History of Technology

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Consortium Respectful Behavior Policy

Participants at Consortium activities will treat each other with respect and consideration to create a collegial, inclusive, and professional environment that is free from any form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.

Participants will avoid any inappropriate actions or statements based on individual characteristics such as age, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, nationality, political affiliation, ability status, educational background, or any other characteristic protected by law. Disruptive or harassing behavior of any kind will not be tolerated. Harassment includes but is not limited to inappropriate or intimidating behavior and language, unwelcome jokes or comments, unwanted touching or attention, offensive images, photography without permission, and stalking.

Participants may send reports or concerns about violations of this policy to conduct@chstm.org.

Upcoming Meetings

There are no currently scheduled upcoming events.


Past Meetings

  • February 16, 2016

    Layne Karafantis of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum introduced a chapter, "The Blue Cube: Cold War Espionage Hidden in Plain Sight."


  • January 19, 2016

    Heidi Voskuhl of the University of Pennsylvania introduced her article "Engineering Philosophy: Theories of Technology, German Idealism, and Social Order in High-Industrial Germany."


  • December 15, 2015

    Jennifer Alexander of the University of Minnesota introduced her article, "Technological Critique and the Founding of the Technology and Social Justice Movement: Jacques Ellul at the World Council of Churches, Amsterdam, 1948."


  • November 17, 2015

    Sarah Robey of Temple University introduced "The Man in the White Lab Coat: Scientists and Scientific Authority, 1950-1956," from her dissertation, The Atomic American: Citizenship in a Nuclear State, 1945-1963.


  • October 20, 2015

    Michelle Murphy of the University of Toronto introduced selections from her draft of The Economization of Life.


  • April 21, 2015

    Arwen Mohun of the University of Delaware introduced her paper, "Constructing the History of Risk: STS and Beyond."


  • March 31, 2015

    Nathan Ensmenger of Indiana University introduced his paper, "Dirty Bits: An Environmental History of Computing."


  • February 24, 2015

    Teasel Muir-Harmony of the American Institute of Physics introduced her paper, "A Global History of the First Lunar Landing."


  • January 20, 2015

    Gabrielle Hecht, University of Michigan introduced her paper, "Toxic Tales from the African Anthropocene"


  • May 15, 2014

    Teasel Muir-Harmony of MIT and PACHS introduced her dissertation chapter, "Sputnik and the Launch of Space Propaganda."


Group Conveners

  • jalexander's picture

    Jennifer Alexander

    Jennifer Alexander is an Associate Professor of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine at the University of Minnesota, with specialization in technology and religion; industrial culture; and engineering, ethics, and society.  Her publications include The Mantra of Efficiency: From Waterwheel to Social Control (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008). Her current project is a book manuscript analyzing the international religious critique of technology that developed following WWII.  She asks how religious and theological interpretations of technology have changed over time; how, over time, technologies and engineering have extended their reach into the human world over time through a developing technological orthodoxy; and how these changes have affected each other.

     

  • grossbLHL's picture

    Benjamin Gross

    Benjamin Gross is Vice President for Research and Scholarship at the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri. He is responsible for managing the Library’s scholarly outreach initiatives, including its fellowship program. Before relocating to the Midwest in 2016, he was a research fellow at the Science History Institute and consulting curator of the Sarnoff Collection at the College of New Jersey. His book, The TVs of Tomorrow: How RCA’s Flat-Screen Dreams Led to the First LCDs, was published in 2018 by the University of Chicago Press.

     

     

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