Cohen Hall

Sam H. Franz

Doctoral Candidate2020 Cohort

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My research focuses on the material conditions that enable and constrain the production and transmission of knowledge, intersecting with histories of science and technology, political economy, and histories of education.

My dissertation project explores the relationship between computing infrastructure and transformations in US universities in the 20th century. I investigate the way that questions about the future of work, the role of higher education in economic development, and the future of computing were intertwined in 20th century US history, from early statistics laboratories and calculating centers to modern computer science. 
 

My previous work explored the so-called "complexity sciences" and their connection to the life sciences and computing sciences in the early history of US digital computing and artificial intelligence. 

Education

B.A., University of Michigan, History & German

Research Interests

History of Science & Technology; History of Computing; Political Economy; Intellectual History; Materialist History of Science; Historical Epistemology; History of Higher Education; (Critical) University Studies