Workshop: History of Scientific Publication, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 3-4 December 2015

On 3-4 December 2015 an international workshop on the history of scientific publication will be held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The workshop will explore the norms and practices of scientific publication 1760-2010. The main emphasis is on the nineteenth century and the rise of print media, particularly scientific journals.

The workshop is organised as part of the research programme “Science and Modernization in Sweden: An Institutional Approach to Historicizing the Knowledge Society”, funded by Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg’s foundation and hosted by the Center for the History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The workshop will take place at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and includes lunch and dinner at the Academy on December 3, and lunch on December 4. The full program can be downloaded here.

Besides invited speakers and participants, there are still a few seats available. If you would like to attend, or have any questions, please contact Jenny Beckman (jenny.beckman@idehist.uu.se) as soon as possible.

Workshop about the history of field research stations

August 26–27 the Center for History of Science at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences together with Umeå Studies in Science, Technology and Environment (USSTE) arrange a workshop about the history of field research stations at Umeå University.

See the call for papers

 Abisko research station.

The Making of Earth Imagery: Workshop on the History of Space Technology and Environmental Perceptions

[via KTH]

On Thursday, 11 June 2015 Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment will host the workshop ”The Making of Earth Imagery: The History of Space Technology and Environmental Perceptions” at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The workshop will be held on the occasion of Sebastian Grevsmühl from Pierre et Marie Curie University Paris visiting the Division (for his work on space and the global environment see e.g. the e-publication from the conference ”New Perspectives on Global Environmental Images” held in Paris in 2014.

We invite students and scholars working in the broader field of space technology, satellite remote sensing and environmental perception to participate in the workshop and share their research with us. If the schedule permits we will allow for brief project presentations.

Workshop outline

How are historians of technology and environment to understand the interplay between actors, technologies, practices and the development of environmental perceptions in society? This workshop sets out to explore this question by studying the specific set of technologies and environmental images that satellite remote sensing provides. When the first satellites were placed into orbit in the second half of the 20th century, they changed not only the practices of environmental observation but also the study object, the earthly environment. New data became available and was assembled into new images of the Earth.

The diversified environmental monitoring program that took hold with the shift from military to civilian application in the 1970s has been hailed as the ”environmental turn” in the space enterprise. For many observers, among them the Apollo astronauts, seeing Earth from space represented a highly auto reflexive undertaking but, on the other hand, also a deep alienation. The workshop proposes to address the specificity of the space perspective beyond the dialectic of the distanced outer-space ”view from nowhere” and an inner space profoundly shaped by subjective intentions and imaginaries, by exploring earth satellite monitoring and surveillance both as a technoscientific practice and as a new set of ideas about local and global environments.

Our case studies on US and European satellite remote sensing projects from the 1970s to the 1990s will look particularly at the emerging images and messages about nature, at matters of the motivation, creation, appropriation and application of technologies, knowledges and environments.

If you are interested to attend and discuss your research with us, please contact one of the organizers, Nina Wormbs (nina.wormbs@abe.kth.se), Johan Gärdebo (johan.gardebo@abe.kth.se) or Sabine Höhler (sabine.hoehler@abe.kth.se).

Annoncement: 4 PhD students in Environmental Humanities, Royal Institute of Technology

[via KTH]

Royal Institute of Technology, Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment, announces 4 PhD positions in environmental humanities.

Applications are invited for 12 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to study for a PhD in different locations within the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network ENHANCE (Environmental Humanities for a Concerned Europe). We seek four (4) PhD students for the Division of History of Science, Technology and Environment, KTH Architecture and the Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology for our four-year programme in History of Science, Technology and Environment.

The successful candidates will participate in the network’s training activities and work placements in Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the UK. Regular meetings and workshops will supplement the support provided at the different host institutions. ENHANCE is an EU-funded doctoral program consisting of 4 European academic partners which, together with their non-academic associates, operate within a transnational network dedicated to cross-disciplinary research in the Environmental Humanities field. The main aims of ENHANCE are to provide its PhD candidates with the academic and complementary skills training to place them at the forefront of a new generation of Environmental Humanities research; to lay down the foundation for a structured, sustainable approach to doctoral training in Environmental Humanities at the EU level; and to provide potential employment in a wide variety of environmentally oriented careers including an academic career. Research and training will concentrate on three major areas––natural disasters and cultures of risk, history of science and technology, and environmental ethics––and will address a series of core interlocking issues: wilderness and conservation; flooding and drought; climate change and risk; and waste, environmental justice, and environmental health.

