Think with Archives: Envisioning East Asian STS through Digital Archives

As a scholar I witnessed the transformation of archives in East Asia and the changing ways to approach archival material for research. As a part of Science Technology Studies (STS) community in East Asia that became visible around the turn of this century, I was privileged to work with colleagues with whom transnational research were made possible. Therefore, to achieve meaningful global STS that is theoretically and empirically sound, I argue for more strategic thinking on the making and use of archives. As more and more archives turn their content in to digital forms and make them searchable on internet, researchers should take into consideration how this emerging body of knowledge is navigating the ways of doing research. Meanwhile, embracing the opportunity digital archives has brought to STS researchers, it is equally important to strengthen existing scholarly networks in East Asia, on which not only fresh ideas can be shared and discussed in more dynamic ways; with these networks junior researchers can help each other to develop STS projects using archives beyond national boundaries.
Biography:
Wen-Hua Kuo is a professor and the director of the medical campus library at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. In addition to his research on the changing meaning and practice of care and caring professions, his editorial highlights include the editor-in-chief of East Asian Science, Technology and Society: An International Journal (2016-2022) and associate editor of Social Studies of Science (from 2023). He was elected and will serve as the President of Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) from 2025 to 2027.

EVENT IMAGE ABOVE: Department of Physics, Manchester, 1910, including Suekichi Kinoshita and Margaret White Fishenden

Host or Publisher School for Arts Languages and Cultures