Abstract_EF


 * ABSTRACT MEMO Under Construction **

The aim of this project is to explore how interactions between science and the public have evolved due to changing technology and the place of Maker culture within current trends while considering the future possibilities for public involvement and technological citizen inquiry. I will explore these issues through workshops and participant observations at various spaces including local Makerspaces and online communities. I will also engage in discursive analysis of these spaces and public engagement venues such as science museums, online journals, and online citizen science resources. This study hopes to demonstrate whether changing technology has transformed the attitude of the public toward science and whether there is room within present Maker culture to create a more technological citizenship, thus further involving the public in scientific decision-making and local innovation. These issues are relevant as technology becomes more ubiquitous in the everyday, and Maker culture overtakes such spaces as libraries and high schools, but often through funding by DARPA and larger corporations in contrast to their traditionally grassroots foundations--the implications of such funding sources for Makerspaces may result in them having a prominent role in innovation on a global economic scale.