Through industrialization, humans transformed the world, introducing social and environmental changes of unprecedented scope, scale, and speed that continue to impact us today. Industrial archaeologists study the history and heritage of industry, including its roots, evolution, and the patchy decline of postindustrial places. At Michigan Tech, Industrial Archeology—MS and Industrial Heritage—PhD (IEE) degree students use interdisciplinary studies of the material remains and social memories of industrial workplaces, landscapes, and communities. Our research focuses on the social, political, and ecological construction of technological systems. We also examine the patrimony of industrial societies, considering how communities cope with the onset, effort, and consequences of industrial wealth production.
IEE Research In the News
Affiliated Organizations
Researchers
Carl Blair
- Principal Lecturer in History and Archaeology
- Anthropology Program Advisor
- cblair@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3625
- Academic Office Building 222
Links of Interest
Research Interests
- Experimental Archaeology
- Early Large scale iron production
- Roman and Anglo-Saxon England
- Rise of socially complex societies
- International program development
Don Lafreniere
- Department Chair, Social Sciences
- Director, Geospatial Research Facility
- Associate Professor of Geography and GIS
- djlafren@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2189
- AOB 215/GLRC 318
Research Interests
- Environmental Change and Life Course Epidemiology
- Urban Environments and Population Health
- Public Participatory GIS
- Historical GIS & Deep Mapping
- Spatial Humanities
- Deindustrialization and Shrinking Cities
- Time-Space Integration and Modeling in GIS
- Demography and Historical Record Linkage
- Sense of Place and Neighborhood Construction
Nancy Langston
- Distinguished Professor of Environmental History, Social Sciences
- Affiliated Professor, CFRES
- nelangs3@mtu.edu
- Academic Office Building 220
Areas of Interest
- Toxics, forested watersheds, and northern lakes
- Environmental history
- Watershed change and water quality
- Mining history
Carol A. MacLennan
- Professor Emerita of Anthropology, Social Sciences
Links of Interest
Research Interests
- Environmental anthropology/political ecology
- Anthropology of industry (mining, sugar)
- Hawai`i and the Pacific
- Anthropology of public policy
Patrick E. Martin
- Professor Emeritus of Archaeology
- pemartin@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2070
- Annex 205
Areas of Expertise
- Industrial archaeology
- Industrial heritage
- Historical archaeology
Fredric L. Quivik
- Professor of History (retired)
- flquivik@mtu.edu
- 906-523-5127
- Academic Office Building 209
Areas of Expertise
- History of Technology
- Environmental History
- Architectural History
- Industrial Archeology
- History of the Organization of Industrial Enterprises
Jonathan E. Robins
- Associate Professor of History
- Social Sciences Undergraduate Studies Director
- jrobins@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3080
- Academic Office Building 223
Links of Interest
Areas of Expertise
- History of Globalization
- Economic History
- History of Imperialism and Colonialism
- International Business Organization
- Commodity Studies
- History of Food
"Whereas innovation, in the backwards reading of creativity, lies outside of time, improvisation, in a forward reading, is inherently temporal."
—Elizabeth Hallam and Tim Ingold (2007) Creativity and Cultural Improvisation. Berg, New York.
—Elizabeth Hallam and Tim Ingold (2007) Creativity and Cultural Improvisation. Berg, New York.
Timothy J. Scarlett
- Associate Professor of Archaeology and Anthropology
- scarlett@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2359
- Academic Office Building 210
Links of Interest
Research Interests
- Historical and Industrial Archaeologies
- Creativity and Work Process
- Archaeometry and Conservation Sciences
- Remote Sensing, Survey, and Geospatial Sciences
- Community-based scholarship, public science/humanities
- Heritage, Placemaking, and Culture Building
Chelsea Schelly
- Associate Professor of Sociology
- Affiliated Associate Professor, CFRES
- cschelly@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1759
- Academic Office Building 200A
Links of Interest
Research Interests
- Alternative technology adoption
- Renewable energy technologies
- Renewable and alternative technology policy
- Sustainable communities
- Energy conservation and consumption practices
- Self-provisioning
- Environmental education
"All this information, this material, must be taken up and reconsidered in the light of man himself, and one must try if possible, to rediscover, beyond all the details, life itself... Everything must be recaptured and relocated in the general framework of history, so that...we may respect the unity of history which is also the unity of life."
—Fernand Braudel, On History, 1980.
—Fernand Braudel, On History, 1980.
Sam R. Sweitz
- Associate Professor of Anthropology & Archaeology
- srsweitz@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1476
- Academic Office Building 213
Research Interests
- Historical and Industrial Archaeology
- Social, Economic, and Political Dimensions of Haciendas, Plantations, and Industrial Communities in the American West, Latin America, and the Caribbean
- Issues Related to Colonialism, World-Systems Analysis, post-Colonialism, and Globalization
- Relevance of Archaeology and Heritage to Identity Formation and Contemporary Social Systems
"I find it astonishing that any man can regard fine machinery without admiration."
—John William Stone (in Stones Fall, by Iain Pears)
—John William Stone (in Stones Fall, by Iain Pears)
Steven A. Walton
- Associate Professor of History
- sawalton@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3272
- Academic Office Building 224
Areas of Expertise
- history of technology
- history of science
- artillery, fortification, ordnance
- history of engineering
- military history
- Early Modern European history
LouAnn Wurst
- Professor of Archaeology
- lawurst@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3188
- Academic Office Building 216
Research Interests
- Historical and Industrial Archaeology
- Archaeology of Capitalism
- Class and Inequality
- Marxist Theory
- Historic Preservation and Cultural Resource Management