Book Manuscript Workshops
Ekaterina Babintseva
Short bio: Dr. Babintseva is a historian of science and technology with a focus on the history of computing, data, and mind sciences in the 20th century. She is currently finishing her first book Learning with Machines in the Cold War United States and the Soviet Union , which examines a connection between pedagogical computing—a movement to build special teaching computers that would replace human instructors in the US and the USSR—and artificial intelligence (AI) research. The book explores assumptions and theories about human thinking and learning, showing how these projects shaped questions about cognition and machine intelligence and influenced diverse domains of computer automation of reason.
Manuscript Title: Cyberdreams of the Information Age: Learning with Machines in the Cold War United States and the Soviet Union
Workshop Date: September 15–17, 2025
Kim Fernandes
Short bio: Dr. Fernandes is a researcher, writer, and educator whose work explores the intersections of disability, data, and emerging technologies. They are a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, and an affiliate at Data & Society and the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life. Kim is also Managing Editor of Platypus , an interdisciplinary science studies blog, and holds a joint PhD (with distinction) in Anthropology & Education from the University of Pennsylvania.
Manuscript Title: Measuring Like a Market: Disability, Data and Governance in Urban India
Workshop Date: May 13, 2026
Miguel Ohnesorge
Short bio: Dr. Ohnesorge is a philosopher and historian of science and an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Boston University. His book project, Newton’s Open Problem: Earth’s Figure and Universal Gravitation (under contract with Oxford University Press), reconstructs how early modern scientists tested the universality of Newtonian gravitation. His broader research examines the foundations and limits of quantitative measurement in science.
Manuscript Title: Newton’s Open Problem: Earth’s Figure and Universal Gravitation
Workshop Date: To be confirmed
Lijing Jiang
Short bio: Dr. Jiang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of the History of Science and Technology at Johns Hopkins University. She is a historian of modern life sciences whose work explores how epistemic and cultural interpretations of organisms have shaped knowledge production in biology and biotechnology. Her first book project, The Entangled Model Fish , traces how goldfish, medaka, and zebrafish became model organisms in twentieth-century China, Japan, and the United States, revealing the transnational and cultural dynamics that informed the rise of zebrafish research.
Manuscript Title: The Entangled Model Fish
Workshop Date: March 27, 2026
AJI Writing Retreat
Dates: July 6–12, 2026
Theme: Context of Discovery in Science and Technology
Partnership Announcement
AJI launches new partnership with Release Peace to support the AJI Scholars Program.
(Two additional co-sponsorships will be provided later; space reserved for updates.)
Previous Events
We want to thank Riana Betzler for her excellent talk, “The Problem of Isolating and Measuring Empathy”, last Friday in the Philosophy Department. Dr. Betzler is a professor at San José State University studying the philosophy of science and ethics. We also enjoyed her company as a "local expert" at Dr. Serife Tekin's Book Manuscript Workshop at the Spigner House. Betzler, now an AJI veteran, attended the AJI's inaugural Writer's Retreat hosted at the Ampersand Inn last June. We are proud to be a part of bringing scholars together in a collegial and connected environment where science and technology studies thrive.
We wanted to extend a special thank you to Professor Serife Tekin, as well as the visiting expert reviewers, Dr. Rachel Ankeny, Dr. Miriam Solomon, and Dr. Daniel Kelly for participating in the book manuscript workshop that we hosted on Monday, the 19th of February. Tekin's book, Reclaiming the Self in Psychiatry: Centering Personal Narratives for a Humanist Science, aims to offer a model for which we can better center the philosophical concept of the self within psychiatry. We are happy to be a part of the writing process and are excited to read the published book!
The first annual Ann Johnson Institute Writer’s Retreat was a roaring success. In a bucolic setting complete with a pool and local state park, our scholars completed a host of projects, from book manuscripts to research articles. Attendees said the collegiality and support they found during the retreat enriched their experience. One reported that the week was a “rare and extraordinary opportunity to think more broadly and creatively about my work,” noting that it helped her create “a community of kind and smart scholars I plan to continue to connect with into the future.” We hope you come back to our to apply for the 2024 cohort.
The Ann Johnson Institute for Science, Technology and Society is excited to announce the 2023/2024 Book Manuscript Workshop authors.
Congratulations to our authors-- this promises to be an exciting and fascinating season.
Dr. Serife Tekin
Reclaiming the Self in Psychiatry: Centering Personal Narratives for a Humanist Science
Dr. Cassius Adair
The Transgender Internet. [Hosted at the Computer History Museum]
Dr. Elaine LaFay
At the Tropics Brink: Climates of Disease and Empire in the Nineteenth Century U.S. Gulf South
March 13, 2023
Special Location: the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California
On March 13, 2023, the AJI and the Computer History Museum will co-host their first Book Manuscript workshop for Dr. Sarah Appelhans, on Precarity on the Bleeding Edge: Navigating Gender and Immigration Status in Semiconductor Engineering.
Dr. Appelhans is an anthropologist and postdoctoral research assistant at Bucknell University. She is currently the resident social scientist in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at Bucknell, exploring how to teach undergraduate engineers to work on complex
sociotechnical problems in interdisciplinary teams. Her book investigates the intersections of gender, race/ethnicity, and immigration status in the high-velocity semiconductor industry.
