Technology shapes how we live, work, and relate to one another. It can contribute to human care and help humans care for others, the environment and the future. However, technology can also undermine care practices or take over care tasks in undesirable ways.
In this PhD course, we explore the complex relationship between technology and care. We ask fundamental questions such as: What does care entail? How do technologies promote or undermine it? Who gets to design technologies that shape our practices of care? and What values are embedded, prioritized, or neglected in these designs?
We also investigate the philosophical foundations of designing for values, focusing on theories of care and its nature, the nature of values, and how they can be integrated into technological design processes. Attention is given to value conflicts and value change, and how these dynamics influence what it means to design for care in diverse contexts. Throughout the course, we discuss and analyze a variety of case studies to explore how design can foster or hinder human caring.
The aim/objectives of this course are to:
- Understand the relation between technology, values, care.
- Argue why technology can or cannot embody values (and if so, how).
- Explain basic notions of values and care within philosophy and other relevant disciplines.
- Differentiate main approaches to designing for care.
- Characterise and discuss ‘value conflict’ and ‘value change’ and understand the implications of these phenomena for designing for values and designing for care.
- Evaluate technology in terms of its impact on care practices.
Practical Information
Primary target group: PhD students, ReMa students
If places available also open to: postdocs
Type of activity: One week PhD course
Certificate credit points: 5ECTS
Organizers: Ibo van de Poel (i.r.vandepoel@tudelft.nl) & Steffen Steinert (S.steinert@tudelft.nl)
Date: February 2027, exact dates TBA
Venue: TU Delft
Programme
This 5 day in-person course will take place in February 2027. The course will consists of lectures (about 2 each day), and sessions to work on a blog post assignment. Online participation is not possible.
The exact dates TBA.
Past topics included:
- Technology and values: brief historical overview about thinking about values and technology in philosophy of technology; technology: value- neutral or value-laden?
- Embedding values in technology: how to think about the connection between value and technology; Key theories and philosophical accounts of how values can be embedded in technology
- Design for values: design for Values and Value Sensitive Design, and other approaches of embedding values in technology (e.g., participatory design); value conceptualisation and value specification; value conflict and changing values
Lecturers
- Steffen Steinert, TU Delft
- Ibo van de Poel, TU Delft
- Pieter Desmet (TU Delft)
- Naomi Jacobs (University of Twente)
- Matthew Dennis (TU Eindhoven)
- Iluia Lefter (TU Delft)
- and others
Aim / objective
After the course participants will be able to:
- Understand the relation between technology, values, and well-being
Argue why technology can or cannot embody values (and if so how)
Explain basic notions of values and well-being within philosophy and other relevant disciplines
Differentiate main approaches to designing for values
Characterize and discuss ‘value conflict’ and ‘value change’, and understand the implications of these phenomena for designing for values and designing for well-being
Evaluate technology in terms of well-being
Preparation and Assessment
The study load is the equivalent of 5 ECTS.
- Active participation is required.
- Each session has several required readings, that participants should have read beforehand.
- Students are required to submit a blog post (group assignment)
- Attendance on all days is mandatory to obtain the credits.
Please note that in order to receive the ECTs for this course, the blog posts of the ReMA students will be graded.
Costs and registration
Costs:
- Free to PhD students who are a member of the OZSW, 4TU and/or another Dutch research school in the Humanities (LOGOS);
- Free to Research Master students who are a member of the OZSW and/or another Dutch research school in the Humanities (LOGOS);
- All others pay a tuition fee of €300.
How to register:
- Members of the OZSW: make sure you are logged in on the OZSW website. After you have successfully registered for the course, it will appear in your ‘profile page’.
- PhD researchers may register via the registration button on the OZSW website.
- ReMA students and postdocs may apply for a waiting list (as the primary target group for this activity is PhD researchers) by sending an email to secretariaat@ozsw.nl
Registration for the course opens on October 1st, 2026. Registration deadline TBA. If registration has been closed because the maximum amount of participants has been reached, you can submit your name to the waiting list by sending an email to secretariaat@ozsw.nl. Please also indicate whether you are a ReMA student, postdoc or PhD candidate and whether you are a member of the OZSW or not.
The OZSW registration and cancellation policy applies to this activity (to be found here).
More information
This course is a collaboration between OZSW, 4TU.Ethics, and the Delft Design for Values Institute.
Main Lectures
- Steffen Steinert, section Ethics and Philosophy of Technology, Department of Values, Technology and Innovation, School of Technology, Policy & Management, TU Delft S.steinert@tudelft.nl
- Ibo van de Poel, section Ethics and Philosophy of Technology, Department of Values, Technology and Innovation, School of Technology, Policy & Management, TU Delft i.r.vandepoel@tudelft.nl