The School of History and Sociology (HSOC) is one of six schools in Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. Our interdisciplinary faculty consists of scholars and educators in history, sociology, philosophy, and archaeology.
From our unique vantage point as a liberal arts school in a world-renowned technological university, we examine the dynamics of modern globalization, analyzing societies and nations as they experience rapid scientific discovery and profound technological change. Located in the economic and cultural hub of the U.S. South, we analyze and address the enduring legacies and emerging challenges of our communities, our region, and the world.
Our faculty have a broad array of interests and expertise and are widely published in their fields. Among the diversity of specializations, we emphasize four core research areas:
- Science, Technology, and Medicine
- Politics, Power, and Inequalities
- Communities, Places, and the Environment
- Social Justice and Social Change
Within each of these topics, we explore historical and sociological issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, and other relations of power. Our work covers diverse geographical locations around the globe.
Explore our faculty page to learn more about each faculty member’s work, or visit the featured research page for a closer look at some of the research we produce.
Research Areas
Science, Technology, and Medicine
- Laura Bier — History of food and agriculture in the Middle East
- Andrew Buskell — History and philosophy of science (20th and 21st century; cognitive, biological, and social science)
- Bhumika Chauhan — Automation of work; artificial intelligence; technical workers; technology and global production
- Helen Anne Curry — History of science and technology; history of life and environmental sciences; history of food and agriculture (20th and 21st Century)
- Taylor Dysart — History of medicine and science; human, mind, and life sciences (19th – 21st centuries); history and anthropology of drugs
- Allison Mickel — Scientific practice and knowledge production in archaeology
- Amit Prasad — Science and technology studies; global, transnational, and postcolonial aspects of science, technology, and medicine
- Eric Schatzberg — History of technology
- Jennifer Singh — Sociology of medicine and health; science, technology, and medicine studies; medical, scientific, and health inequities
- John Tone — History of medicine
- Germán Vergara — History of science; species extinctions; paleontology in Latin America; history of conservation; evolutionary thought in Latin America
Politics, Power, and Inequalities
- Daniel Amsterdam — Modern U.S. political history
- Laura Bier — History of gender in the Middle East; history of decolonization in the Middle East; history of international development in Egypt
- Kate Pride Brown — Theories of power; authoritarianism; globalization; post-communist and post-socialist societies; environmental politics
- Kamal Budak — How political exile, minority status, and transnational movements shape the lives of Muslim immigrant families
- Andrew Buskell — Scientific authority; anthropology, ethnography, and the politics of culture
- Carla Gerona — Colonialism in early America and the borderlands; Indigenous history
- Allen Hyde — Causes and consequences of economic inequality; work and labor unions; education, learning, and youth
- Christopher Lawton — American slavery and its legacies; 18th - 20th Century U.S. South
- Kimya Loder — Black civic and political engagement; Black feminist, queer, and trans* critique
- Hanchao Lu — Politics of everyday life
- Mary McDonald — Cultural studies of sport; intersectionality and sport; inequality, sport, and U.S. culture
- Todd Michney — Federal housing policy; homeownership; discrimination in employment
- Sanyu Mulira — Decolonization in the African Diaspora; non-sovereign French Caribbean; Black nationalist movements/state building
- Sherie Randolph — History of Black feminist thought and practice
- Johnny Smith — Politics of American sports; sports and civil rights; modern U.S. political history
- Costas Spirou — Urban politics and policy
- Victoria Thompson — Politics and culture in France; French Revolution
- John Tone — Spain, Cuba, and French Revolution politics; European history, insurgency
- Juliana Viezure — Ancient and medieval power structures; development of Christian institutions; development of Papal and Episcopal power in late antiquity
- Bill Winders — National policies, social movements, agricultural and food policies; global/development
- Calvin Zimmermann — Educational inequality; structural racism; intersectionality
Communities, Places, and the Environment
- Kate Pride Brown — Environmental activism; water and energy policy
- Kamal Budak — Muslim immigrant families: identity, belonging, and religious socialization
- Bhumika Chauhan — Global capitalism; global labor activism; transnational research
- Helen Anne Curry — Environmental history of North America; history of scientific communities and research institutions
- Tayler Dysart — Folk and Indigenous knowledges; plant studies; Indigenous sovereignty in Latin America.
- Carla Gerona — Studies of place; museum studies; public history
- Allen Hyde — Urban ecology; migration/immigration; segregation; Atlanta, Georgia; Morocco; South Africa
- Christopher Lawton — Place-based humanities; public-facing humanities; environmental humanities; rural Georgia
- Hanchao Lu — Asian urban history
- Todd Michney — African American neighborhoods; Black-owned businesses; urban history; local history
- Allison Mickel — Community-led archaeology; local and global cultural heritage; Jordan; Turkey
- Amit Prasad — Global and transnational connected histories and socialities
- Costas Spirou — Culture industries and urban revitalization; higher education and economic development; innovation and entrepreneurship
- Victoria Thompson — The use and meaning of public urban spaces
- Germán Vergara — Global environmental change; species extinctions; environmental ideas in Latin America; history of energy; conservation policy; history of animals
- Julianna Viezure — Formation of Christian identity; cult of saints; orthodoxy and heresy
- Yaqi “Sam” Yuan — Cross-national studies of healthcare system/s
Social Justice and Social Change
- Kimya Loder — Social movements and collective action; social movement organizations
- Sherie Randolph — Social movements in the postwar era and the links between the Black Power movement, civil rights activism, New Left organizing, and feminism
- Eric Schatzberg — Social movements to control technology; Critique of technology
- Jennifer Singh — Public sociology; Intersectionality; Health racial justice
- Bill Winders — Social movements
- Yaqi “Sam” Yuan — Shifts in opinions on healthcare over time
- Calvin Zimmermann — Racial justice in education; public sociology; participatory action research