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Hi, I'm Michelle Spektor.
I'm a historian of biometrics and an Ernest May Fellow in History and Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. I'm also a 2026 American Council of Learned Societies Fellow.
My research examines the role of biometric technologies in the global consolidation of states and citizens since the late 19th century. How did biometrics, which were first developed as tools of exclusion within eugenics, criminology, and colonial expansion at the height of the British Empire, become essential parts of ID cards and other tools states use to identify their citizens in the Digital Age? By tracking the global historical relationships between state power, national identity, and innovations in biometric technologies, my work offers insights into the social and political stakes of biometric surveillance today. I show that state biometric systems are not just technical tools of citizen data collection, but also political tools for deciding who, exactly, belongs in the nation. My work has been supported by the IEEE History and Life Members' Committees, Society for the History of Technology, National Science Foundation, and Fulbright Program. Previously, I was a Post-Doctoral Associate in the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing at MIT's College of Computing, and a Lecturer at Tufts University’s Science, Technology, and Society Program. I have a PhD in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society from MIT. |
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Contact:
michellespektor [at] hks.harvard.edu |
Thinking about doing a PhD? I welcome inquiries from anyone interested in applying to History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS) at MIT.
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