Sharon Jean Traweek is associate professor in the Department of Gender Studies and History at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. Her book '' Beamtimes and Lifetimes: The World of High Energy Physicists'', which explores the social world of

particle physicists Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standa ...

, has been cited in thousands of books and articles relating to the

sociology of science The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing with "the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity." The sociolo ...

and translated into Chinese in 2003.

Career

In 1980, Traweek began teaching for the Stanford University Program in Values, Technology, Science, and Society. She was a professor in the MIT Program in Anthropology and Archeology as well as the Program in Science, Technology, and Society from 1982-1987. Afterward, she went to the Rice University Anthropology Department. She has been a professor at UCLA since 1994.Traweek, S. (1988). Beamtimes and lifetimes. Harvard University Press. She also held visiting faculty positions at the Mt Holyoke Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, the Anthropology Department at the University of California at San Diego, the Program in Values, Technology, Science, and Society at Stanford University, and Sokendai, the Graduate University for Advanced Studies, in Japan. In 2020 Traweek was awarded (along with co-recipient

Langdon Winner Langdon Winner (born August 7, 1944) is Thomas Phelan Chair of Humanities and Social Sciences in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. Langdon Winner was born in San Luis Obispo, C ...

) the

Society for the Social Studies of Science The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) is a non-profit scholarly association devoted to the social studies of science and technology (STS). It was founded in 1975 and as of 2008 its international membership exceeds 1,200. In 2016, over 2 ...

's Bernal Prize, awarded to "outstanding scholars who have devoted their careers to the understanding of the social dimensions of science and technology." The modes of inquiry Traweek employs include collecting oral histories, conducting archi