Dr. Sheila Jasanoff, Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School, will give the 2024 Allman Family Lecture at SMU titled "Science and Democracy: What Should People Know?"

Americans have long assumed that people must be literate in science to be literate as citizens. How, after all, can we, the people, respond intelligently to the problems of our complex world if we do not share a scientific understanding of what that world is and how it functions? Over many decades, we have invested huge resources, both public and private, into producing, measuring, and sustaining "science literacy." Why then has the 21st century America seen a rise in denialism, conspiracy theories, and skepticism toward expert institutions? In this talk, Dr. Jasanoff will put our faith in science into conversation with perspectives from the social and political studies of science to find answers to this troubling question. Dr. Jasanoff will suggest that a robust scientific enterprise is indeed essential for a strong democracy, but that what people need to know of science is not a collection of random facts relating to important issues. Rather, it is a deeper awareness of the purposes and limits of scientific inquiry, and an appreciation of the need for humility in our turn to science and technology for solutions to pressing public problems. 

A pioneer in her field, Dr. Jasanoff has authored more than 130 articles and chapters and is author or editor of more than 15 books, including The Fifth Branch, Science at the Bar, Designs on Nature, The Ethics of Invention, and Can Science Make Sense of Life? Her work explores the role of science and technology in the law, politics, and policy of modern democracies, and she is the founding director of the Science and Technology Studies Program at Harvard. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is the recipient of the 2022 Holberg Prize—dubbed the Nobel Prize for social science and humanities—for her prolific work in science and technology studies. For more information on Dr. Jasanoff, please visit sheilajasanoff.org.