Berkeley Program in Science and Technology Studies

The Berkeley program in STS brings together a diverse community of scholars studying the origins, growth, and consequences of scientific and technological knowledge and practice. Focusing on the changing conditions of knowledge production today, cutting-edge theoretical and conceptual inquiry, and engagement with public policy, the Program welcomes the participation of members from any department, including faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, undergraduates, and visiting scholars. Program activities include the combined History of Science and STS Working Group, the Special Project on Science and Technology Governance, the graduate Designated Emphasis in STS, the Undergraduate Course Thread in Sciences and Society, and contributing speakers to the CSTMS colloquium series.

What is STS?

Science & Technology Studies has the capacity to forge new thinking and new collaborations at the intersection of the sciences and society.

As a multidisciplinary field with a signature capacity to rethink the relationship among science, technology, and political and social life, Science & Technology Studies is particularly well placed to address the critical problems of the 21st century. From global climate change to the reanimation of race through genomics, from political movements galvanized through new media, to efforts to improve access to medicines for the world’s poor, the pressing problems of our time are simultaneously scientific and social, technological and political, ethical and economic.

Given the complex nature of our world, entrenched disciplinary divides have become increasingly untenable as the basis for research, and for the training of scholars and social actors. Science & Technology Studies is drawing the interest of ever-increasing numbers of students and faculty because of its unique ability to help us understand the complexity of contemporary and historical problems, and because it can help us craft intellectual projects and modes of engagement that reflect this complexity more fully. Several generations of innovative work in the philosophy, history, rhetoric, and social studies of science and technology have generated influential languages, platforms, and methods for understanding the interplay between science, technology, and social-political formations — domains that are too often treated separately. This virtue is being recognized and reflected in the growing interest in the field: Science & Technology Studies is one of the fastest growing areas in the social sciences and humanities, nationwide and internationally.

Disciplinary lines and research landscapes are starting to shift in directions anticipated by Science & Technology Studies. National directives now encourage the participation of social scientists in engineering research; medical schools increasingly require applicants to train in the humanities; and emerging fields such as ‘green chemistry’ demand heterodox approaches to thinking about environmental and social parameters, the properties of chemical substances, and shifting industrial horizons. Meanwhile, cutting-edge work in the humanities and social sciences has made science and technology central to the humanistic project, examining for example, the past and future of the book, historical and contemporary foundations of race and racial identity, or ethical debates over biomedicine and the boundaries of the body. Indeed, the humanities and social sciences are recognized as key fields from which crucial questions about science and technology emerge, helping us understand when and why particular research programs become dominant, attending to the effects and implications of new technologies and knowledges, and placing ethical and social inquiries at the center of scientific enterprises. Science and Technology Studies organizes and galvanizes precisely these kinds inquiries and approaches.

