Macrakis Awarded Wilson Center Fellowship

Posted May 6, 2015

Kristie Macrakis, professor in the School of History, Technology, and Society, has been named a recipient of a prestigious fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. She and 18 other recipients were selected, through a rigorous process including three separate review panels, out of a highly competitive pool of more than 300 applicants.

The Wilson Center welcomes its residential fellows as critical components of its mission to promote policy-relevant research and dialogue, seeking to link quality scholarship with important public policy discussions around global issues. The Center provides not only the opportunity to engage with the Washington policy community while conducting research, but also offers the chance to write for Center publications, conduct media outreach, and speak at public events.

The fellowship term will continue through the 2015-2016 academic year, during which Macrakis will be conducting work on technology and the rise of the U.S. National Security State for her book in progress, tentatively titled The Technophiles. This research encompasses not only electronic technical intelligence, but also the use of intelligence gathering technologies like spy planes, satellites, and submarines by the United States in support of its hegemonic status in the world.

The book is the third in a themed series of books Macrakis has written, which seeks to merge the history of science and technology with the history of espionage. The debut novel of the series, Seduced by Secrets: Inside the Stasi's Spy-Tech World, examines the way in which the Stasi, the Ministry for State Security, used technology in its operations. The second, Prisoners, Lovers, and Spies, which will be released in a paperback edition this May, explores the history of secret writing from the ancient to the modern world.

Macrakis is looking forward to living in Washington, D.C. during the coming academic year, as the fellowship grants her the unique opportunity to reside and work at the epicenter of her research. The location will allow her a locative perspective throughout the formation and development of the project, which will begin with the birth of technical intelligence in the 1950s and continue up to the Snowden revelations, exploring the United States from the Cold War era to the War on Terror.

Kristie Macrakis is a professor in the School of History, Technology and Society at Georgia Tech and an internationally recognized historian. She received her Ph.D in the history of science from Harvard University and came to Tech in 2009, where she teaches courses in the history of science and espionage. She is the author or editor of five books, has authored over 30 articles, and has received fellowships/grants from the Institute for Advanced Study, the National Science Foundation, and the Humboldt Foundation.