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, September 23, 2025, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

Suzanne Moon, University of Oklahoma, "History of Technology: the rebirth of a journal and publishing in our rapidly changing field."

Suzanne Moon is former editor of Technology and Culture and a general editor of the Bloomsbury Cultural History of Technology. She will discuss her latest editorial endeavor: relaunching the journal History of Technology. Please join us for a discussion of publishing in the field of history of technology, what History of Technology will publish and what it is looking for, and what publishing might look like in the future of the field.

Tuesday, October 28, 2025, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

SHOT Debrief! Tuesday, October 28, 1-2:30 EST

Join us for a debrief of the recent SHOT meeting, just held in Luxembourg (Oct. 8-12). Learn what went on if you were not there, and fill us in on what you found interesting if you were (or if you joined virtually). What are people talking about these days in HOT?

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

TBA

Tuesday, December 23, 2025, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST

TBA

Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST

TBA

Tuesday, February 24, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EST

TBA

Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

TBA

Tuesday, April 28, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

TBA

Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

TBA

Past Meetings

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.

 

Benjamin Gross

Benjamin Gross is the John Merritt Associate Director for Research Services at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.  As a member of the senior leadership team, he oversees all aspects of research services, including reading room operations, reference and instruction, and the Center's research fellowship program.  Before relocating to Texas, Gross was Vice President for Research and Scholarship at the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City, Missouri, where he established a new virtual fellowship program to support scholars unable to travel to the Midwest. He has also served as 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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