A pragmatic approach to building a field and doing STS

Interview with professor emeritus Knut H. Sørensen

Abstract

The last scholar featured in our anniversary issue is professor emeritus Knut H. Sørensen. Sørensen has a decades long history working in science and technology-studies and played a key role in establishing the Centre for Technology and Society at the Department of interdisciplinary studies of culture (KULT) at NTNU. Sørensen is one of several key contributors to STS and in this interview, we will draw insights from his long career and explore STS as a changing field. Sørensen has witnessed the starting point, the development, as well as many changes in this field throughout his career. In this interview he reflects on how the field has developed and how it is a story about building STS institutions, and the many strategic choices it involves. We are reminded of how the making of science involves specific people, doing specific things at specific times and places. It is a chance to see behind a name put in as “standard citation” and see a person who combined ambition and pragmatism with hard work to make something happen. Revisiting the history of our field is also a chance to remind ourselves of how different things could have turned out; if they hadn’t come across that specific paper or hadn’t received funding at that time. In this interview we will touch on important contributions, about being  pragmatic with external funding and research topics, how STS has changed as a field, the importance of advising and investing in students and what life is like now as  an emeritus.