Institute’s Rachel Lane Named 2023 Women@MIT Fellow for ‘Mapping Migration’ Project

Rachel Lane, program associate in the Science History Institute’s Center for Oral History, has been named a 2023 Women@MIT Fellow for her “Mapping Migration at MIT: Eighteen Stories of International Women” project. This interactive story map uses oral history interviews from the Women@MIT collections and the Institute’s digital collections to explore how women’s work in science has crossed international borders.

Lane’s project maps experiences from each woman’s country of origin, time at MIT, and position at the time of the interview to particular GPS coordinates and includes short excerpts from the oral histories. Featured scientists from the Institute’s oral history collection include chemist Uma Chowdhry and biochemistry professor Barbara Panning.

“In many respects, these women are double minorities, facing unique challenges as international students, postdocs, and faculty, and as women in traditionally male-dominated STEM fields,” said Lane. “This exhibit is an opportunity to highlight their experiences and voices. I am particularly interested in using oral history interviews because they allow people to speak in their own words and voices and often contain information not found in the traditional written record.”

Lane, who is one of only two recipients of this prestigious fellowship, will discuss her “Mapping Migration” project as part of a Women@MIT Fellows virtual lecture on Tuesday, November 28 at 6pm. This event is free, but registration is required.

About the Women@MIT Fellowship

Working within the MIT Libraries’ Department of Distinctive Collections, the Women@MIT Fellows are scholars, activists, artists, musicians, writers, and others whose projects showcase the Women@MIT collections in informative and engaging ways and contribute to a greater understanding of the history of women at MIT and in the history of STEM.