Vol. 41, No. 4, October 2012
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Article: Finding Informal Opportunities for Work
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Innovations in Education Series
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Indiana University Worshop on the History of Biology: In Honor of Fred Churchill, on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday
Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Indiana University, Bloomington
7–8 December 2012
Long-time Indiana University professor Fred Churchill and his many students have left deep marks on the history of biology, bringing issues in evolution, development, and heredity to the forefront, broadening the international coverage of the field through their research on Germany, the U.S., France, and Britain, producing critical editions of important primary sources, and doing invaluable service to the History of Science Society, the Journal of the History of Biology, and other institutions. On the occasion of Fred's 80th birthday, friends and former students will gather in Bloomington on 7–8 December 2012 for a workshop on their current research in the history of biology. Speakers will include Garland Allen, Mark Borrello, Alice Dreger, Paul Farber, Jane Maienschein, Marsha Richmond, and Fred himself, who will give a preview of his completed monograph on August Weismann. For further information, please contact Department Chairman Sandy Gliboff, sgliboff@indiana.edu.
CFP: Theatres of Science
12–5 p.m., Haldane Room, University College London, Tuesday 27 November 2012
In shows like "Mnemonic" and "A Disappearing Number," to the theatrical practitioners in museum spaces, and the work of educational theatre companies, performances of various sorts have also been used innovatively in pedagogical settings through the re-creation of past experimental and surgical practices. Though it is less conventionally theatrical, this work preserves the tacit, bodily qualities of skilled practice.
As the theatre historian Kirsten Shepherd-Barr has reminded us, such theatrical representations of science have a pedigree going back several centuries. For its part, recent work in the history of science has investigated the theatrical presentations of science including the well-known polite electrical displays of the eighteenth century (Patricia Fara, An Entertainment for Angels) and the interconnections between novel technologies of theatrical performance and wider scientific and technical cultures in nineteenth century Paris (John Tresch, The Romantic Machine).
These connections are exciting and tantalizing: they also present questions and challenges. These include (though they are not limited to):
- How can theatre which is concerned with scientific themes engage with technical detail and scientific practice, without retailing simplified narratives of what science is?
- What is the goal of theatrical presentations of science: as engagement, education, or critique? What is the right balance between these different goals?
- What models of collaboration between theatre-makers and scientists are effective, both in adapting scientific ideas and in developing dynamic theatrical languages?
- How can the common concerns of history of science and theatre—including questions of embodied knowledge, showmanship and public engagement—be brought into fruitful dialogue?
This one day workshop aims to explore these questions and connections by bringing together scientists, theatre-makers, and historians. We welcome short (15-20 minute) papers on these or related themes. The day will also include space to share approaches and ideas, and we welcome performances and accounts of scientific practice which might be of theatrical interest, as well as academic papers. Attendance is free but please register by sending an e-mail to m.paskins@ucl.ac.uk by 10 October. If you would like to speak or perform, please send an abstract of up to 300 words to the same address. Please mention this in your e-mail, as we are concerned to ensure that no one should be prevented from attending by childcare needs.
Announcement/Call for Application: Climate Studies
1-12 July 2013; University of Vienna
Lecturers: Jim Fleming (Colby College); Roman Frigg (London School of Economics); Wendy Parker (Ohio University)
Since 2001 the University of Vienna and the Institute Vienna Circle holds an annual two-week summer program dedicated to major current issues in the natural and the social sciences, their history and philosophy. The title of the program reflects the heritage of the Vienna Circle which promoted interdisciplinary and philosophical investigations based on solid disciplinary knowledge.
As an international interdisciplinary program, VISU-SWC brings graduate students in close contact with world-renowned scholars. It operates under the academic supervision of an International Program Committee of distinguished philosophers, historians, and scientists. The program is directed primarily to graduate students and junior researchers in fields related to the annual topic, but the organizers also encourage applications from gifted undergraduates and from people in all stages of their career who wish to broaden their horizon through cross-disciplinary studies of methodological and foundational issues in science.
The schedule consists of morning sessions, chaired by distinguished lecturers which focus on readings assigned to students in advance. Afternoon sessions are made up of tutorials by assistant professors for junior students and of smaller groups which offer senior students the opportunity to discuss their own research papers with one of the main lecturers. More information can be found at http://www.univie.ac.at/ivc/VISU/.
Summer Fervor: History of Climate Change and the Future of Global Governance
Seminar Leaders: Matthew Connelly (Columbia) and Jim Fleming (Colby).
The Hertog Global Strategy Initiative is a research program that employs historical analysis to confront present and future problems in world politics. Each summer, invited experts and select undergraduate and graduate students gather at Columbia University for twelve weeks of intensive study, independent research, and collaborative writing on a critical issue in international affairs. Dates: 28 May until early August, 2013.
Website: http://globalstrategy.columbia.edu/
Call for Papers: 7th Annual Southern Regional Conference for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (SoHoST)
22-23 March 2013; Mississippi State University
SoHoST provides a welcoming environment for presentations by graduate students and more established scholars in a collegial setting. In the tradition of the Midwest Junto and the Joint Atlantic Seminars in the History of Biology and Medicine, SoHoST seeks to foster community and scholarship in the HoST(M) fields in the South.
Junior faculty, post-docs and graduate students are invited to submit paper proposals on any theme in the history of science, technology, medicine and nursing. Proposals should be no more than 300 words and should include your name, title, affiliation, and contact information. Submission deadline: December 3rd, 2012. Proposals and questions should be directed to Jessica Martucci, sohostconference@yahoo.com. For more information and details, visit the conference website at: http://www.iversity.org/i/g/ghyhak. You will be asked to register with iversity.org; the site is free to use.
Midwest Junto for the History of Science
5–7 April 2013
The 56th annual meeting of the Midwest Junto for the History of Science will be held April 5-7, 2013 at the University of Notre Dame near South Bend, IN. A call for papers will be issued in late 2012. We welcome short papers on topics in the history and philosophy of science, technology, and medicine. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to participate.
For questions, please contact Junto secretary Peter Ramberg ramberg@truman.edu.
News from the National Humanities Alliance
Shared Horizons: Data, Biomedicine, and the Digital Humanities
10–12 April 2013
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced the first initiative of its partnership with the National Library of Medicine (NLM). NEH's Office of Digital Humanities, working in cooperation with NLM, the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities of the University of Maryland, and Research Councils UK, will be a part of "Shared Horizons: Data, Biomedicine, and the Digital Humanities," an interdisciplinary symposium exploring the intersection of digital humanities and biomedicine.
Shared Horizons will provide a unique forum for participants and their institutions to address questions about collaboration, research methodologies, and the interpretation of evidence arising from the interdisciplinary opportunities in this area of biomedical-driven humanities scholarship.
Shared Horizons aims to create opportunities for disciplinary cross-fertilization through a mix of formal and informal presentations combined with breakout sessions, all designed to promote a rich exchange of ideas about how large-scale quantitative methods can lead to new understandings of human culture. Bringing together researchers from the digital humanities and bioinformatics communities, the symposium will explore ways in which these two communities might collaborate on projects that bridge the humanities and medicine around the topics of sequence alignment and network analysis, two modes of analysis that intersect with "big data."
Additional information is available on the Shared Horizons website.