Dr. Colleen Anderson is a historian of technology, with an emphasis on popular perceptions of Cold War space technologies. She is curator of the post-1945 Rockets and Missiles collection.

Before coming to the Smithsonian Institution, Anderson held postdoctoral fellowships at Stanford University and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University, an MA from the University of St Andrews (UK), and a BA from the University of Notre Dame.

Anderson’s current book project Undivided Heavens: Space Travel in Cold War Germany examines how people living beyond the two superpowers used Space Age technologies to understand their lives and the world around them. Her recent article in Central European History explores how East German children were taught about the cosmos, including at the East German version of Space Camp.

Her work has been supported by organizations including the American Historical Association & NASA, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, the Central European History Society, and the German Historical Institute.

Anderson serves on the Smithsonian exhibit committees for Living in the Space Age and the Innovations gallery.