The History of Technology Working Group meets monthly to discuss a colleague’s works-in-progress or to discuss readings that are of particular interest to participants.

 

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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

Tuesday, January 28, 2025, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST

TBA

Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST

TBA

Tuesday, March 25, 2025, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

Enrico Beltramini, Notre Dame de Namur University, California

"A Modest Proposal for a 4-Criteria Canon"
Abstract: Instead of questioning whether the history of technology has a canon, I inquire about what characteristics a history of technology canon should possess. A canon typically refers to a set of key characteristics or criteria that define a particular standard or body of work. In this specific case, it means a conception of what history of technology is and ought to be, and of what historians of technology do and should do. I suggest 4 criteria to define a canon of history of technology: (1) a series of canonical authors; (2) a way or style of arguing and writing; (3) a way of relating history of technology to the extra-historical, that is, technology, science, culture generally intended (literature, cinema, art), the public sphere (politics, and public debate); (4) a way of conceiving the historical practice. The four key characteristics are not listed in order of importance. In my presentation, I will provide details on each of these four characteristics and argue that the history of technology may encompass multiple canons, each grounded in distinct methodological approaches and metahistorical perspectives. The proposed paper is the preliminary version of the first chapter of a book on historiography of technology. I hope to discuss the 4-criteria canon and receive as much feedback as I can.

 

Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

TBA

Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

TBA

Past Meetings

Joshua Grace, University of South Carolina, presented his manuscript “The Momentum of Things Not Built: Technology, Socialism, and Appropriateness in Independent Tanzania.”

Tiago Saraiva of Drexel University introduced his draft book chapter, "Frantz Fanon in LA: Californian Clones and French Settlers in Colonial Algeria."

Ruth Rand of the Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, introduced her paper "Salvaging Space: Refuse, Reuse, and the Pursuit of Orbital Economy, 1968-1986"

Note special day: Lee Vinsel of the Stevens Institute of Technology will introduce his paper, “John Staudenmaier’s Technology’s Storytellers as a Political Theology.”

Neil Maher of Rutgers University-Newark introduced his paper, "Heavenly Bodies: 'Manned Space Flight' and the Women's Movement."

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

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

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."

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jeff Womack of the University of Houston introduced his paper, "Uncertainty Principles: Radiation and Risk in 20th Century Medicine."

Deanna Day of UPenn introduced her dissertation chapter, "Enrolling Mothers as Reliable Medical Workers: The Thermometer in Turn-of-the-Century Domestic Medicine."

Heidi Voskuhl introduced her paper "Engineers' Philosophy: Social, Technical, and Intellectual Elites in German High Industrialism, 1850 to 1930"

Heidi Voskuhl introduced Donald MacKenzie, "Marx and the Machine," Technology and Culture, Vol. 25, No. 3. (Jul., 1984), pp. 473-502 and David Edgerton, "Innovation, Technology, or History: What is the Historiography of Technology About?", Technology and Culture, Volume 51, Number 3, July 2010, pp. 680-697

Group Conveners

jalexander

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

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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