We look forward to a fruitful partnership with the Computer History Museum’s David Brock, a historian of technology, the museum’s Director of Curatorial Affairs, and an AJI Board Member. We expect a rich conversation combined with the excitement of working in a new setting. We hope attendees will sneak in a visit to the CHM while they are onsite.
March 16-18, 2023
The &HSP, or the organization for Integrated History and Philosophy of Science, will take place at the University of South Carolina in the spring of 2023. Hosted by the Ann Johnson Institute, we look forward to welcoming keynote speakers Alisa Bokulich from Boston University and Gregory Radick from the University of Leeds. We expect to welcome scholars from various countries and around the United States. For more information about this conference, please visit the conference website.
The Ann Johnson Institute will sponsor a panel and bring in scholars from London and the United States to share their insights. Institute co-director Leah McClimans will present in this group. For more details, check back in early 2023.
March 27, 2023
Location: Spigner House
On March 27, 2023, the AJI welcomes Drs. Record and Miller for a book manuscript workshop on Inter‐Knowledge: Trust, Information, and Belief in a Digital Age.
Dr. Record is a Professor of Teaching in History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science at Lyman Briggs College, Michigan State University. His research seeks to situate our epistemic and ethical circumstances within a network of values, capabilities, and material and social technologies. Dr. Miller is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Management Information Systems, Zefat Academic College. He works in the philosophy of science and technology and social epistemology.
We are excited to welcome them to campus and look forward to another enriching and lively discussion.
Book Manuscript Workshop for Rachel Ankeny's project In Defense of Medical Cases, information forthcoming.
Professor Rachel A. Ankeny is an interdisciplinary teacher and scholar whose areas of expertise cross three fields: history/philosophy of science particularly biological and biomedical sciences, bioethics and science policy, and food studies. She is an Honorary Visiting Professor in the College of Social Science and International Studies (Philosophy) at the University of Exeter (UK) and editor in chief of Studies in History & Philosophy of Science.
Diving into Math with Emmy Noether comes to the University of South Carolina! A theatre performance by portraittheater
Vienna in co-operation with Freie Universität Berlin. Director: Sandra Schüddekopf,
Actress: Anita Zieher. Sponsored by the Ann Johnson Institute.
Preview the play on YouTube.
The AJI held a Book Manuscript Worship for Dr. Elizabeth Rodwell (Digital Media Information and Logistics Technology, Rice University). This workshop featured Dr. Roswell’s work Push the Button: Interactive Television and Collaborative Journalism in Japan. Push the Button explores the results of unprecedented access to the Japanese television industry and, based on 18 months of fieldwork among broadcast and print journalists, contributes to a mission within the fields of anthropology and communication studies to understand how creative professionals are adapting to ongoing technological change and obsolescence within their fields. Dr. Shultz (Professor of Journalism, Department of Journalism, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) and Dr. Condry (Cultural Anthropologist and Director of MIT’s Spatial Sound Lab) presented as expert reviewers. For more on the author and expert reviewers, click on the links below.
Elizabeth Rodwell, Author.
Ian Condry, Expert.
Tanjev Shultz, Expert.
Alliston Marsh, AJI Co-Director.
Leah McClimans, AJI Co-Director
Thank you for joining us in April 2022 for our first AJI + Columbia event: Climate Ready Columbia. This event gathered folks from around the city and the region. While the conversation on climate change often focuses on national and state efforts, the conference spotlights local and municipal policy options. The conference included 14 expert panels as well as a keynote speech. Please visit the full event page for more information.
November 15, 2021:
The AJI held a Book Manuscript Workshop for Dr. Rosalind Donald (Rosenstiel School
of Climate Risks & Preparedness, University of Miami). This workshop featured Dr.
Donald’s work Greenlining: Environmental policies, Segregation, and Displacement in Miami from the
New Deal to the Climate Crisis. Greenlining investigates the relationship between environmental policies and displacement in
Miami-Dade, an area that is increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change
and the second-most unequal in the United States. Dr. Andrew Ross (Social and Cultural
Analysis, New York University) and Dr. Julie Sze (American Studies, UC- Davis) presented
as expert reviewers. See links to the participants below with bios and further information.
Rosalind Donald, Author.
Andrew Ross, Expert.
Julie Sze, Expert.
The AJI held a Book Manuscript Workshop for Dr. Monica Barra (Anthropology, University
of South Carolina). This workshop featured Dr. Barra's work Good Sediment: Race, Geology and the Politics of Land Loss which is an ethnography that considers the complicated ways scientists and residents
conceptualize Louisiana's "losing a football field per hour" land loss crisis in the
context of historic and contemporary race relations in southeast Louisiana. Dr. Jessica
Cattelino (Anthropology, University of California - Los Angeles) and Dr. Amelia Moore
(Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island) presented as expert reviewers. For more on the author and expert presenters, click on the links below.
Monica Barra, Author.
Jessica Cattelino, Expert.
Amelia Moore, Expert.