This course will examine how sciences in the plural have approached the question of “life” as such, while also asking: what are the ways that life and science are held in juxtaposition, as alternatives, or in a grammatical relation of the slash? We will examine a variety of case studies about the making of scientific knowledge as a process, and how scholars have evaluated questions of objectivity, epistemology, constructivism, and authority. In doing so, we will pay attention to the communities, thought-collectives, and disagreements internal to particular scientific fields in each of our readings, as well as questions of racialization and value. Readings will draw from fields including literary studies, anthropology, the history and philosophy of science, and STS.