Catherine Tan
Social Science Educator, Author, Speaker
Catherine Tan is an associate professor of sociology at Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY). She holds a PhD in Sociology from Brandeis University. Her research focuses on health, wellness, and medical knowledge. She is author of the award-winning book, Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge (Columbia University Press 2024), which investigates two movements that take issue with mainstream understandings of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Her research has also been published in a number of high-ranking peer-reviewed journals, like Social Science & Medicine, Social Studies of Science, and Ethnic and Racial Studies. In her public-facing work, her op-eds on healthcare, autism, and vaccines have been published in Newsweek, CNN, Time, and Boston Review. Catherine spends her week horseback riding, creating stained glass lamps, hiking with her dog, hosting dinner parties, and discussing current issues as a regular panelist on Northeast Public Radio.