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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, Department of 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, Department of 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, Department of 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

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
Faculty

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).