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Department of Science and Technology Studies

Cornell University Cornell University Cornell University Science and Technology Studies

Rachel Prentice


Moog

Moog

car-engine

Car Engine

Nuclear-Protest

Nuclear Protest

nuclear-power-station

Nuclear Power Station

viewing-eclipse

Viewing Eclipse Circa 1930

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Rachel Prentice

Associate Professor
Department of Science & Technology Studies

Rachel-Prenticeemail: rep35@cornell.edu
phone: 607-255-3810
room: 305 Rockfeller Hall

Office Hours, Spring 2012: On leave


Education:

  • Ph.D., History and Anthropology of Science and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • A.B., Comparative Literature, Columbia College, Columbia University

Graduate Fields:

  • Science & Technology Studies
  • Information Science

 

Research Interests

Professor Rachel Prentice is an anthropologist of medicine, technology, and the body. Her interests focus on opening up the assumptions and contradictions contained in 21st century North American biomedicine. Her recently completed project is an ethnographic examination of anatomy and surgery teaching and the rise of simulators and other technologies for teaching and practice. Professor Prentice documents how physicians in training come to embody biomedical techniques, perceptions, judgments, and ethics, learning deeply held medical values while learning to practice medicine.  She is on sabbatical leave during the 2011-2012 academic year at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

Recent Courses Taught

  • Spring 2011 - (STS 3561) Computing Cultures
    MW: 2:55-4:10, 4 Credits

  • Spring 2011 - (STS 6301) Social Theory for Science Studies
    W: 7:30-9:25, 4 Credits

  • Fall 2010 - (STS 1101) Science,Technology and Politics
    TR: 1:25-2:40, 3 Credits

  • Fall 2010 - (STS 4311) From Surgery to Simulation
    T: 10:10-12:05, 4 Credits

  • Fall 2009 - (STS 4311) From Surgery to Simulation
    T: 10:10-12:05, 4 Credits

  • Fall 2009 - (STS 6301) Social Theory for Science Studies
    T: 7:30-9:25pm, 4 Credits

Selected Publications

  • Bodies in Formation: Remaking ANatomy and Surgery Education.  Durham: Duke University Press, forthcoming.

  • "The Anatomy of a Surgical Simulation" (abridged) in Ericka Johnson and Boel Berner, eds., Technology and Medical Practices: Blood, Guts, and Machines.  London: Ashgate Publishing, 2010. 

  • "The Visible Human Project," in Sherry Turkle, editor, The Inner History of Devices.  Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008.

  • "Drilling Surgeons: The Social Lessons in Embodied Surgical Learning," Science, Technology & Human Values, 32(5) September 2007.

  • "The Anatomy of a Surgical Simulation: Materializing Bodies in the Machine." Social Studies of Science, 35(6) December 2005.