"Tradition and the Individual Steelworker: Stories of technological and social change."

Anne Balay, Visiting Assistant Professor at Haverford College, will give the first talk in the Technology and Humanities Speaker Series this fall titled, "Tradition and the Individual Steelworker: Stories of technological and social change."

In the mills of Northwest Indiana and South Chicago, the more things change, the more they stay the same. This talk draws on the oral histories of the region's steelworkers that form the backbone of Steel Closets, exploring how change, and the widespread resistance to it, has affected sexuality, risk, health, and everyday life.

Steel Closets: Voices of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Steelworkers won the 2014 NWSA book award and the Lambda Literary Emerging writer award. Balay is working on a book about over-the-road truck drivers.