Shreeharsh Kelkar

Shreeharsh Kelkar is a Lecturer in the Interdisciplinary Studies Field Major (ISF) at the University of California, Berkeley, where he teaches courses at the intersection of technology, society, and knowledge production. His academic journey spans both technical and social science domains, having earned a Bachelors in Electronics from VJTI Mumbai, a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, and a PhD from MIT's History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS) program.

Kelkar's research focuses on understanding how computing infrastructures of humans, algorithms, software, and data are transforming labor practices, workplace dynamics, and professional expertise. His work examines the platformization of higher education through his manuscript-in-progress "Reinventing Expertise: Technology Reformers and the Platformization of Higher Education," which builds on his dissertation research on Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). He investigates how data science and design thinking are becoming attractive frameworks for educational reformers, reshaping traditional notions of educational expertise.

His publications reveal a consistent analytical thread examining the complex relationship between institutions, technology, and knowledge production. Rather than viewing technological change as autonomous, Kelkar emphasizes how it emerges from negotiations between diverse interest groups. His work has been featured in the Financial Times and Harvard Business Review, and he contributes regularly to the CASTAC blog (Platypus) where he explores contemporary issues in science and technology studies.

Kelkar's teaching approach addresses the challenges of conveying technological contingency to students, using innovative methods like sports metaphors to illustrate how historical uncertainty transforms into perceived inevitability. His scholarship bridges his early career experience as a computer scientist at Avaya Research with his later work as an ethnographer and social scientist.