Faculty Spotlight
Jacob Hellman: Lecturer, Program in Science, Technology, & Society
Professor Hellman did not discover STS until graduate school. And he discovered it a bit by accident. When enrolled in graduate school in San Diego, he joined some graduate colleagues at a conference on STS research. As he looked through the program, he was wide-eyed to see all the fascinating topics of talks and panels. This was the beginning of his long--and ongoing--journey with STS!
Professor Hellman connects STS students through the What's new? Innovation as Concept and Practice."- One of our newest Capstone Courses!
This Fall, Professor Hellman will be teaching a course called "What's new? (Interrogating) Innovation as Concept and Practice." After some discussion about whether the word in parenthesis would be included in the official title, he decided to leave it out. In his own words: “The decision reflected the aim of the course: on the one hand, I want to acknowledge and appreciate the technical innovations which have been key to creating and transforming the Stanford community, the region, and our globally interconnected lives, and to welcome students for whom innovation has only ever been a good thing. On the other hand, as we communicate more rapidly, and travel and shop more 'frictionlessly' (these are the activities that many technical innovations have focused on), we also seem to have more fragmented attention, less stable politics, and an ever-quickening technometabolism (as Prof. Paul Edwards calls it) -- driving the ecosystems out of balance. And in the course, I want to critically "interrogate" innovation. That means asking *who* gets to say what counts as "new," and what counts as "innovative"? For example, why are sensors on cars that beep when you shouldn't change lanes generally considered an innovation, but investing in public transit is not considered innovative? After all, they share one major goal: to keep people safer. Getting more drivers off the road by making bus service faster and more reliable would, statistically speaking, address that goal too. Wouldn't it? This line of questioning directed at the innovation imperative is what I hope students will take away from the course.” We hope that you all consider taking the class as your capstone course in the future!
An inside look into what Professor Hellman is currently working on and their personal life!
Currently, Professor Hellman is researching an interesting financial company that is buying up businesses with the promise of converting them to majority worker ownership. They have big ambitions, and so they need to build a financial and organizational infrastructure (an STS concept) to do it successfully. Outside of teaching and research, an interesting fact that you might know is that Professor Hellman is a practicing Buddhist. He also worked for a handful of years crawling inside attics of low-income housing in Philadelphia to insulate them. This was his job at an energy conservation program funded by the Department of Energy. It was dirty and somewhat dangerous, but for him, it was rewarding, and was fortunate enough to have worked with incredible people who he very much admired.
Professor Hellman has some advice for those graduating this year.
Professor Hellman suggests that you get out of Silicon Valley! There are so many places in the country and internationally that need talented energetic young people with connections and resources!
We are shining a light on Professor Jacob Hellman. When asked what three words described him, he said "Trying my best!"