The Ann Johnson Institute for Science, Technology & Society (AJI) has partnered with Release Peace—a non-profit, non-partisan organization headquartered in The Hague. This partnership will offer AJI Scholars the opportunity to work with professional editors to author and publish articles on a range of topics examining the background and context of contemporary or historical issues of importance to science and technology.

AJI Scholars will develop non-academic articles of approximately 1000 words over the course of the academic year. These articles will focus on background and context rather than opinion or argument to be published in Release Peace: The Magazine. This magazine is widely read by professionals in policymaking, NGOs, the UN, and think tanks, making it a valuable opportunity to gain visibility and influence.

AJI Scholars will meet virtually and in person three times as a cohort over the course of the year to discuss article ideas, share challenges and opportunities, and build community. AJI Scholars will meet separately with their editors over the course of the year to discuss, draft, and refine their articles for publication. Articles should be ready for publication by May 2026.

Book manuscript workshops are targeted toward individuals at any career stage who have not previously published a monograph. The successful applicant will have a first-time book manuscript near completion at the time of applying. They will invite, and the AJI will fund, up to three senior experts in the author’s field as well as an acquisitions editor from a major scholarly press to campus. A small group of relevant experts within the South Carolina community may also attend.

The purpose of this workshop is to support stronger and more rigorous manuscripts from first-time STS authors. Equally, it is geared toward developing communities of colleagues from different disciplines and geographical locations. The AJI is committed to building such communities from the bottom up, seeding them and positioning them to question and reframe complex problems. The AJI takes a broad approach to STS, envisioning it in partnership with historical, philosophical, scientific, engineering and medical approaches, because at the AJI community is the method. 

The Ann Johnson Institute for Science, Technology & Society (AJI) and the Philosophy Department at the University of South Carolina welcome applications for a one-week writing retreat at The Ampersand Inn in Newton, New Jersey, 6–12 July 2026. Leah McClimans and Allison Marsh will be your hosts. The retreat offers five full days of writing in a country inn surrounded by acres of woodland in a state park.

The theme of the 2026 AJI Writing Retreat is Context of Discovery in Science and Technology.*

Applications close on November 17, 2025, and the recipients of our Writer’s Retreat slots will be notified around January 16. Look for more details on this year’s theme and our expectations for attendees here.

After formal schooling comes to an end, many people learn about science from creative endeavors.  The AJI supports various public programming, including films, plays, exhibits, and games that furthers community thinking about the interactions among science, technology, and society.  Funding considerations for AJI + the Arts is on a rolling basis.  Please send a letter of inquiry to aji4sts@sc.edu with a brief description of your proposed project and a preliminary budget. 

Diving into Math with Emmy Noether comes to the University of South Carolina!

A theatre performance by portraittheater Vienna in co-operation with Freie Universität Berlin. Director: Sandra Schüddekopf, Actress: Anita Zieher.

Sponsored by the Ann Johnson Institute. See a preview here.
Zieher and crew launched their nationwide tour at the Longstreet Theatre on September 6, 2022.

“The Bag Lady”
Check back soon for more on this independent film sponsored by the AJI! Currently in development, this award-winning screenplay tells the story of Margaret E. Knight, the first woman to hold a patent, after she took the man who stole her designs for a paper bag-making machine to court and won. 

 

 

Call for Applications: if you’d like more information on how to partner with the AJI on a conference, symposium or another relevant event, or if you have an art project you would like us to consider, please email us as aji4sts@mail.edu

The Ann Johnson Institute for Science, Technology and Society supports conferences within science and technology studies and the history and philosophy of science and technology. In 2022, the AJI helped sponsor initiatives at the annual meetings of the Philosophy of Science Association, the History of Science Society, and the Society for the History of Technology. In 2023, we are co-hosting &HPS9 (Integrated History and Philosophy of Science) at the University of South Carolina. In 2024, we are co-hosting the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice