About

Rebecca Herzig is the author or editor of several books, including Suffering for Science: Reason and Sacrifice in Modern America, The Nature of Difference: Sciences of Race in the United States from Jefferson to Genomics (with Evelynn Hammonds) and the series, Feminist Technosciences  (with Banu Subramaniam). Herzig’s writing has appeared in Science, The Lancet, American Quarterly, Journal of Social History, and Radical History Review among other journals, and Herzig’s work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Macarthur Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Some of Herzig’s most recent peer-reviewed essays may be found in boundary 2, Feminist Studies, and The Gender of Things (Routledge).

Herzig has served as an elected member of the executive councils of the Society for the Social Studies of Science, the Society for the History of Technology, and the International Committee for the History of Technology. Among other ongoing board work, Herzig represents Androscoggin County on Maine Public’s Community Advisory Board.

A frequent media commentator, a selection of Herzig’s podcast presentations may be found here, interview with Alok Vaid-Menon here, conversation with the hosts of Pacifica’s “Letters & Politics” series here, and appearance on Adam Ruins Everything here.

Herzig’s most recent academic monograph, Plucked, was named a “Best Book of the Year” by the Economist magazine and the Science Friday national radio program. Excerpts from other reviews:

“[A]n interesting, serious, and meticulously researched contribution to American history.”

— Journal of American History

“[A] fascinating new book…very timely.”

— The Times (London)

“Read on. This book is astonishing.”

— Press Herald (Portland)

“Rebecca Herzig manages to explore issues of race and gender, class and religion, power and commerce, with both intellectual rigor and a healthy sense of humor.”

— Boston Globe

“[E]ye-poppingly informative, thought-provoking and, almost against the author’s will, frothy fun.”

— Maclean’s

At Bates, Herzig teaches courses and advises theses for Africana, American Studies, Digital and Computational Studies, Environmental Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and History, along with supervising courses of independent study and self-designed, independent majors. Herzig also currently chairs the program in Gender and Sexuality Studies.