Prospective applicants who would like to know more about our program and the application process are encouraged to attend the HASTS Prospective Student Visit Day, which will be held via Zoom on Friday, October 3, 2025.

Registration is now open! Register here. Registration closes on Friday, September 26, 2025. 

Please note the attendance for small group discussions with HASTS faculty and current HASTS students is limited. If you indicate that “I’d like to attend” for either small group session, you will receive a separate email confirmation to let you know if you were assigned to a group or if you are on a waitlist. The full agenda is posted here.

If you would like to join our email list and receive relevant updates, please fill out this short form.

American Physics from the Cold War to Neoliberal Order, 1962-1991

Julia Menzel
Wednesday, July 30, 2025

1:00pm – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
On campus: E51-275

Dissertation Committee

David Kaiser
Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science (STS)
Professor of Physics
Committee Chair

Christopher Capozzola
Elting E. Morison Professor of History
Senior Associate Dean for Open Learning

William Deringer
Associate Professor of Science, Technology, and Society

Stefan Helmreich
Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology

Cross-STS is a workshop and seminar series hosted by PhD students in HASTS. 

When: 11am-1pm on Friday, March 7, 2025

Where: TBD

RSVP required? Yes, please RSVP here. More details in the graphic and text below.

The first Cross-STS roundtable discussion of the winter/spring 2025 semester is set to take place 7 March from 11:00-1:00, on campus. The title of the event is “Technologies of Violence and Occupation, from Palestine and Beyond.” Please see the below flyer for a link to the event description and registration form. You may also access it directly via bit.ly/XSTS25.

Registrants will receive e-mail communication some days before the event with the precise location. We ask interested parties to confirm their attendance as promptly as possible so as to allow maximal time for planning food and other logistics.

The already noteworthy intellectual contributions of our three panelists and our moderator suggest that the conversation about this urgent topic will be rich and lively. On behalf of the student organizing committee, we look forward to seeing you there!

Making Energy Work: Enacting Renewable Transitions in the Deserts of Chile and California

Caroline White-Nockleby
Friday, January 24, 2025

10:00 am – 12:00 pm (Eastern Time)
On campus: E51-095

Dissertation Committee
Stefan Helmreich
Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology
Committee Chair

Eden Medina
Professor of Science, Technology, and Society (STS)

Christine Walley
SHASS Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Anthropology

Elizabeth Emma Ferry
Professor of Anthropology
Brandeis University

Manuel Prieto
Professor of Geography
Universidad de Tarapacá

Crafting Cannabinoid Capitalisms: Health, Sustainability, and Regeneration in the United States

Alexander Nicholas Rewegan
Friday, January 24, 2025

2:30 pm – 4:30 pm (Eastern Time)
On campus: E51-095

Dissertation Committee
Heather Paxson
Associate Dean for Faculty, MIT School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Committee Chair

Stefan Helmreich
Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology

Amy Moran-Thomas
Associate Professor of Anthropology

Michael Polson
Director, Cannabis Research Center
Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management
University of California, Berkeley