DAVID HESS
Ph.D. Cornell University, 1987
TITLE:   Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
OFFICE:  321C Garland Hall
EMAIL:   david.j.hess@vanderbilt.edu
PHONE:   615-322-8539
WEBSITE:  http://www.davidjhess.org

CV: DavidHessCV.pdf

HONORS, AWARDS, GRANTS RECEIVED

Three-book series was supported by two grants from the STS Program of the National Science Foundation, 2004-2011.

Wiley Distinguished Professor Award, 2011.

General Anthropology Division prize for exemplary cross-field scholarship, 2010.

Merton Prize for best book in science and technology studies, 2009.

Professional Visiting Fellow, University of Wollongong, 2004.

Diana Forsythe Prize for best work in the anthropology of science and technology, 2000.

Senior Fulbright Award, 1996

COURSES TAUGHT

UNDERGRADUATE:

  Sociology of Local Sustainability
  Sociology of Health and Environmental Science

 


RESEARCH INTERESTS

Sociology of Science, Technology, Environment, and Health
Social Movements
Public Participation and Policy

CURRENT RESEARCH

"The central area of my research involves social movements and environmental policy in the United States. A three-volume series examines the role of social movements and civil society organizations in building momentum for policy reform. The first volume, Alternative Pathways in Science and Industry (MIT Press), studied industrial reform movements in support of sustainable technologies and policies. The second volume, Localist Movements in a Global Economy (MIT Press), studied the role of locally owned, independent enterprises in building more just and sustainable regional economies. The third volume (currently in progress), studies the convergence of environmental and economic development policies in the United States that has resulted from coalitions of labor unions, environmental organizations, green businesses, and local governments.

Another significant area of research involves the role of civil-society organizations and social movements in science, technology, environmental, and health policy. This work on public participation is part of the new political sociology of science, which studies the institutional matrix of scientific research and technological policy, including the role of neoliberal thought and policy.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS