Principal Investigators Christine Walley , Malick Ghachem , Kate Brown , Megan Black
Co-investigators Manduhai Buyandelger , Stefan Helmreich , William Broadhead , Louis Bucciarelli , Christopher Capozzola , Michael Fischer , Deborah Fitzgerald , James Howe , Erica James , David Kaiser , Amy Moran-Thomas , Kenneth Manning , Anne McCants , David Mindell , Theodore Postol , Jeffrey Ravel , Harriet Ritvo , Susan Silbey , Eugene Skolnikoff , Merritt Smith , Sherry Turkle , Rosalind Williams , Elizabeth Wood , JoAnne Yates , Clapperton Mavhunga , Bettina Stoetzer , Craig Wilder
Project Website https://hasts.mit.edu/
MIT’s Doctoral Program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS) trains scholars to study science and technology as activities situated in social and cultural contexts. HASTS faculty examine expert as well as popular engagement with the processes and products of technological and scientific work, and conduct research across a spectrum of geographical areas and historical periods.
The doctoral program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS) at MIT, founded in 1988, is a unique interdisciplinary academic community devoted to studying the social, cultural, and political life of science and technology. Located within MIT’s School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, HASTS faculty work with students to develop original scholarship on the historical foundations and contemporary implications of scientific and technological knowledge and practice.
As a culmination of their work, HASTS students complete dissertations that intervene in scholarly and public conversations about the role of science in society. After graduation, students go on to careers in academia, public service, and private industry.
HASTS is a collaborative program sponsored by three MIT academic units: History, Anthropology (course 21A), and Science, Technology, and Society (course STS). Faculty members from these three units share responsibility for teaching graduate courses and for working with students in individual tutorials, reading courses, dissertation research, and more.
The Doctoral Program is governed by a Steering Committee, which consists of the Director of Graduate Studies and the faculty heads of the three participating units. A faculty member from STS, History, or Anthropology serves as the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). Administration of the Doctoral Program is the responsibility of STS.
HASTS faculty members represent the highest levels of academic and investigative achievement across a range of disciplines. As teachers, mentors, and advisors, they help our students shape and launch their research projects -- and their careers. They are each affiliated with one of the participating units at MIT: Anthropology, History, or STS.