Joseph A. Renow

Joseph Renow is a sociologist of science and technology who focuses on the intersections of expertise and society. Put simply, he spends time with scientists, engineers, and others observing what they do, say, and think. A common theme in his work is the places where experts do what they do. What exactly happens within the hallowed and mysterious spaces of universities, labs, and workshops, and how are such places indispensable for the people who use them? Previous projects include a university library, an archeological field-site, and a museum, and in all three Joseph demonstrated how the sites themselves are instrumental in stabilizing the material and social practices from which facts are made. His current project extends his focus on sites of practice to the design and construction of hospitals and clinics, casting a critical eye towards the diseases, machines, and practices that are (and are not) allocated space. In doing so the project demonstrates how once built hospitals and clinics are not neutral backdrops, but agents who favor earlier decisions about what (and whose) diseases matter.