Colin Milburn

Colin Milburn is the Gary Snyder Chair of Science and the Humanities at the University of California, Davis. He is the chair of the Science and Technology Studies Department and also a professor in the English Department and the Cinema and Digital Media Department. He runs the UC Davis ModLab, an experimental laboratory for media studies and digital humanities. Colin's research focuses on the intersections of science, literature, and media technologies. He is especially interested in the ways that science fiction has impacted the history of science. He is the author of two books about the history of nanotechnology, Nanovision: Engineering the Future (Duke University Press, 2008) and Mondo Nano: Fun and Games in the World of Digital Matter (Duke University Press, 2015), which show how science fiction, video games, and popular culture helped to shape the nano revolution. His book Respawn: Gamers, Hackers, and Techngenic Life (Duke University Press, 2018) examines the role of video games in the development of high-tech culture and online activism. He is also co-editor of Practices of Speculation: Modeling, Embodiment, Figuration (transcript, 2020) and a series of books about the social aspects of new technologies, including Quantum Engagements: Social Reflections of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies (IOS Press, 2011).