This October, almost exactly 10 years after I began as a Herchel Smith Scholar at Harvard University, I was invited back to give a presentation based on research conducted at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government during 2014. I spoke at the STS Circle, a seminar series that creates

a space for interdisciplinary conversations about contemporary issues in science and technology that are relevant to people in fields such as anthropology, history of science, sociology, STS, law, government, public policy, and the natural sciences. We want to engage not only those who are working on intersections of science, politics, and public policy, but also those in the natural sciences, engineering, and architecture who have serious interest in exploring these areas together with social scientists and humanists.

This kind of environment has been really important to thinking anthropological theory and practice in conversation with different professions and their commitments. My presentation, Governance by Committee was based on part of the Biology and the Law research project (see here) and explored the present role and self-descriptions of members of ESCROs/SCROs in the governance of stem cell research in the USA.  With colleagues Sheila Jasanoff, Ben Hurlbut and Kris Saha, the presentation will be developed into a paper for publication.