Deadline for applications 20 April 2015

More information here.

 

Summer course: ”Life on Earth and Beyond – The History and Philosophy of the Origin of Life”, Island of Ven, 4–6 May 2015

[via David Dunér]

The aim of the course is to give participants a thorough overview of the historical, philosophical and ethical questions arising in this field. It is co-organised by the Nordic Network of Astrobiology and the EU COST Action ”Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth and in the Universe”. The course is open for students and scientists in humanities, natural, social and political sciences. It will, amongst others deal with the following themes:

• Definition of life in a historical and philosophical context
• Biochemical evolution
• The tree of biological evolution
• Search for life outside Earth
• Philosophical, ethical and political questions arising with the quest for life on other celestial bodies

A multitude of highly merited researchers have agreed to teach at the course. See the cours website or details. The deadline for application is 15 January 2015 23:59:00 UTC .

Bursaries for students and early career scientists (up to 8 years after their Ph. D.) from countries taking part in the COST Action TD1308 (see website for details) are available.

Please spread information to possibly interested people at your instituition.

For further information, see website or contact the organizers Wolf Geppert (wgeppert@fysik.su.se) or David Dunér (David.Duner@kultur.lu.se)

CFP: 6th Norwegian conference on the history of science, Oslo, 11-13 February 2015

FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS

We are pleased to invite proposals for the 6th Norwegian conference on the History of Science, which will take place in Oslo, Norway, 11-13 February 2015, and is organized by the Norwegian Museum for Science and Technology. The conference will bring together scholars working on the history of science, medicine and technology on any theme, topic or period to discuss historical, epistemological, political, institutional and ethical issues of relevance to both a Scandinavian and international audience. Building upon the success of the previous meetings, which encouraged national cooperation and the strengthening of ties with the broader international community, we welcome proposals from researchers of all nationalities at all stages of their careers.

Proposals for organized sessions, alternative types of sessions, such as round-tables, and individual papers are especially welcomed. Presentations will be scheduled for 20 minutes, allowing for up to 10 minutes for discussion. No speaker may present in more than one session. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Programme Committee on the basis of their scientific merit and relevance.

Planned session proposals should include:
•         a brief description of the panel’s aims (150 words maximum),
•         a session title,
•         an individual abstract for each paper in the session (250 words maximum),
•         titles for all individual abstracts,
•         full contact details of the organiser and all speakers,
•         details of any specific audiovisual equipment required.

Individual paper proposal should include:
•         a paper title,
•         an abstract (250 words maximum),
•         5 keywords,
•         full contact details,
•         details of any specific audiovisual equipment required.

All proposals should be sent as a single electronic document to:6nchs2015@tekniskmuseum.no. The conference language will be English. The deadline for submissions is 14 November 2014.

For conference news and announcements, please regularly check the conference website.

For any queries regarding the conference, please contact: 6nchs2015@tekniskmuseum.no.

—————————————————————

On behalf of the Local Organising Committee,

Jon Røyne Kyllingstad and Ageliki Lefkaditou

Inbjudan till forskningsseminarier vid Enheten för medicinens historia och kulturarv, Karolinska Institutet

[via Daniel Normark]

 

Vi inleder denna termin en serie seminarier som främst vänder sig till forskare och forskarstuderande inom medicin-, teknik- och vetenskapshistoria, Science and Technology Studies, samt angränsande ämnesområden.

