The School of History and Sociology 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:
- Communities, Places, and the Environment
- Politics, Power, and Inequalities
- Science, Technology, and Medicine
- 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.
Communities, Places, and the Environment
HSOC faculty research in Communities, Places, and the Environment examines environmental, cultural, historical, and social perspectives of communities and places.
Research focuses on local-global connections, identity, social justice, and human-environment interactions.
Key Areas
- Global, transnational, and economic connections
- Indigenous and local knowledge
- Religion, culture, and identity
- Science, knowledge, and institutions
- Social, urban, regional, and local histories
- The environment, policy, and activism
Science, Technology, and Medicine
HSOC faculty research in Science, Technology, and Medicine examines national, transnational, global, and postcolonial aspects of science, technology, and medicine from the 19th to the 21st century.
Research explores these topics through historical, sociological, philosophical, and archeological perspectives.
Key Areas
Food, agriculture, and the environment
History and philosophy of science
History and sociology of medicine
History of technology
Postcolonial science and medicine
Science and technology studies
Technology, labor, and global production
Politics, Power, and Inequalities
HSOC faculty research in Politics, Power, and Inequalities encompasses historical, cultural, economic, and institutional analyses of power and inequality, with a strong focus on race, gender, and intersectionality.
Research spans a range of local contexts, including urban, educational, and labor settings, as well as global perspectives, such as colonial, postcolonial, and development politics.
Key Areas
Colonialism and historical legacies
Culture, sport, and politics
Education and youth
Labor, economy, and inequality
Political histories and state power
Theories of power and governance
Social Justice and Social Change
HSOC faculty research in Social Justice and Social Change examines the historical and contemporary interplay between social movements, inequality, and knowledge practices, demonstrating how struggles for justice unfold across various political, social, technological, and institutional terrains.
Research in this area also emphasizes the importance of public engagement that links scholarship with community-based efforts aimed at promoting equity and transformation.
Key Areas
Intersectionality and inequality
Public sociology and participatory approaches
Race, gender, and health justice
Social movements and collective action
Technology and social change
Affiliated Faculty in Each Research Area
Affiliated Faculty for Each Research Area
Communities, Places, and the Environment
Daniel Amsterdam — U.S. Urban History
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
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
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
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
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.