Short Abstract:

Transformation comes with disruptions that challenge societies on multiple levels. Controversy mapping can help students develop competencies for dealing with uncertainty, dissent and polarizations.The workshop brings together scholars interested in teaching controversy mapping to share experiences.

Long Abstract:

The conference theme, „Making and Doing Transformation“, underscores the dynamic landscape of societal transformation across diverse domains. Change never comes without controversies, and the latest polarisations such as climate policies, migration, housing or agriculture show that societies must develop new strategies to navigate uncertainty and dissent. However, amidst the tumult of change, controversy emerges as a compelling compass, guiding our understanding of present-day debates. It becomes a canvas upon which differing perspectives paint a rich mosaic of ideas, challenging conventional norms. The approach of controversy mapping offers a way to understand contemporary debates better and can help students develop urgently needed competencies for these challenges.

During the last two decades, STS scholars from various universities have developed methods for controversy mapping and established the approach in research and teaching. Having its origins in mapping controversies on science for politics (MACOSPOL), there is now a new urgency to use controversy mapping for more significant societal controversies and stay with the latest technological developments (cf. Venturini & Munk 2022).

This workshop aims to gather scholars who want to share their experiences teaching controversy mapping courses or plan to establish controversy mapping in study courses.

We will share syllabi and tutorials from our courses, show examples of controversy mappings and discuss practical challenges as well as theoretical foundations. Our discussions will also focus on how AI can be made fruitful for mapping controversies.