 

24 september kl. 15-17, samt postseminarium

EVA ÅHRÉN, Karolinska Institutet

”Figuring Things Out: Visualizations in the Work of Swedish Anatomists Anders and Gustaf Retzius, 1829-1919”

 

29 oktober kl. 15-17

OLOF LJUNGSTRÖM, Karolinska Institutet

”Det svenska Golgata: Anders Retzius’ kraniologiska samling på KI”

 

3 december, kl. 10-12, samt lunch till självkostnadspris

ERICKA JOHNSON, Linköpings universitet

”A Constant Torment: Tracing the Discursive Contours of the Aging Prostate”

 

Anmälan till Eva Åhrén, eva.ahren@ki.se

 

Seminarierna utgår från texter som skickas i förväg till anmälda deltagare.

Ange också om du vill delta i efterföljande postseminarium eller lunch.

 

Enheten för medicinens historia och kulturarv, Hagströmerbiblioteket

Haga Tingshus, Annerovägen 12, Solna

 

Hitta till oss:

SL hållplats Haga södra, trafikeras av buss 59 från Slussen, Centralen, Stadsbiblioteket/Rådmansgatan, eller buss 515 mot Sundbyberg från Odenplan eller Stadsbiblioteket

Postdoc in the history of technology department at Max Planck Institute in Berlin

[via MPIWS]

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin (Department III, Artefacts, Action, and Knowledge) announces one Postdoctoral Fellowship for up to two years.

Starting date 01 September 2015

The fellowships will be awarded in conjunction with the agenda of Dept. III and the current research project on: Histories of Planning.

Outstanding junior scholars with an interest of using the concept of planning to enhance the methodological apparatus of the History of Science and Technology and suitable experience especially in history of archaeology in addition with technology, economic history, STS, anthropology, regional studies or other relevant fields are invited to apply.

The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science is an international and interdisciplinary research institute.

Candidates should have a doctorate in hand at the time the fellowship begins; the Ph.D. degree should have been awarded in 2013 or later. Postdoctoral fellows are expected to participate in the research activities of the Institute, and to present their own work and discuss that of others fluently in English. Applications may be submitted in German, English, Chinese or French.

Fellowships are endowed with a monthly stipend between 2,100 € and 2,500 € (fellows from abroad) or between 1,468 € and 1,621 €, or E14 public pay scale (fellows from Germany). Candidates of all nationalities are invited to apply; applications from women are especially welcome. The Max Planck Society is committed to promoting handicapped individuals and encourages them to apply.

Candidates are requested to submit their application to:

applications_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de

Deadline for submission:  30 October 2014

Note that only electronic submissions will be accepted. More information on the application here.

Candidates will be invited to an interview in the week of 19 – 23 January 2015. If you already know that you are unavailable at this time, you must make mention of this in your covering letter.

Utlysning: Tema Q söker doktorander

[via LiU]

Tema Kultur och samhälle (Tema Q) söker minst tre nya doktorander för anställning från 2015-02-01. Ansökningstiden går ut den 25 september 2014. Vi välkomnar sökande inom temats hela forskningsområde, men pga tillgänglig handledarkompetens kommer särskild vikt läggas vid tre inom temat befintliga forskningsområden, nämligen a) kulturarvs- och modernitetsforskning, b) medierad kultur samt c) vithetsforskning. Anställningen förutsätter goda kunskaper i svenska och engelska.

Mer information om utlysningen här.

För information om anställningarna och hur ansökan skall utformas se Kungörelsen.

Steven Shapin to give Seminar at Lund University, Monday May 5

[via Thomas Kaiserfeld]

On Monday, May 5, at 1.15 pm, Steven Shapin, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard Univ., will give a seminar at the Dep. of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University. The seminar will be held in Kulturanatomen, room 202, Biskopsgatan 7, Lund.

‘You are what you eat’: Historical changes in ideas about food and identity

Abstract

There is deep historicity to the adage ‘You are what you eat’. For a very long time, the relations between aliment and identity – personal and national – were understood in terms of Galenical dietetics and modes of analogical reasoning from the qualities of food to the qualities of people. ‘Hot’ foods, for example, made for a ‘hot’ temperament, and the stolidity of the ox might be transferred to people who ate its flesh.

This talk tracks the historical career and cultural significance of these relations, and, with the decline of both traditional dietetics and of analogical reasoning by the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it describes the different cultural vocabulary used in modernity to talk about food and identity.

All welcome!