Faculty (Anthropology)

Michael Fisch’s research is situated at the intersection of sociocultural anthropology and science and technology studies and is concerned with the dynamic between changing conceptualizations of nature, culture, and technological innovation that inform experiences of immersive technological mediation. In his work Anthropology of the Machine: Tokyo’s Commuter Train Network, he develops an ethnographically performative approach for thinking with the historically inflected practices, experiences, and schemas of operation that emerge within Tokyo’s commuter train network. He is currently developing a project that explores the emergence of what he identifies as “experimental ecologies” that work to contest, recast, and re-conceive disaster infrastructure design in post-3.11 Japan. As part of this project, he is looking at locally developed alternatives to the construction of mammoth seawalls to protect against tsunami in northeast Japan.