‘Frankfurt kitchen STS’ is a discussion group at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. It brings together a bunch of sociologists, cultural anthropologists, political scientists, human geographers, literary scholars, historians of science and others interested in old debates and new developments in Science and Technology Studies. We’re not a reading group; our aim is to provide space for engaging discussions about STS with the help of guests, texts and other materials.
Our name has (at least) four components. First, it refers to the location of our meetings: the kitchen area of the Sociology Department at the Goethe University (PEG 3G 204).
Second, it alludes to the famous Frankfurt Kitchen: a political technology that serves as a constant reminder that in design oppression and liberation are hardly ever separable from each other. Third, it’s an ironic comment on our methodological commitments. Like the main character of Kitchen Stories, many of us work ethnographically. What we do is not rocket science. In fact, we show that not even rocket science is rocket science. Fourth, we often philosophise, but we’re not philosophers. We engage in ‘kitchen philosophy’: serious thinking that doesn’t insist on taking itself (too) seriously.
If you are interested in attending our events, please send us a short email with your name, affiliation and research interests. There’s also an email list you can subscribe to – more information is available here: http://dlist.server.uni-frankfurt.de/mailman/listinfo/sts_discussion_group