About

Platypus, the newly renamed CASTAC Blog, is a web log for discussion and exchange on anthropological studies of science and technology as social phenomena. It was originally launched in 2012 by Jenny Cool, Patricia G. Lange, and Jordan Kraemer, who are members of the Committee on the Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Computing. Platypus aims to promote dialogue on theories, tools, and social interactions that explore questions at the intersection of anthropology and science and technology studies.

We seek to build a thriving discourse among a community of scholars concerned about the implications of techno-science, technologized products, and worldviews for human beings and other forms of life. Our approach is interdisciplinary and inclusive. We encourage both regular and occasional contributions from students, faculty, and researchers within and beyond academia.

The blog welcomes contributions from new authors working at the intersection of anthropology and science and technology studies, including (but not limited to) scholars, students, and researchers outside academe.

To Become a Contributor

If you would like to contribute or have an idea for an article, please contact the Contributing Editor who covers the topic (you can find the list of CEs below), or whose area of interest is most closely related. It is fine to contact more than one CE simultaneously if the topic links to multiple areas of interest (but please indicate that you have done so). If you cannot identify an appropriate CE, email the Editor ([email protected]).

Content Guidelines

We welcome original contributions of approximately 1200-1800 words, especially short essays accessible to a broad audience interested in anthropology, science, technology, and related topics. We publish a range of posts, including: those based on original research, such as doctoral research; commentary and critique of current events or issues, especially from an anthropological perspective; discussions of pedagogy, research methods, and tools; interviews; and reflections on science and technology in popular culture.

We are especially interested in timely pieces that draw on scholarly research and analysis to provide insight into current topics and events.

Editorial Policies

All posts submitted are reviewed for length, clarity, and style, primarily to ensure posts are appropriate for the blog format. Authors work with Contributing Editors to finalize their contribution, but all final editorial decisions rest with the Editor. We reserve the right to make final copy edits, including formatting and title changes as necessary. Please make sure all images are reproduced with permission or are not subject to copyright. All submissions should be formatted as Microsoft Word documents and emailed directly to the appropriate CE, after prior arrangements have been made via email.

Authors will need to create their own WordPress accounts on the CASTAC Blog, which they can do at any time by clicking “register” (also available as a drop-down from the main menu).

About the Platypus

The platypus may seem like a strange choice as the dominate visual element of CASTAC’s new web presence. What could a rare endemic species from Australia have to do with an association of anthropologists who study science, technology, and computing? On the surface, the platypus and CASTAC share a common eclectic nature. Like the platypus with its duck-like bill, fur, webbed feet, venomous spurs, electroreception, lactation and oviparity, CASTAC’s membership is an eclectic collection of anthropologists who represent diverse areas of expertise and sets of skills.

Yet, the platypus is more than a symbol of bricolage. Once considered to be an elaborate hoax, the platypus has existed as a challenge, a critique, and an inspiration for scientists, social scientists, and artists. From its discovery to the mapping of its genome, the platypus has been an intellectual object that allows us to think about hybridity and complexity through its anatomy, question the assumptions and production of scientific knowledge and practice through its history, and inspire new ideas on perception, evolution, and technology. The platypus is more than an odd creature; it represents the kinds of materials, practices and knowledges that inspire us as anthropologists to examine the roles of science, technology, and computing in the lives and cultures of people.

General inquiries

Contact the Editor ([email protected])
For questions about CASTAC generally, please contact the CASTAC Co-Chairs ([email protected]).

 

Masthead

Platypus, the CASTAC Blog, is brought to you by:

Editor

Platypod Producer

Platypod Staffs

  • Austyn Moon — ([email protected])
    I am a Cultural/Linguistic Anthropology student with a background in Computer Science and Astronomy as well as Music and Audio Engineering. I currently work for a […] View full profile.
  • Genevieve Pfeiffer — ([email protected])
    I'm a PhD student in the Environmental Science, Studies, and Policy program at the University of Oregon, with a focus in on multispecies studies and artificial […] View full profile.
  • Danlu Yang — ([email protected])
    Danlu Yang is a Pekinese anthropologist who speaks fluent English, Spanish, and Portuguese(both Brazilian and European Portuguese). Her research interests focus on STS(Science, Technology, and Society), […] View full profile.

