Curiosity Studies: A New Ecology of Knowledge

The first English-language collection to establish curiosity studies as a unique field

From science and technology to business and education, curiosity is often taken for granted as an unquestioned good. And yet, few people can define curiosity. Curiosity Studies marshals scholars from more than a dozen fields not only to define curiosity but also to grapple with its ethics as well as its role in technological advancement and global citizenship. While intriguing research on curiosity has occurred in numerous disciplines for decades, no rigorously cross-disciplinary study has existed--until now.

Curiosity Studies stages an interdisciplinary conversation about what curiosity is and what resources it holds for human and ecological flourishing. These engaging essays are integrated into four clusters: scientific inquiry, educational practice, social relations, and transformative power. By exploring curiosity through the practice of scientific inquiry, the contours of human learning, the stakes of social difference, and the potential of radical imagination, these clusters focus and reinvigorate the study of this universal but slippery phenomenon: the desire to know.

Against the assumption that curiosity is neutral, this volume insists that curiosity has a history and a political import and requires precision to define and operationalize. As various fields deepen its analysis, a new ecosystem for knowledge production can flourish, driven by real-world problems and a commitment to solve them in collaboration. By paying particular attention to pedagogy throughout, Curiosity Studies equips us to live critically and creatively in what might be called our new Age of Curiosity.

Contributors: Danielle S. Bassett, U of Pennsylvania
Barbara M. Benedict, Trinity College
Susan Engel, Williams College
Ellen K. Feder, American U
Kristina T. Johnson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Narendra Keval
Christina Le n, Princeton U
Tyson Lewis, U of North Texas
Amy Marvin, U of Oregon
Hilary M. Schor, U of Southern California
Seeta Sistla, Hampshire College
Heather Anne Swanson, Aarhus U.