History of technology: accolades to USI researcher Maria Rikitianskaia

3a6d3d773decc9cbe6c5e838033be6d2.jpeg
6c4704b72cf3b5e6a17c905483fb8d80.jpeg

Institutional Communication Service

23 September 2019

The International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC) honoured Maria Rikitianskaia for her doctoral work which was unanimously voted as the best book on the history of technology, published in 2019 by young researchers.

The researcher of USI Institute of Media and Journalism won the Turriano ICOHTEC Prize, dedicated to the best book on the history of technology written by a young researcher. The volume European Radiotelegraphy and World War I: A Transnational Perspective, 1912 – 1927 analyses the development of radiotelegraphy on a global, European and intercontinental scale.

The work by Maria Rikitianskaia stood out not only for its broad historical perspective and solid empirical basis, but also for her ability to demonstrate that the study of technological innovation also contributes to a deeper understanding of the social and political roles that technology has had in contemporary history.

Maria Rikitianskaia is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Media and Journalism and completed her doctoral thesis at USI, under Prof. Gabriele Balbi. Her research focuses on the global history of wireless communication, from radiotelegraphy during the First World War to today's wireless and mobile networks.