Block seminar – Sommersemester 2026
In the upcoming summer semester, I am offering a seminar that draws on my current research at the intersection of law and Science and Technology Studies (STS). The seminar introduces STS as a lens for analyzing law. STS examines how scientific knowledge and technological artifacts are socially constructed while also shaping social order, rejecting sharp distinctions between the „technical“ and the „social.“ Applied to law, this perspective reveals legal systems not as abstract normative orders, but as sociotechnical practices embedded in material infrastructures, documents, and technologies. The seminar is organized in three parts. We begin with the foundations of STS, exploring its central questions, key debates, and analytical vocabulary. We then turn to law as a sociotechnical phenomenon, examining how legal practices have historically been constituted through material artifacts such as files, records, and inscriptions. Finally, we address law and emerging technologies, analyzing how algorithms, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms are transforming legal practices and challenging traditional legal categories.
By the end of this seminar, students will be able to understand and apply core concepts from Science and Technology Studies to the analysis of legal phenomena; analyze law as a sociotechnical practice, recognizing the constitutive role of material objects and technologies in legal systems; critically assess how emerging technologies such as algorithms and AI are transforming legal practices and raising new regulatory challenges; and develop analytical skills for examining the co-production of law and technology in both historical and contemporary contexts.
The seminar follows a block format combining introductory lectures, student presentations, and group discussions. The first session provides an overview of the seminar’s themes and organizational matters. Subsequent sessions are organized thematically, beginning with foundational STS theory, then moving to historical analyses of law’s material dimensions, and concluding with contemporary case studies on law and new technologies. Students are expected to read assigned texts before each session and actively participate in discussions. Each student will deliver a presentation on a selected topic and prepare discussion questions for the group. A detailed reading list will be provided in the first session.
The examination consists of a term paper (Hausarbeit), graded according to the RPO scheme. Required length varies by program: B.A. Sociology Major (6 LP) requires 12–15 pages (approximately 3,000–3,750 words); B.A. Sociology Minor (5 LP) and M.Ed. Social Sciences (5 LP) require 8–10 pages (approximately 2,000–2,500 words). The submission deadline is 1 September 2026.