Julia Ravanis

Julia Ravanis is a PhD candidate in history of technology at the division of Science, Technology and Society. She holds a Magister of Arts in History of Ideas and a Master of Science in Engineering Physics.

Her thesis explores the Swedish history of computing during the years 1955-1975. In this time period, the computer usage in Sweden rose dramatically and computer science was established at technical universities. At the same time, the Swedish government invested heavily in advanced computer technology for military science. Through tracing the military origin of Swedish computer science in two major data processing centres, Julia challenges the widespread notion of Swedish computer science as a fundamentally civil field of research. Central to the analysis are the cultures at the postwar university data processing centres and their prevailing ideologies. Julia is also interested in theoretical physics, gender history and the historical and philosophical boundaries between the humanities and the natural sciences.