Faculty

STSC-affiliated Faculty

David Bates	Professor, Department of Rhetoric
Cori Hayden	Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
Lawrence Cohen	Professor, Department of Anthropology
Charles Briggs	Alan Dundes Distinguished Professor, Anthropology
Clair Brown	Professor, Department of Economics Chair, Center for Work, Technology and Society, Institute of Industrial Relations
Jenna Burrell	Associate Professor, iSchool
Cathryn Carson	Professor, History
James Casey	Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Mel Chen	Associate Professor, Department of Gender & Women's Studies
Adele Clarke	Professor Emerita of Sociology & Adjunct Professor Emerita of History of Health Sciences, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences University of California, San Francisco
Marianne Constable	Professor, Department of Rhetoric
Brian Dolan	Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine Director, Graduate Programs in History of Health Sciences Director, UC Medical Humanities Consortium University of California, San Francisco
Frederick Dolan	Professor Emeritus, Department of Rhetoric (UCB) Professor & Dean of Graduate Studies, Humanities (CCA) California College of the Arts
Vincanne Adams	Professor, Anthropology, History and Social Medicine University of California, San Francisco
John A. Douglass	Senior Research Fellow, Center for Studies in Higher Education
Daniel Farber	Sato Sho Professor of Law, Boalt School of Law Faculty Co-Director, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment
Marion Fourcade	Professor, Department of Sociology
Evelyn Nakano Glenn	Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies Professor, Department of Gender and Women's Studies Director, Center for Race and Gender
Kenneth Goldberg	Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
Deborah Gordon	Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine University of California, San Francisco
Bronwyn Hall	Professor Emerita, Department of Economics
Jodi Halpern	Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities, School of Public Health and the Joint Medical Program
John Harte	Professor, Energy and Resources Group
Jennifer Johnson-Hanks	Professor, Departments of Demography and Sociology
Donna V. Jones	Associate Professor, Department of English
William Kastenberg	Professor Emeritus, Department of Nuclear Engineering
Sharon Kaufman	Chair, Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine Professor Emerita, Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine, UCSF University of California, San Francisco
Ann Keller	Assistant Professor, School of Public Health
Jake Kosek	Associate Professor, Department of Geography
John Lie	C.K. Cho Professor, Department of Sociology
Kristin Luker	Professor, Boalt School of Law Professor, Department of Sociology
Carolyn Merchant	Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Deirdre K. Mulligan	Associate Professor, School of Information
Greg Niemeyer	Associate Professor, Department of Art Practice
Aihwa Ong	Professor, Department of Anthropology , East & Southeast Asian Studies Blum Program in Developing Economies , Global Metropolitan Studies
Nancy Lee Peluso	Henry J. Vaux Distinguished Professor of Forest Policy, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Dorothy Porter	Professor, Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine University of California, San Francisco
Paul Rabinow	Professor, Department of Anthropology
Leigh Raiford	Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies
Francesca Rochberg	Professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies
Christine Rosen	Associate Professor, Haas School of Business Associate Director, Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry
Pamela Samuelson	Professor, iSchool Professor, Boalt School of Law Co-Director, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology
AnnaLee Saxenian	Dean, iSchool Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning
Nathan Sayre	Associate Professor, Department of Geography
Harry N. Scheiber	Professor, Boalt School of Law Director, Institute for Legal Research Director, Sho Sato Program in Japanese and U.S. Law
Nancy Scheper-Hughes	Professor, Department of Anthropology Director, Organs Watch
Janet Shim	Associate Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences University of California, San Francisco
David J. Teece	Professor, Haas School of Business Director, Institute for Business Innovation Faculty Director, Institute for Business Innovation
Nancy Van House	Emerita Professor, School of Information
Elizabeth Watkins	Professor, Anthropology, History and Social Medicine University of California, San Francisco
Steven Weber	Professor, Department of Political Science Professor, School of Information
Michael Wintroub	Associate Professor, Department of Rhetoric
Alexei Yurchak	Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
Alastair Iles	Associate Director, STSC Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management
Minoo Moallem	Professor, Department of Gender and Women's Studies
John E. Lesch	Professor Emeritus, Department of History
Thomas Laqueur	Co-Director, PMH Professor Emeritus, Department of History
Rosemary Joyce	Professor, Anthropology
Seth M. Holmes	Martin Sisters Endowed Chair, Associate Professor, School of Public Health Co-Director, MD/PhD Track in Medical Anthropology, Department of Anthropology Co-Chair, Berkeley Center for Social Medicine
Lisa Allette Brooks	Research Fellow, CSTMS
Morgan G. Ames	Associate Director of Research and Chair of the Designated Emphasis in STS Assistant Adjunct Professor, School of Information
Rachel Morello-Frosch	Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management Professor, School of Public Health
Sarah Vaughn	Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Hannah Zeavin	CSTMS Faculty Assistant Professor, Department of History Assistant Professor, The Berkeley Center for New Media
Ashton Wesner	CSTMS Research Fellow
Amani M. Allen	Associate Professor, School of Public Health
Brandi Thompson Summers	Faculty Assistant Professor, Geography and Global Metropolitan Studies
Timothy Tangherlini	CSTMS Faculty Affiliate Professor, Department of Scandinavian Graduate Advisor, Folklore Program
Tom McEnaney	CSTMS Faculty Affiliate Associate Professor, Comparative Literature and Spanish & Portuguese
Shreeharsh Kelkar	CSTMS Faculty Affiliate Lecturer, Interdisciplinary Studies Field
Carisa Harris	CSTMS Faculty Affiliate Assistant Professor, School of Public Health Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine Director, Ergonomics Graduate Training Program University of California, San Francisco
Mark Fleming	Assistant Professor of Health and Social Behavior, School of Public Health
Elizabeth Hoover	CSTMS Faculty Affiliate Associate Professor, Environmental Science Policy and Management
Thomas M. Philip	Faculty Affiliate Professor, Graduate School of Education
Akash Kumar	Assistant Professor, Italian Studies

