Research and Scholarly Community
The School of History, Technology, and Society (HTS) graduate students are immersed in a culture of scholarly inquiry and research. Through courses, seminars, and individual meetings, they interact closely with faculty and colleagues who have earned international reputations for their outstanding scholarship. Numerous special initiatives and programs help HTS sustain and reinvigorate this vibrant, creative atmosphere. These include:
Kranzberg Speaker Series
This program brings scholars from around the world to HTS for seminar talks on topics related to science and technology studies. Informal dinners with graduate students and faculty give students a chance to interact with experienced and promising figures in the field. Sessions take place on Friday afternoons periodically throughout the year.
Seminar in the Comparative History and Society (SCHaS)
The SCHaS is an interdisciplinary and interuniversity program that brings historians, sociologists, political scientists, and other scholars to Atlanta to participate in an annual speaker series. It is coordinated by HTS at Georgia Tech, the Department of History at Georgia State University, and the Department of Sociology at Emory University. In recent years, several prominent scholars have participated: Frances Fox Piven (political science), Jonathan Spencer (history), Charles Kurzman (sociology), Catherine Hall (history), Ken Alder (history), Sylvia Pedraza (sociology), Tony Judt (history), and Thomas Laqueur (history).
The SCHaS also coordinates a biennial graduate student seminar that is co-taught by faculty from each of three universities. This seminar — which fulfills a requirement in HTS — allows students to meet graduate students at other schools in Atlanta, as well as to meet and study with faculty at other schools. One session each year is devoted to the winner of the Bellon Prize, which is awarded to the best paper written by a graduate student in the three participating programs.
Graduate Forum
The Graduate Forum meets monthly on Friday afternoons to consider a paper pre-circulated by an HTS graduate student. Sessions begin with a short presentation by the student and brief comments from a student and a faculty member, followed by open discussion. Students organize each session, and the School provides refreshments. The Forum gives students an opportunity to get feedback on research papers and dissertations chapters and to preview upcoming presentations at scholarly conferences.
Graduate Professionalization Workshops
Every semester HTS hosts a number of professional development workshops to help graduate students succeed as students and professionals and to prepare them for a career after graduation. Faculty, alumni, and advanced graduate students are invited to lead the workshops. Topics of the workshops include, but are not limited to how to prepare a conference paper and presentation, how to submit an article to a journal, how to transform a dissertation into articles and a book, interviewing for a job, and writing proposals and securing grants.
Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) and Technology and Culture (T&C) at Tech
The HTS has a long history of engagement with the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), the leading professional society in history of technology, and its journal, Technology and Culture (T&C). Former HTS professor Melvin Kranzberg was a founding member of T&C and served as a SHOT president, as did former professor Bruce Sinclair. Current professor Steve Usselman continues the tradition with a two-year stint as president beginning in January 2007. The School’s close ties of SHOT and T&C enrich graduate students’ exposure to leading scholars and research.
Center for Women, Science, and Technology (WST)
An interdisciplinary center based in Ivan Allen College, the Center for Women, Science, and Technology (WST) conducts a variety of research and educational programs on campus. Graduate students in HTS frequently assist in conducting research and organizing programs, such as speakers series, conferences, and workshops.