Michael McGovern

I study the history of the human sciences, race, law, and technology with a focus on how data travel throughout society, make claims on people, and transform political life. My dissertation charts the rise of statistical proof of racial discrimination in the U.S. legal system and narrates the litigation campaigns against employment discrimination and the death penalty from the perspective of the knowledge they produced. By providing a historical account of the opportunities and hazards of quantitative frameworks for racial justice, I hope to better inform discussions about discrimination in an era of big data and machine learning. You can find out more on my website.
My scholarship has been supported by the Princeton Mellon Initiative and Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs, where I hold a graduate fellowship for 2020-21. I serve as a Mentorship Officer on the History of Science Society's Graduate and Early Career Caucus.
I completed general exams in May 2018 with a major field in Modern Science (Erika L. Milam) and minor fields in Modern Technology (Emily Thompson) and Modern U.S. History (Margot Canaday). Before coming to Princeton, I ensconced myself in Cambridge, where I developed an affinity for calculators, then spent two years working as a software developer for a large Midwest industrial supplier. I also hosted podcasts for the New Books Network on Science, Technology, and Society.
Prospective applicants, feel free to reach out to me with any questions about studying History of Science at Princeton or in general.