On May 8-9, 2026, members of the third year cohort— Tathagat Bhatia, Ambar Reyes, Linda Ridzuan, Odinaka Kingsley Eze, and Danhue Kim (pictured l-r)— presented their dissertation proposals to the HASTS community.
Each of the soon-to-be PhD candidates delivered short remarks about their intended ethnographic and historical research projects (individual titles listed below) and received constructive feedback from fellow students and faculty alike. During the 2026/27 academic year, the cohort will disperse to field sites and historical archives across the globe, gathering data to refine, and ultimately answer, their research questions.
As always, the third years’ projects showcase the vibrant and interdisciplinary work that HASTS students do. The wider community commends the cohort for their hard work and wishes them success as they embark on the next phase of their degree.
Presentation titles and authors are listed below in the order of their delivery:
Cultures of Repair: Microbial Decomposition across Difference on Jeju Island
Selling a Plutonium-Powered Future: How Nuclear Reprocessing was Made, Unmade, and Made Again
Planetary Paperwork: Data Practices and the Making of Third World Earth Science
From Hustle to Infrastructure: The Making of a Transnational Resale Economy
Biafra: A Story of Science, Technology, and Innovation in Africa
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm (Eastern Time)
On campus: E51-095
Dissertation Committee
Christopher Capozzola
Elting Morison Professor of History
MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Committee Chair
Megan Black
Associate Professor of History
Director of Graduate Studies
Harriet Ritvo
Arthur J Conner Professor of History, Emeritus
Saul Zaritt
Assistant Professor and Program Director of Yiddish
Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures
The Ohio State University
Following the successful launch of Contrasts magazine in autumn 2025, the editorial team has announced a call for pitches for Issue 02 on the theme of “fortunes.”
For Issue 02, the team invites submissions that explore the vast and (un)predictable realms of “fortunes.” Whether they’re tucked into cookies, ranked by the dollar on lists of 500, tempted, or chased, fortunes are slippery, contentious things that shape how we choose, desire, imagine, and forge connections with worlds seen and unseen. Fortunes prompt us to critically examine how science and technology shape the ways we sense, influence, predict, and contend with the future.
Pitches are due via this form by 11:59:59 ET on Monday, February 23, 2026. The editors invite submissions from emerging scholars both within academia (from undergrads through early career scholars) and without (including artists and designers).You can read more about the theme, the types of features they welcome, and how to pitch your submission, at contrastsmag.net.
About the magazine:
Contrasts is an online magazine featuring works that can speak to a broad audience about the intersections of science, technology, and society. Through multiple genres—including creative nonfiction, visual essays, and short films—Contrasts aims to foster critical reflection on STEM projects by making visible the politics and social contexts of science, technology, and medicine.
Contrasts is sponsored by the doctoral program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society at MIT and edited by its graduate students.
This October, the MIT Program in History, Anthropology, and STS (HASTS) launched Contrasts, a magazine of public facing works that intersect science, technology, and society. It is edited and produced by graduate students of the HASTS PhD program.
Contrasts‘s editorial collective includes editors-in-chief Alona Bach, Hina Walajahi, and Gwendolyn Wallace, as well as Thea Appelbaum Licht, Tathagat Bhatia, Danhue Kim, Xinche Zheng, and Boyd Ruamcharoen PhD ’25. The initiative’s faculty advisor is Kate Brown, the Thomas M. Siebel Distinguished Professor in History of Science at MIT.
Oriented around the theme of “portals,” the inaugural issue of the magazine was released on Thursday, October 30th at a celebration that took place in MIT’s Hayden Library. The event featured zine-making, food, and a DJ set curated by Rustam Khan.
To view Contrasts online, readers may visit the magazine’s website at www.contrastsmag.net.
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.
1:00pm – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
On campus: E51-275
Dissertation Committee
1:00pm – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
On campus: E51-095
Dissertation Committee
Christopher Capozzola
Elting E. Morison Professor of History
Senior Associate Dean for Open Learning
Committee Chair
Stefan Helmreich
Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology
Kate Brown
Thomas M. Siebel Distinguished Professor in History of Science (STS)
Megan Black
Associate Professor of History
RSVP required? Yes, please RSVP here. More details in the graphic and text below.
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
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