Kelly Joyce

Associate Professor

Office: 233 Morton Hall
Email: [[kajoyc]]
Office Phone: 757-221-3739
Webpage: {{http://wmpeople.wm.edu/kajoyc/}}
Curriculum Vitae: {{http://wmpeople.wm.edu/site/page/kajoyc/curriculumvitae}}

Areas of Specialization

Medical Sociology, Science and Technology Studies, Social Theory, Qualitative Methods

Background

Kelly Joyce joined the William and Mary Sociology Department in fall 2002 from the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies Program at Harvard University.

Education

B.A. in Anthropology, Brown University
Ph.D. in Sociology, Boston College

Courses Taught

Dr. Joyce teaches courses on social theory, medical sociology, and the sociology of science and technology. She works collaboratively with students in engaged sociology projects. Previous projects include community-based research on mercury pollution and Chagas Disease.

Research

Dr. Joyce’s research examines the cultural, economic, and institutional dimensions of health care. One of her projects investigates the perceptions and uses of medical imaging technologies in the United States. Her book, Magnetic Appeal: MRI and the Myth of Transparency (Cornell University Press) investigates the development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging [MRI] technology, its popular appeal and acceptance, and its current use in medical practice. Magnetic Appeal illuminates how cultural ideas about mechanically-produced pictures, the pressure to speed up patient flow, the need to increase revenue, standards of evidence, and concern about litigation all help transform MRI into a highly desirable diagnostic technique. Joyce’s research is based on content analysis of media narratives, in-depth interviews with health care professionals and scientists, and fieldwork in MRI units.

Professor Joyce’s second major research project takes on the intersections between aging, science, health, and technology. As part of this work, she is co-editor of the volume Technogenarians: Studying Health and Illness through an Aging, Technology, and Science Lens (Wiley-Blackwell Publishers). Technogenarians will be published both as a special issue of the journal Sociology of Health and Illness and as a book. The volume will showcase case studies that examine how old people use technology and science in daily life to maintain and create health. The volume will include pieces that examine robots designed for and used by aging users, changing definitions of normal sexuality for older people, anti-aging medicine professionals and clients, and the development of gerontechnologies aimed to help people age in place.

Administrative

Professor Joyce is currently on leave as a Visiting Scientist and Program Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program in the Division of Social and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation.

Honors, Prizes, and Awards

Professor Joyce was awarded the Alumni Fellowship Award for Excellence in Teaching from the William and Mary Alumni Association. She also received Kappa Alpha Theta’s Favorite Professor Award and was chosen by William and Mary undergraduates to be a Distinguished Member of The National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

 Her article "From Numbers to Pictures: The Development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and the Visual Turn in Medicine" was an honorable mention winner of the IEEE Life Members' Prize in Electrical History.  This award is sponsored by the Society for the History of Technology.