The community of scholars at MIT’s Program on Science, Technology and Society bring methods from the humanities and social sciences to understanding science, technology, and medicine around the world. Our department includes lively undergraduate and graduate programs, and postgraduate training for science and technology journalists.
By bridging humanities, social sciences, science, technology, and medicine, our department seeks to build relationships among colleagues across the Institute in a shared effort to understand the human challenges at the core of the MIT mission.
On January 27, 2017, President Donald Trump issued an executive order of extraordinary breadth restricting legally recognized refugees and the nationals of seven majority-Muslim countries (including U.S. legal permanent residents) from entry into the United States. As a university community, MIT depends on the open exchange of ideas across borders and has a large number of students who are foreign nationals. The Steering Committee of the HASTS doctoral program therefore finds our basic research and educational mission imperiled by this executive order. We emphatically affirm our support for the members of our HASTS community, and for all MIT faculty, students, and staff, affected by the executive order.
As of January 29, 2017, at least five federal courts – in New York, Virginia, Washington, California, and Massachusetts – have temporarily enjoined enforcement of key parts of the executive order on the grounds that they likely violate due process and equal protection. These injunctions suggest that the President’s directive is being recognized for what it is: a religious test for admission to the United States for the nationals of the seven majority-Muslim nations affected, with a thinly veiled exception for Christians written into the very language of the order. Such a policy recalls some of the most troubling episodes of nineteenth- and twentieth-century U.S. immigration law, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the National Origins Act and Asian Exclusion Act of 1924.
The court orders were preceded and accompanied by major public demonstrations at international airports around the country, most notably at JFK in New York, as well as rallies in major public spaces such as Copley Square in Boston. The outpouring of public support for Muslim immigrants and refugees evokes the best aspects of our nation’s tradition as a haven for those of all races, religions, and backgrounds seeking protection and a new life. It is consistent with the commitment of the HASTS program and MIT to create a diverse community united in its goal to improve our world through research and education.
Stefan Helmreich
Head, Anthropology Program
Elting E. Morison Chair
Professor of Anthropology
Jennifer S. Light
Department Head, Program in STS
Professor of Science, Technology, and Society
Professor of Urban Planning
Jeffrey S. Ravel
Head, History Faculty
Professor of History
Christine J. Walley
Professor of Anthropology
Director of Graduate Studies, HASTS
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Faculty Spotlight: William Deringer
William Deringer is an Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and Society. His research focuses on economic and political knowledge and the practices through which they are made, especially calculations. His research ranges from the early-modern period to the present, and his particular interests include the history of the social sciences, historical and social studies of finance, and the history and sociology of quantification.