in real time. It further proposes a new and different category that captures the abilities and knowledge cultivated in such cases, and argues that the term “interactional competence” is a more appropriate fit.

She conducts research on engineering practice and pedagogy around the world, exploring its origin... more She conducts research on engineering practice and pedagogy around the world, exploring its origins, purposes, and potential futures. Marie's interest in values and engagement in professional cultures also extends to innovation and its experts. With Matthew Wisnioski and Eric Hintz, Marie co-edited Does America Need More Innovators? (MIT Press, 2019).

Springer eBooks, 2019

I. INTRODUCTION This essay draws on a qualitative, socio-legal study which explored how the judic... more I. INTRODUCTION This essay draws on a qualitative, socio-legal study which explored how the judiciary, lawyers and social workers evaluate social work evidence within care proceedings in England, across and between the disciplines of law and social work. First, the contemporary context for social work practice in care proceedings in England is explained and approaches to studying social work expertise are outlined. The empirical study is then briefly described, followed by a discussion of findings relating to judicial evaluations of social work evidence within legal proceedings. Collins and Evans' (2007) theory of expertises was applied in the study to analyse the presentation of social work evidence, and the evaluation of professional social work expertise by judges in care proceedings, with a focus on interactional and metaexpertises. This new application of the theoretical framework within an empirical, socio-legal study enables a focus on interdisciplinary communication and evaluation within legal proceedings, understanding expertise as more than expertise in 'doing' social work or law.

Journal of Responsible Innovation, Nov 9, 2022

Lab spaces can teach STEM ethics by highlighting and creating opportunities to practice the four ... more Lab spaces can teach STEM ethics by highlighting and creating opportunities to practice the four key dimensions of the AIRR framework of Responsible Innovation (RI): anticipation, inclusion, responsiveness, and reflexivity. In this paper, we introduce 'Futures Labs'∼ as a pedagogical approach to train students in RI skills and encourage them to become aware of, and more concerned about, the broad social, political, ethical, and environmental dimensions of innovation. Our approach additionally trains students in a wide range of explicitly employable capacities (such as scenario building, foresight, communication, and collaboration skills). We conceive of the Futures Lab as a part of a broader permeation of RI-oriented educational practices within STEM institutions. Through practical experience in Futures Labs, students learn not only how to apply RI frameworks, but also get a feel for why doing so matters. The paper concludes with a practically-oriented discussion of exercises employed at each institution's Futures Lab.

Journal of Responsible Innovation, Dec 4, 2020

Springer eBooks, Apr 10, 2012

Anticipatory governance has emerged as an important new concept for understanding the governance ... more Anticipatory governance has emerged as an important new concept for understanding the governance of science and technology (Guston 2008; Barben et al. 2007). Anticipation, as discussed in this literature, moves away from the idea of “prediction,” and “denotes building the capacity to respond to unpredicted and unpredictable risks” (Guston 2008, 940). The dictionary defines predict (2009) as an ability to know the future, to “foretell on the basis of observation, experience, or scientific reason.” Given the uncertain nature of future technological trajectories and lack of certainty regarding risks related to emerging technologies (such as nanotechnology), however, it is generally impossible to “predict” the future of technologies on any but the shortest of time scales. Instead, anticipatory governance seeks to build society-wide capacities for governing science and technology: to inquire into, assess, and deliberate (1) what new and emerging technologies might mean for society; (2) how they might contribute to enhancing societal outcomes or to creating novel risks; and (3) what kinds of future technological societies people might desire to inhabit. At the same time, anticipatory governance seeks mechanisms to feed insights from these assessments and deliberations back into the process of scientific and technological innovation to help inform the construction of technological futures (Guston and Sarewitz 2002).

