Catherine Tan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Vassar College. She holds a PhD in Sociology from Brandeis University.

Her research interests include: medical sociology, science knowledge & technology, social movements, and qualitative methods.

Her award-winning book, Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge (2024) with Columbia University Press, investigates two movements that take issue with mainstream understandings of Autism Spectrum Disorder. She argues that science and health movements are important spaces for the cultivation and preservation of contentious knowledge—knowledge that aims to challenge dominant experts and authority. Such spaces organize the resources necessary to transform ideas into lived realities. This study draws from over three years of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with members of the alternative biomedical and autistic rights movements.

Her current book project is titled, American Shaman. This ethnography follows shamanic and spiritual healers in the United States who draw inspiration from non-Western and/or indigenous traditions. She argues that the rise of American Shamans is not a fleeting woo-woo trend, but a manifestation of a disappointing healthcare system and an existential unease that haunts modern life. American shamans are not called upon to bless the community’s hunt and harvest. In a society that centers individualism, they are in the business of remedying an array of personal concerns, like chronic health problems, loneliness, and general uncertainties. Despite their unique offerings, American shamans are not special. They can be anyone. Many of us are one unmanageable crisis away from seeking out a shaman or becoming one ourselves. From the chef who survived congestive heart failure to the DEI consultant who likes to throw dance parties in the forest to the sitcom writer who left Hollywood for a simpler life—these are people who want to heal others and to be healed themselves.

Her other ongoing project, “Once upon a Lyme,” is with former student, Max Freedman. Given the increasing prevalence and seriousness of Lyme disease, preventative measures are critical to reducing infection and long-term health complications. They investigate how researchers are navigating the history of the Lyme vaccine, challenges and facilitators to research, and other important considerations before new interventions go to market.

As a woman accountable to no one, Catherine spends her week horseback riding, creating stained glass lamps, hiking with her dog (Piscola), hosting dinner parties, and sharing her thoughts on big issues she knows little about as a regular panelist on Northeast Public Radio.