Dietram A. Scheufele is the John E. Ross Chaired Professor in Science Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Co-Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. Scheufele is a former member of the Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group to the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Scheufele’s scholarship and teaching have won numerous awards. He has consulted on communication strategy for PBS, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and other corporate and public sector clients in the U.S., China, Malaysia and the U.A.E. He was a tenured faculty member at Cornell University prior to joining the University of Wisconsin. While at the Shorenstein Center, he explored how interactions among actors in mass mediated, policy and public arenas can contribute to the amplification of risk perceptions about emerging technologies among citizens.
Modern Citizenship or Policy Dead End? Evaluating the Need for Public Participation in Science Policy Making, and Why Public Meetings May Not Be the Answer
January 3, 2011
A paper by Dietram A. Scheufele, fall 2010 fellow, analyzes the recent renaissance that consensus conferences and public meetings have experienced regarding the discussion of controversial emerging technologies. First, it outlines the policy history of consensus conferences and other forms of public meetings. Second, it outlines claims made by proponents about the potential of consensus conferences
