School of Humanities and Sciences
Showing 1-43 of 43 Results
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Gabrielle Hecht
Stanton Foundation Professor of Nuclear Security and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
BioGabrielle Hecht is Professor of History, Professor (by courtesy) of Anthropology, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute. She is President of the Society for the History of Technology.
Hecht's current research explores the inside-out Earth and its wastes in order to reveal the hidden costs of the so-called "energy transition," with research sites in the Arctic, the Andes, southern Africa, and west Africa. This project builds on her new book, Residual Governance: How South African Foretells Planetary Futures (Duke Univ. Press, forthcoming November 2023).
Hecht's graduate courses include colloquia on "Power in the Anthropocene," "Infrastructure and Power in the Global South," "Technopolitics," and "Materiality and Power." She teaches a community-engaged undergraduate research seminar on "Racial Justice in the Nuclear Age," in partnership with the Bayview Hunters Point Community Advocates (BVHPCA). She is currently working with BVHPCA and other partners to develop knowledge infrastructures to underpin community-driven public history that supports racial equity and environmental justice.
Hecht’s 2012 book Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade offers new perspectives on the global nuclear order by focusing on African uranium mines and miners. It received awards from the Society for the Social Studies of Science, the American Historical Association, the American Sociological Association, and the Suzanne M. Glasscock Humanities Institute, as well as an honorable mention from the African Studies Association. An abridged version appeared in French as Uranium Africain, une histoire globale (Le Seuil 2016), and a Japanese translation is due out in 2021. Her first book, The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity (1998/ 2nd ed 2009), explores how the French embedded nuclear policy in reactor technology, and nuclear culture in reactor operations. It received awards from the American Historical Association and the Society for the History of Technology, and has appeared in French as Le rayonnement de la France: Énergie nucléaire et identité nationale après la seconde guerre mondiale (2004/ 2014).
Her affiliations at Stanford include the Center for African Studies, the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, the Center for Global Ethnography, the Program on Urban Studies, and the Program in Modern Thought and Literature. Before rejoining Stanford in 2017, Hecht taught at the University of Michigan’s History department for 18 years. She helped to found and direct UM’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society (STS). She served as associate director of UM’s African Studies Center, and participated in its long-term collaboration with the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (South Africa). She has supervised dissertations in STS, African history and anthropology, nuclear studies, and French history.
Hecht holds a PhD in History and Sociology of Science from the University of Pennsylvania (1992), and a bachelor’s degree in Physics from MIT (1986). She’s been a visiting scholar in universities in Australia, France, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, and Sweden. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council for Learned Societies, and the South African and Dutch national research foundations, among others. She serves on numerous advisory boards, including for the Andra, France’s national radioactive waste management agency. -
Michael Kahan
Senior Lecturer of Sociology
Current Research and Scholarly Interests19th and 20th Century Urban and Social History; Street Life; Urban Space
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Lawrence Litvak
Lecturer, Program on Urban Studies
BioLarry Litvak has been a Lecturer in Urban Studies since 2010, and in Public Policy since 2014. He was one of the principals in developing two highly successful, socially-oriented business ventures: Walden Asset Management, one of the pioneers of socially responsible investing, and Working Assets/CREDO Mobile, a telecommunications firm that has generated $78 million of support to progressive non-profits. Both these organizations have major advocacy programs, the former focusing on changing corporate behavior and the latter on changing on public policy (CREDO Action). He also has advised state and local governments on the financing of job and housing development. Larry served for many years on the board of the Tides Foundation and Center, a leading funder and sponsor of social justice advocacy. He has also been a board member of domestic and international community loan funds, social service providers, a public oversight board, and an anti-viral drug development enterprise. Larry has been a decision-maker in awarding more than $100 million to various social sector initiatives, including many advocacy organizations. In addition, he has participated in several political campaigns around the country. He was a leading organizer in the Stanford and national South Africa divestment movement in the late 1970s. Larry has a bachelor's degree in Economics from Stanford University and a master's degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School, Harvard University.
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Andrew Mancini
Undergraduate, Urban Studies
Tour Guide, VISBioClass of 2025
B.A. Candidate, Urban Studies
Minor Candidate, Data Science and Chinese (East Asian Studies)
Hometown: San Carlos, Calif.
Editor-in-Chief, Stanford Yearbook
Class Representative, Social Life Accelerator Task Force
Alumni Relations Director, Stanford Band -
David Sengthay
Workstudy Student, First Generation Low Income
Undergraduate, Urban StudiesBioDavid Sengthay is a community and electoral organizer born and raised in Stockton, California. He is knowledgeable in mobilizing constituents to participate in local government through physical demonstrations and online call-to-actions. He is passionate about further investing in politics by applying his experience as a young organizer to support his community through tangible policy and spreading education and resources to empower his community.
He has experience in organizing demonstrations and protests, working for electoral campaigns, and engaging in community outreach as a youth organizer in Stockton through organizations such as Stockton Stands. He is passionate about educational equity, women's rights, reproductive wellness, racial justice, transparency in local government, and the advancement of queer BIPOC communities.
Intending to graduate in 2026 with a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies and a Master's in Public Policy, David Sengthay plans to return to his community in Stockton, California. He aims to run for local office after developing the necessary career experience for him to serve his community. -
Mark Wolfe
Lecturer
BioMark Wolfe is a lawyer and educator in the areas of land use, environmental law, and urban economics and policy.
He has taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses in urban economics and public policy since 1999, first at U.C. Berkeley, and presently at Stanford University.
His articles have appeared in Urban Affairs Review, the Cornell Journal of Planning and Urban Issues, and the California Real Property Journal, and he has appeared as a commentator on “The PBS News Hour.”
His eponymous law firm, which he founded in 2002, represents non-profit, public interest clients in disputes over natural resources management, urban development, and local government administration.
He holds a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, a M.C.P. from the University of California at Berkeley, and a BA from Stanford University. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and three daughters.
