Austen Van Burns studies how scientists have conveyed information across political and professional borders.

Her dissertation, “Unifying Science During the Rise of Fascism,” focuses on the Unity of Science movement, a fractious group of around 75 physicists, mathematicians, logicians, and linguistic philosophers who believed that only verifiable knowledge could improve the human condition. The Viennese educator Otto Neurath served as the movement’s general secretary and party whip. During the 1930s and Second World War, Neurath and his allies enlisted a variety of communication technologies to champion their views. Their omnivorous approach involved everything from university lectures to film reels funded by the British Ministry of Information. For those facing antisemitic persecution under the burgeoning Reich, work for western governments was desirable and necessary. This pedagogical mobilization was the other half of what scientists did during the war, and it shaped perceptions of science that persist today.

Austen earned a BA with Honors in Classical Studies from Swarthmore College. After graduating, she taught English in Germany as a Fulbright grantee and then worked in the tech industry. She earned her MA in History at Princeton in the spring of 2022, passing her general examinations with distinction. From 2023-2024, she was a visiting researcher attached to the Chair for the History of Science at the Humboldt University in Berlin. She is currently a Resident Graduate Student for New College West, one of Princeton’s seven undergraduate residential colleges.