Web Producer

    Multimodal Contributing Editors

    Contributing Editors

    • Mauricio Baez — ([email protected])
      Topics: euroscience, geopolitics of knowledge, critical psychology, and audiovisual criticism.
      Mauricio Báez is a Ph.D. candidate at Universidad Javeriana. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's in Epistemology of Social and Natural Sciences. […] View full profile.
    • Tayeba Batool — ([email protected])
      Tayeba Batool is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her dissertation project focuses on urban ecology, spatial politics, and […] View full profile.
    • Jessica Caporusso — ([email protected])
      Topics: political ecology, feminist STS, postcolonial STS
      Jessica Caporusso is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at York University, Canada. Jessica studies bioenergy schemes in Mauritius, through which she examines the […] View full profile.
    • Kymberley Chu — ([email protected])
      Kym is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at Princeton University. Her dissertation research focuses on a wide range of human-monkey interfaces that take place in Malaysia's […] View full profile.
    • Samuel DiBella — ([email protected])
      Sam DiBella is a PhD candidate in information studies at the University of Maryland. He received his MSc in media studies from the London School of Economics. His […] View full profile.
    • Paige Edmiston — ([email protected])
      I am a Contributing Editor with Platypus and a PhD candidate in the department of anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. My research examines the […] View full profile.
    • Mine Egbatan — ([email protected])
      PhD candidate in Sociocultural anthropology (minor in medical anthropology) at the University of Arizona View full profile.
    • Iván Flores — ([email protected])
      Topics: ethnography, play, video games, digital cultures
      Ph.D. in Anthropological Sciences from the Metropolitan Autonomous University, Iztapalapa campus. I am a lecturer at the Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla and at the Monterrey Institute of […] View full profile.
    • Rushikesh Gawade — ([email protected])
      Topics: Land, Commons, Nomadism, Modernity, Bureaucracy, and Sociology of Knowledge
      I am a PhD research scholar in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. My research explores the consequences of […] View full profile.
    • Isabella Jaimes Rodriguez — ([email protected])
      I am an STS and CSCW researcher, my research focus on how technology shapes and mediate relations within immigrant Latinx communities. My work explores the intersection […] View full profile.
    • Dayna Jeffrey — ([email protected])
      Topics: technologies, futures, society
      Dayna is a PhD candidate in the Science and Technology Studies program at York University. Her academic interests include ethics, equity, risk and social implications of […] View full profile.
    • Ziya Kaya — ([email protected])
      I received my Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology, with a minor in geography, from the University of Arizona in August 2024. I am currently an Assistant Professor […] View full profile.
    • Soojin Kim — ([email protected])
      I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology at Harvard University. My doctoral project focuses on the emerging discourses and practices surrounding the right to be forgotten […] View full profile.
    • Nishanth Kunnukattil Shaji — ([email protected])
      Topics: care, technology, biomedicine, pain, marxist and postcolonial STS
      Nishanth has a Ph.D. from the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His first published paper is titled Grappling with Morphine: A […] View full profile.
    • Rachel Levine — ([email protected])
      Topics: posthumanism/ animal studies; ethics; law; governance
      Rachel Levine is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Her current work examines the normative and emergent ethics […] View full profile.
    • Sumitra Nair — ([email protected])
      Topics: climate, water, south asia, anthropocene
    • Aaron Neiman — ([email protected])
      Topics: Mental health, mobile health, neoliberalism, Australia
      I am a medical anthropologist studying the increasing use of computer-automated psychotherapy. View full profile.
    • Shreyasha Paudel — ([email protected])
      Topics: Technology, Majority world, Climate tech
      I am a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto in the Department of Computer Science. My research draws on critical data studies and feminist and […] View full profile.
    • Andra Sonia Petrutiu — ([email protected])
      Topics: postcolonial STS; anthropology and history of computing; infrastructure, affect, and nationalism studies
    • Aparna Raghu Menon — ([email protected])
      Topics: Disability Studies, Autism, Ethnography, post humanism
      Aparna is a PhD candidate at the Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Her research examines […] View full profile.
    • Clarissa Reche — ([email protected])
      Artist, educator and researcher, working on the frontier between science and art. Doctoral student in Social Sciences (UNICAMP, Brazil) developing research on menstruation and fieldwork in […] View full profile.
    • Cydney Seigerman — ([email protected])
      Topics: Water, infrastructure, climate change, philosophy of technology
      Cydney recently earned their PhD in Anthropology and Integrative Conservation from the University of Georgia. Their dissertation work explored how the lived experience of water insecurity […] View full profile.
    • Misria Shaik Ali — ([email protected])
      Topics: Porosity, Environmental Humanities, Radiation, Health
      I am currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at IIT-Delhi. I hold PhD in Science and Technology Studies (STS) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. My research advances Critical […] View full profile.
    • Michelle Venetucci — ([email protected])
      Michelle Venetucci is an anthropologist studying corporate tech work and workers in Silicon Valley, specifically focusing on a post-techlash, post-critique context. View full profile.
    • Wanqing Iris Zhou — ([email protected])
      Topics: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI); anthropology/history of computing; knowledge production; technology, morality, and identity

    Special Series Editor

    • Katie Ulrich — ([email protected])
      I am a cultural anthropologist and postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. My research focuses on petrochemical replacements made from sugarcane, […] View full profile.

    Editors-at-Large

    • Svetlana Borodina — ([email protected])
      Currently, Svetlana Borodina is a senior UX researcher at US Bank where she uses qualitative research methods to generate insights that inform product and strategy development. […] View full profile.
    • Baird Campbell — ([email protected])
      I am currently a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Rice University’s Program in Writing and Communication. I received my PhD in sociocultural anthropology from Rice University in […] View full profile.
    • Jordan Kraemer — ([email protected])
      Topics: social media, mobility, transnationalism, design
      Anthropologist of social and mobile media, working on the intersection of emerging media technologies and everyday experiences of space and place, especially transnational connections in Berlin […] View full profile.
    • Patricia G. Lange — ([email protected])
      Patricia G. Lange is an anthropologist studying use of video to express the self and civically engage. She is Associate Professor and Chair of Critical Studies […] View full profile.
    • Ian Lowrie — ([email protected])
      Topics: Artificial intelligence, infrastructures, informatics
      I'm a visiting assistant professor of urban social science at Portland State University, and study data work, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. View full profile.