Joshua Brinkman

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Bio

Dr. Joshua Brinkman is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) at North Carolina State University.  He is an historian of technology and an STS scholar who focuses on the relationship between technology use and identity, as well as the impact of science and technology on policy and the legal system.  His research explores the meaning of technology in rural culture, the interplay between technology and race and gender, and the impact of social and cultural constructs on business, law, and policy in the U.S.  As a former practicing attorney, he is also interested in energy and climate policy and has written papers bringing STS and humanities perspectives to environmental law.  His work also critically studies food, society, and the environment including modernity in American agriculture and its interaction with the organic foods movement.  His work on agriculture was inspired, in part, by visiting and working on his family’s farm.  In his spare time he performs as a jazz and blues musician on saxophone and clarinet in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Courses Taught in STS:

• Introduction to Science, Technology, and Society (STS 214)
• Ethical Dimensions of Progress (STS 304)

Conferences and Presentations:

• Hillcrest Honors Society Last Lecture Series at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, December 5, 2019
• American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Webinar, October 18, 2017: “Welcoming Wind Turbines and the PIMBY (‘Please in My Backyard’) Phenomenon.
• ”Virginia Tech Department of Science and Technology Studies Seminar Series, Blacksburg, VA, March 31, 2017: “From ‘Hicks’ to High Tech: Performative Use in the American Corn Belt.”
• Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Conference, Albuquerque, NM, October 10, 2015: “Gender, Work Processes, and the Modernization of American Agriculture: Exploring Historical and Cultural Challenges Faced by the Organic Foods Movement.”
• Gender, Bodies, & Technology Conference, Virginia Tech, May 3, 2014: “Week 11: Intersections of Race, Gender, and Technology.”
• Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) Conference, Portland, ME, October 12, 2013
• Science and its Publics Conference, Toronto, Canada, June 15, 2013
• Virginia Tech Engagement Showcase, Virginia Tech, April 17, 2013
• ST Global Consortium, Washington, D.C., April 6, 2013: “Science and the American Judiciary: A Case Study of Massachusetts et al. v. EPA et al.”

Member, Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) (2013-Present)

Area(s) of Expertise

- Agricultural technology and rural culture
- History of technology from a use perspective
- Engineering cultures and ethics
- Law, technology, and policy
- Energy and environmental law and policy
- The role of technology in forming identities
- Technology, race, and gender
- The history of technology, musical instruments, and jazz

In his most recent book entitled "American Farming Culture and the History of Technology," he presents a history of agriculture in the American Corn Belt arguing that modernization occurred not only for economic reasons but also because of how farmers use technology as a part of their identities and culture. The book draws on perspectives from STS and the history of technology to give farmers agency in bringing about technological change and explores policy debates over contemporary agriculture from the point of view of rural denizens.

Publications

• American Farming Culture and the History of Technology , Routledge (2024)
• The Effect of Unarticulated Identities and Values on Energy Policy , (2022)
• "Thinking like a lawyer" in an uncertain world , Energy Research & Social Science (2017)
• Welcoming Wind Turbines and the PIMBY (‘Please in My Backyard’) Phenomenon , Technology & Culture (2017)

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