Joanna Radin, PhD
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History of Medicine
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Associate Professor of History of Medicine
Biography
Joanna Radin (Associate Professor) received her PhD in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a historian of biomedical futures who cares about how people in the past imagined how science, technology and medicine would change their lives. This has led her to think and write about global histories of biology, ecology, medicine, technology, and anthropology since 1945; history and anthropology of life and death; biomedical technology and computing; feminist, Indigenous, and queer STS; and science fiction.
All of these themes are present in her current book project, which reconsiders the history of science through the career of Michael Crichton.
She is the author of Life on Ice: A History of New Uses for Cold Blood (Chicago 2017), the first history of the low-temperature biobank and co-editor, with Emma Kowal of Cyropolitics: Frozen Life in a Melting World (MIT 2017), which considers the technics and ethics of freezing across the life and environmental sciences.
Appointments
History of Medicine
Associate Professor TenurePrimary
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Education & Training
- PhD
- University of Pennsylvania (2012)
- MS
- University of Pennsylvania (2007)
- MS
- Cornell University, Communication (2004)
- BS
- Cornell University, Communication (2002)
Research
Overview
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Bioethics; Biomedical Technology; Cryopreservation; Death; Epidemiology; Ethics; Expeditions; Global Health; History of Medicine; Infectious Disease Medicine; Medicine in Literature
Research at a Glance
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of Joanna Radin's research output by year.
22Publications
394Citations
Publications
2019
Alternative Facts and States of Fear: Reality and STS in an Age of Climate Fictions
Radin J. Alternative Facts and States of Fear: Reality and STS in an Age of Climate Fictions. Minerva 2019, 57: 411-431. DOI: 10.1007/s11024-019-09374-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsScience warsPolitics of knowledgeState of fearNegotiation of claimsGenre of fictionTechniques of scienceNeo-conservativesKnowledge productionTechnology studiesReflexive historySocial lifeClimate fictionAlternative factsMichael CrichtonInterwoven strandsNaomi OreskesClimate changeConway approachAcademic studiesSurprising waysSTS practicesClimate scienceCase studyNegotiationsAnthropogenic climate change
2018
Ethics in Human Biology: A Historical Perspective on Present Challenges
Radin J. Ethics in Human Biology: A Historical Perspective on Present Challenges. Annual Review Of Anthropology 2018, 47: 263-278. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-102317-045922.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsComplex historical relationshipEthical issuesComplex ethical issuesPolitics of racePractices of biomedicineHuman biologyHistorical relationshipHistorical perspectiveIndigenous peoplesTurning pointResearch materialLife sciencesFuture successRaceEthicsPresent challengesColonialismPeopleIndigeneityAnthropologyPoliticsIssuesPracticeHistoryScience
2017
- Joanna Radin (2017) Osiris.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
- Joanna Radin and Emma Kowal (eds) Cambridge: MIT University Press, 2017Peer-Reviewed Original Research
- Joanna Radin (2017) Chicago: University of Chicago PressPeer-Reviewed Original Research
2016
Collections d’échantillons biologiques autochtones et cryopolitique de la vie congelée
Kowal E, Radin J. Collections d’échantillons biologiques autochtones et cryopolitique de la vie congelée. Les Actes De Colloques Du Musée Du Quai Branly 2016 DOI: 10.4000/actesbranly.660.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsMichel Foucault’s biopoliticsFoucault’s biopoliticsIndigenous scholarsMid-twentieth centuryBiopolitical assemblagesKey critiquesTechnology studiesIndigenous AustraliansLatent lifeDemand destructionRange of purposesBiopoliticsCase studyBroad implicationsLifeScientistsCritiqueInterviewsScholarsAustraliansVacillatesArticlePracticeCenturyDramatic consequences- Susan Lindee and Joanna Radin. (2016) Current Anthropology, 57(S14): S218-S301.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
2015
Indigenous blood and ethical regimes in the United States and Australia since the 1960s
RADIN J, KOWAL E. Indigenous blood and ethical regimes in the United States and Australia since the 1960s. American Ethnologist 2015, 42: 749-765. DOI: 10.1111/amet.12168.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsAttempts of scientistsEthical regimesSocial scientific analysisU.S. historiansIndigenous bloodAustralian anthropologistsIndigenous peoplesEthical knowledgeHuman experimentationEthnographic analysisNational contextsIndigenous communitiesCollection oneSeries of vignettesScientific knowledgeUnited StatesHuman speciesScientific analysisHuman variationIndigenous samplesInstitutional repositoriesHistoriansCenturyAnthropologistsNarrativesIndigenous biospecimen collections and the cryopolitics of frozen life
Kowal E, Radin J. Indigenous biospecimen collections and the cryopolitics of frozen life. Journal Of Sociology 2015, 51: 63-80. DOI: 10.1177/1440783314562316.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsMichel Foucault’s biopoliticsFoucault’s biopoliticsLatent lifeIndigenous scholarsBiopolitical assemblagesIndigenous communitiesKey critiquesIndigenous groupsTechnology studiesIndigenous AustraliansConception of timeEmpirical researchRange of purposesBiopoliticsCase studyBroad implicationsLifePotential resolutionScientistsCritiqueScholarsAustraliansVacillatesCommunityConceptionHuman Genome Diversity Project: History
Radin J. Human Genome Diversity Project: History. 2015, 306-310. DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.82037-1.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
Links & Media
News
- January 30, 2024
Fostering Equity and Inclusion in Infectious Diseases at Yale
- September 28, 2021Source: CBC.CA
How Indigenous scientists are using biomedical research to seek 'genomic justice'
- June 30, 2021
A historian of medical futures looks back
- June 04, 2021Source: The Last Archive Podcast
Historian Jill Lapore Speaks with Yale's Joanna Radin about Michael Crichton and Medical Mistrust
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