Nozomi MIZUSHIMA Assistant Professor

E-mail:
ResearchMap: http://researchmap.jp/mizushima/

Science, Technology and Society, Gender studies of Science & Technology

Science and technology (S&T) are deeply incorporated into our modern life. They affect not only daily activities, but also for instance, our concept of “life” or “nature”. I am interested in the relationship between S&T and society. How do people perceive or respond to a specific, newly investigated technology? What kind of effect does society experience from the people’s reaction to technology? And conversely, how does technology itself change in response to such public attitude?

My research area covers: Science, Technology and Society (STS); gender studies related to S&T; Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) of S&T; Science communication. I also investigate the effect of the discourse of “evolutionary biology” to current Japanese society, which was the focus of my Ph.D. research.

Scientists are "experts" with respect to their research area. But in other areas, they are "non-experts". For scientists, to explore better relationship between science and society, with both standpoint of "experts" and "non-experts", is very important (but sometimes it is very difficult). I hope that our lectures or classes will contribute toward fostering this perspective.

nozomi_mizushima

Papers and publications

  1. Mizushima N (2014) “Do ‘labor-saving’ appliances still fail to adequately reduce domestic labor? A case study of washing machines in contemporary Japan,” 5 Designing Media Ecology, Vol.1, pp.92-102. (in Japanese).
  2. Mizushima N, Sakura O, “A practical approach to identify ethical and social problems during research and development: A model for a national research project of brain-machine interface,” East asian science, technology and society: An international journal 6:335–345, 2012, doi: 10.1215/18752160-1730938.
  3. Mizushima N (2012) “Into our own hands: The mother's movement against radiation contamination and public participation in science and technology,” Voices from Japan, No.26 (Special issues for women struggling through the triple disasters: earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis).
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