Visiting Scholar Program

Visiting Scholars and Visiting Students are a vital part of the life of the Center, providing a continual source of new ideas and integrating with our active community events. The Center hosts several visiting scholars and students each year and maintains a lively collaboration with centers abroad. Read more

Current STSC Visiting Scholars

Jillian R. Yarbrough	Visiting Scholar Clinical Assistant and Virginia Engler Professor of Management, West Texas A&M University
Maria Elvira Callapez	Visiting Scholar Research Fellow, CIUHCT, FCUL
Brian Freer	Visiting Scholar Research Affiliate, Department of Nuclear Engineering North Carolina State University
Tamara Kneese	Visiting Scholar Senior Researcher and Project Director, Data & Society Research Institute, Algorithmic Impact Methods Lab
Beom-Jun Seo	Visiting Scholar Medical manager of oncology, neuro immunology, Merck KGaA
Megan Finn	Visiting Scholar Associate Professor, University of Washington's Information School
Nuno Martins	Visiting Scholar Research Fellow, PMH, CSTMS, University of California Berkeley
Ricky Wichum	Visiting Scholar Lecturer (Oberassistent), Chair of History of Technology, ETH Zurich
Anna Molas	Visiting Scholar Juan de la Cierva Fellow (AFIN Research Group), Autonomous University of Barcelona Monash University
Maryam Firoozi	Visiting Scholar Associate Professor, Accounting Carleton University

Graduate Program

The Designated Emphasis (DE) in Science and Technology Studies (STS) is a new program of training in the social studies of science, technology, and medicine for Berkeley PhD students from any home department. Students who are accepted into the program, and who complete its requirements, will be in a strong position to excel within STS-related fields. Read more

Current Graduate Students

Freyja Knapp	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Environmental Science Policy & Management
Ryan Whitacre	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Medical Anthropology University of California, San Francisco
Michael D’Arcy	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Medical Anthropology University of California, San Francisco
Victoria Massie	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Anthropology
Radmila Djordjevic	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Anthropology
Lindsay Parham	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Jurisprudence and Social Policy JD Candidate UC Berkeley Law School
Marcus Owens	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Kathleen Powers	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Rhetoric
Laura Moreno	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Energy and Resources Group
Gil Breger	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Near Eastern Studies
Shakirah Esmail Hudani	PhD Designated Emphasis in DE City and Regional Planning
Jordan Thomas Mursinna	Visiting Lecturer History
Anne Jonas	School of Information
Spencer Adams	Rhetoric
Adrian Wilson	Anthropology
Nain Martinez	Environmental Science, Policy & Management
Nicholas Anderman	Geography
Niklas Lollo	Energy and Resources Group
Kaily Heitz	Geography
Savannah Cox	City and Regional Planning
Elizabeth Hargrett	Graduate Student History
Henry Schmidt	STS DE Student History
Mauricio Najarro	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Medical Anthropology
Leonora Zoninsein	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Geography
Renata Barreto-Montenegro	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS UC Berkeley School of Law
S.E. Freeman	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS Geography
Reid Whitaker	PhD Designated Emphasis in STS PhD Candidate in Jurisprudence and Social Policy
Brie McLemore	Jurisprudence and Social Policy
Beki McElvain	City and Regional Planning
Seyi Olojo	PhD Candidate School of Information
Michael Montilla	PhD Candidate City and Regional Planning Graduate Student Researcher Institute of Urban and Regional Development
Bernardo Moreno Peniche	PhD Candidate Medical Anthropology University of California, San Francisco
Lisa Ng	PhD Candidate Ethnic Studies
Alara Uçak	Graduate Student History Berkeley

Working Group and Events

The HST/STS Working Group is a group of scholars brought together by shared interest in STS practices and approaches. Our research interests cover topics in environment, technology, development, food, agriculture, and health, both now and in the past. The working group meets periodically to share and discuss works in progress and review key and novel papers in the field. Members are encouraged to make as many meetings as possible, as the intent of the group is to develop a community of scholars with shared knowledge. Read more

If you could like to join us, please sign up to our email list. This list is specific to the working group, and does not cover general STS announcements (which are sent here), or information about Center events and updates (which are here).

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STSC-affiliated Faculty

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Associate Director of Research and Chair of the Designated Emphasis in STS

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Current STSC Visiting Scholars

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Current Graduate Students