Public thinker: Shobita Parthasarathy on why we need to diversify expertise
By Daniel Sarewitz,
Public Books
| 01. 04. 2021
To converse with Shobita Parthasarathy is to be enveloped in two kinds of warmth: that of a generous-spirited, energetic, and passionate human, and that of a mind on fire with knowledge and ideas. It’s that combination, I suspect, that drives her commitment to publicly engaged scholarship. In fact, I have to confess that Parthasarathy is the only academic I can think of who talks about scholarship (as she often does) in a way that doesn’t put my teeth on edge. For what allows her to engage effectively in public problems is a commitment to deep understanding of the specifics and the intricacies of dilemmas at the intersection of technological change, politics, and human well-being.
A professor of public policy and women’s studies at the University of Michigan, she also cohosts The Received Wisdom, a podcast on science, technology, and society, and provides expert advice to civil-society groups, legislators, and advisory committees. Of course she also writes scholarly books and articles and is a phenomenally creative and assiduous researcher, but you can learn more about all that here. What... see more
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Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Following a Biopolitical Times tradition, we present some of our favorite blog posts of the past year, in chronological order. Others can be found in CGS in 2020, in the section on “Responses to COVID and Uprisings against Racial Injustice” where issues brought into sharp focus by the pandemic are specifically discussed.
There are certainly many more posts worth your time, which can be found at the Biopolitical Times archive; scroll down and “VIEW...