Ellan Spero

(Residential Fellow, 2020-21)

Ellan Spero

Residential Fellow

From Waste to Resource: Narratives of Progress and Abundance in 20th Century Materials Transitions

Ellan Spero is historian of science and technology, and social entrepreneur, co-founder and chief curriculum officer of Station1, a nonprofit organization focused on socially-directed science and technology, and instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Drawing on a multidisciplinary background in science, design, and history, her teaching and research address the ways that people envision human progress, through the institutions, things, and narratives that they create.

Spero holds a PhD from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in History, Anthropology, Science, Technology and Society, a BS and MS from Cornell University in Fiber Science and Apparel Design, and MA from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in Museum Studies and Textile Conservation.