Science and Engineering Ethics, Nov 9, 2011

This commentary builds on Haico te Kulve and Arie Rip's (2011) notion of ''engagement agents,'' i... more This commentary builds on Haico te Kulve and Arie Rip's (2011) notion of ''engagement agents,'' individuals that must be able to move between multiple dimensions, or ''levels'' of research, innovation, and policy processes. The commentary compares and contrasts the role of the engagement agent within the Constructive Technology Assessment and integration approaches, and suggests that on-site integration research represents one way to transform both social and natural scientists into competent and informed ''engagement agents,'' a new generation of researchers that possess the knowledge and capacities to forge ''novel linkages'' between the oftentimes disparate terrains of science, politics, and policy. Keywords Engagement Á Integration Á Genetics Á Constructive technology assessment Haico te Kulve and Arie Rip (2011) discuss the importance of what they term ''engagement agents,'' that is, actors who can move fluidly among the discourses and terrains of scientific, industrial, and political activity. As advances in science and technology continue to outpace regulatory and policy efforts, there is a growing need for individuals who possess interactional scientific competence and who can also navigate political, governmental, and industrial terrains. Such individuals to some degree already operate within industry itself and thus have become the focus of engagement exercises. The authors also acknowledge their own role as engagement agents when facilitating these exercises. Thus, engagement agents are appropriately the focus of several important questions: Who are these agents,

Science Fiction Studies, 2018

Using approaches from Science and Technology Studies (STS), political theory, and literary critic... more Using approaches from Science and Technology Studies (STS), political theory, and literary criticism, this paper investigates the use of monstrous motifs in British approaches to the governance of reproductive technologies and the role of the literary imagination as an “anticipatory” governance capacity in thinking through new and emerging technologies. The analysis is divided into three cases. The first case discusses the social and scientific context from which Frankenstein (1818) emerged. It draws from insights in literary criticism to explore motifs related to reproduction, birth, and monstrosity within the text and Mary Shelley's own life. The second case discusses the context surrounding the publication of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932). It serves as a transition, linking Shelley and Frankenstein to modern considerations of reproduction and technology. The third case examines the context leading up to the birth of “test-tube baby” Louise Brown in 1978 and the how the stories, metaphors, and themes generated by Frankenstein and Brave New World permeated the debates around the innovation of reproductive technologies in Britain.

Journal of Responsible Innovation, Aug 6, 2020

This paper focuses on explicating and understanding important State and societally-wide capacitie... more This paper focuses on explicating and understanding important State and societally-wide capacities of the nation-state to govern emerging technologies. It examines the governance around preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) from 1978-2001 in the United Kingdom. When analyzed as a whole, the informal and formal mechanisms in British society suggest a latent form of proto-anticipatory governance around PGD technology, and that there are important and understudied linkages between anticipatory governance (AG) and Responsible Innovation (RI) that need to be explored. Additionally, I contend that an overlooked element of anticipatory governance, 'ensembelization,' should be considered the fourth capacity of anticipatory governance, just as 'responsiveness' is the fourth dimension of RI. The ongoing case of PGD governance, and more recently, gene editing governance, will perhaps be one of the most challenging, provocative, and important places for development and deployment of RI and AG capacities.

Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Society, Oct 5, 2012

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings, Sep 10, 2020

and her research and teaching focus on social, policy, and ethical issues related to emerging sci... more and her research and teaching focus on social, policy, and ethical issues related to emerging science and technology. Additionally, her previous and current work focuses on the development and implementation of tools and approaches for socio-technical integration across disciplines. Conley also conducts research in pedagogy and responsible innovation, participates in the scholarly community of Studies of Experience and Expertise (SEE), is a member of the Science and Democracy Network, and was elected president of the Communities of Integration Network in 2016.

This project would not have been possible without the support, mentoring, and insight of my advis... more This project would not have been possible without the support, mentoring, and insight of my advisor, Dr. Clark Miller. Dr. Miller's advice has never steered me wrong. He has challenged and encouraged me as a scholar over the past seven years, and I will be forever grateful that he took me on as his mentee. Dr. Erik Fisher has also been a valued mentor and a tremendous positive influence in my academic journey. Dr. Fisher's energy and passion for his work is inspirational. I feel honored to have been a fellow in Dr. Fisher's Socio-Technical Integration (STIR) Project, which is an experience that I will carry with me throughout my academic career. The STIR project also provided essential funding that enabled me to conduct my laboratory studies and get a "lay of the land" of broader governance dynamics around reproductive technologies in Canada and the United Kingdom. Dr. David Guston has also provided valuable insight into my work, for which I am sincerely grateful. Dr. Guston cultivated an academic environment, through the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes and the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU, which has been incredibly supportive and encouraging as I progressed through my PhD. I am also grateful to my scientist collaborators in Canada and the United Kingdom. Without them, chapter seven would not have been possible. Finally, thank you to my graduate student colleagues from CSPO and CNS who have been my academic community and intellectual support system over the years. Special thanks to my friend and colleague Monamie Bhadra, who has provided valuable insight and feedback on multiple chapters in this project.

Science and Engineering Ethics, Jul 23, 2020

This paper presents an experimental approach for engaging undergraduate STEM students in anticipa... more This paper presents an experimental approach for engaging undergraduate STEM students in anticipatory ethical reasoning, or ethical reasoning applied to the analysis of potential mid-to long-term implications and outcomes of technological innovation. The authors implemented two variations of an approach that integrates three key components-scenario analysis, design fiction, and ethical frameworks-into five sections of an introductory course on the social contexts of science and technology that is required of STEM majors. The authors dub this approach Creative Anticipatory Ethical Reasoning, or CAER. Scenario analysis is a strategy emerging from business consulting for grounded analysis of plausible future trajectories to inform planning. Design fiction is a creative hands-on activity that blends science fiction and design prototyping to facilitate critical thinking with respect to the societal dimensions of a plausible future technology. The authors present the following findings: in each of the variations, students demonstrated significant engagement with CAER and a substantive shift in their conception of what constitutes responsible innovation and ethical conduct in science and technology. Specifically, their integration of ethical reasoning with stakeholder perspectives and scenario analysis reframed technologies, from unproblematic solutions for societal problems to socially-embedded forms of life that might diverge from designers' intentions. This suggests that CAER could be a useful pedagogical intervention for expanding students' ethical engagement to consider the potential unintended consequences of technological innovation.

2022 IEEE Global Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (GCAIoT)

Journal of Responsible Innovation

Lab spaces can teach STEM ethics by highlighting and creating opportunities to practice the four ... more Lab spaces can teach STEM ethics by highlighting and creating opportunities to practice the four key dimensions of the AIRR framework of Responsible Innovation (RI): anticipation, inclusion, responsiveness, and reflexivity. In this paper, we introduce 'Futures Labs'∼ as a pedagogical approach to train students in RI skills and encourage them to become aware of, and more concerned about, the broad social, political, ethical, and environmental dimensions of innovation. Our approach additionally trains students in a wide range of explicitly employable capacities (such as scenario building, foresight, communication, and collaboration skills). We conceive of the Futures Lab as a part of a broader permeation of RI-oriented educational practices within STEM institutions. Through practical experience in Futures Labs, students learn not only how to apply RI frameworks, but also get a feel for why doing so matters. The paper concludes with a practically-oriented discussion of exercises employed at each institution's Futures Lab.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Jun 17, 2021

The Third Wave in Science and Technology Studies, 2019

This chapter argues that it is inappropriate to use the term “interactional expertise” in the con... more This chapter argues that it is inappropriate to use the term “interactional expertise” in the context of laboratory ethnographies and engagement studies, such as the Socio-technical Integration Research (STIR) Project, where “embedded humanists,” who are not experts in laboratory science, use approaches from the social sciences and humanities to engage natural scientists. It posits that the goal in these situations is not to become an interactional expert in a particular field but to become conversational and knowledgeable to the extent of being able to ask questions that facilitate ethical and societal reflection in real time. It further proposes a new and different category that captures the abilities and knowledge cultivated in such cases, and argues that the term “interactional competence” is a more appropriate fit.

SEFI CONFERENCE, 2020

This paper introduces the FuturesLab as a tool for fostering the ethical creativity necessary for... more This paper introduces the FuturesLab as a tool for fostering the ethical creativity necessary for responsible innovation and the participation in anticipatory governance among engineering and other STEM students. The objective of the paper is to make clear the need for this approach and its value compared to alternative methods of training responsible innovators. The paper serves as an introduction to the FuturesLab and to multi-media approaches to creative ethical reasoning.