The Fourth Annual Stephen M. Straker Memorial Lecture
University of British Columbia
Professor Theodore M. Porter
Department of History
UCLA
“Thin Description: Surface and Depth in Science and Science Studies”
Monday, 12 April 2010
4:30-6:00 pm
Woodward IRC Room 1
Reception to Follow
Abstract: A succession of modern thinkers has theorized the thinning
of the world and of thought. Edmund Burke and Frédéric Le
Play lamented the disappearance of depth and wisdom as European states
forsook tradition in the name of revolution. Alexis de Tocqueville worried
about American democratic superficiality, and Marxist critical theorists
about an alliance of capitalism
and positivism. Against this, positivistic research on the modern pressed
the need for professional social science on the ground that in a complex,
interdependent world, local experience can only deceive us about true
structures of causation. They had a point, but they underestimated the
power
of paradox. Our large, diverse, and politicized world has become less
tolerant of subtlety, which recedes into nooks and corners, and increasingly
it reveres information for its ready accessibility and seeming solidity.
Science, adapting its public voice and some of its inward practices to
such
expectations, now flourishes in the public sphere as a preeminent site
of facts, data, and statistics. Yet the aspiration to superficiality yields
up all kinds of unexpected consequences, and exploring these is among
the most pressing missions for science studies. We ought to scrutinize
the domain of the superficial, yet not to be captured by it. We miss something
vital if we merely follow scientists around or listen to what scientists
and other spokesmen say about science, without asking about the meanings
they make and the roles they create.
Professor Theodore M. Porter is the author of numerous essays and several books. His monographs include The Rise of Statistical Thinking, 1820-1900 (Princeton UP, 1986), Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life (Princeton UP, 1995), and Karl Pearson: The Scientific Life in a Statistical Age (Princeton UP, 2004).
Nicholas C. Mullins Award
Student Essay Competition
Deadline for Submission: May 15, 2010
The Nicholas C. Mullins Award is awarded each year by the Society for
Social Studies of Science (4S) for an outstanding piece of scholarship
by a graduate student in the field of Science and Technology Studies.
The prize consists of a check for $US 1,000 and a plaque.
The competition is for graduate student papers in the field of science
and technology studies, including unpublished papers, published articles,
and dissertation chapters. Dissertation chapters should be adapted so
as to make them "stand-alone." The work may not be older than
two years at the time of submission. A graduate student can only make
one submission a year.
The intended readership for the papers is a general STS audience. All
papers must be submitted in English. The paper should not exceed 10,000
words, including title, notes, and references. Papers longer than the
limit will be disqualified.
The deadline for submission is May 15, 2010. Papers submitted after this
date will not be considered for this year's competition, and must be resubmitted
the following year. Submissions must observe the following guidelines:
* The paper must be submitted electronically, as an attachment to an email
message, in MS Word or PDF format.
* The subject line of the email message should read "4S Mullins submission"
* The filename of the submission should consist of the first two significant
words of the paper title (excluding articles such as "the" or
"an").
* Authors must include the total word count immediately after the title
on the first page of their submission.
* To facilitate blind review, the author's name, address, email address,
and institutional affiliation should appear only in the covering e-mail.
* Also in the covering email, authors must provide the name of their graduate
program, the date they began study, and the date they expect to receive
their degree.
Send the submission to the chair of the Nicholas C. Mullins jury, Professor
Natasha Myers, nmyers@yorku.ca
The winner will be privately notified immediately following the 2010 meeting
in Tokyo. The award will be publicly announced at the 2011 Annual Meeting
of 4S, and the winner is expected to attend this meeting.
For more information on the Society for Social Studies of Science and
upcoming meetings, see http://www.4sonline.org/
Further details on the Mullins Award and other 4S Prizes can be found
here: http://www.4sonline.org/prizes/mullins
Call for Papers
Instruments: Mental and Material
6th Annual HAPSAT Conference
On Sunday April 25, HAPSAT, the Graduate Student Society at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science at Technology at the University of Toronto, will host its sixth annual conference, Instruments: Mental and Material.
Scientific instruments have emerged as a central theme in the history and philosophy of science and in science and technology studies. In Leviathan and the Air Pump, Shapin and Schaffer cite instruments, together with writing style and modest witnessing, as the technologies that enable the new scientific life. More recently, Galison’s Image and Logic gives instrument makers equal standing with theorists and experimentalists within the trading zones of scientific discovery. The historiography of medicine has also explored how instruments played a significant role in changing the diagnostic acumen of doctors and revolutionizing concepts of disease. However, there is still a great deal of work to be done in order to consider instruments as both a serious subject of study, and a resource for historical investigation and argumentation. Similarly, since Hacking’s seminal Representing and Intervening, philosophers of science have acknowledged instruments as being of central importance to the practice of science. They have become a nexus for worries about empiricism and standards of evidence; Latour (Science in Action) for instance, has argued that facts and artifacts are constructed in the same way, while Davis Baird (Thing Knowledge) argues that instruments contain knowledge of how to produce effects.
The keynote address will be given by Jacalyn Duffin (Queen’s University): “Stethoscope: Technology and the Meaning of Life”
We welcome papers addressing, but not limited to, the following questions:
· How do we learn from instruments? What roles do scientific instruments play in scientific investigations of nature
· What is the relationship between science and instrumentation?
· To what extent have medical instruments transformed the patient-practitioner relationship?
· Can abstract entities like scientific models or mathematical equations be considered instruments? Is there anything to be gained by doing so?
· How have social, cultural, and economic contexts shaped decisions about instruments?
· How can we, as historians, learn from instruments? Can our textual field learn to effectively marshal material evidence?
· How can we trust scientific instruments?
· What kind of evidence do we get from scientific instruments?
We invite graduate students and recent graduates working in fields such
as HPS, STS, history, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, gender studies,
and law, to submit paper and panel proposals that critically engage with
this theme. For papers please email abstracts of up to 250 words to HAPSAT@gmail.com
by March 19, 2010 and for panels please email
a document with a 250 word abstract describing the panel as a whole in
addition to individual abstracts for each paper (also 250 words). Each
presenter will be given 20 minutes.
We hope to be able to offer billeting and small travel subsidies for graduate students traveling to Toronto for the conference.
For more details and our past programs, please go to www.hps.utoronto.ca/hapsat/
Society for the History of Technology (SHOT)
2010 Annual Meeting – Tacoma, Washington
Call for Papers
Deadline: 31 March 2010
The Society for the History of Technology will hold its annual meeting
in Tacoma, Washington from September 30 to October 3, 2010. The Program
Committee invites paper and panel proposals on any topic in the history
of technology, broadly defined. Sessions dealing with non-Western technologies
are particularly welcome. Of special interest for 2010 are proposals that
engage in themes that resonate with the concerns of the specific locale.
These include:
Consumption: In the popular imagination, the Tacoma-Seattle area is associated
with several important corporate entities (Boeing, Microsoft, Nintendo,
Starbucks, etc.) whose goods and services are deeply embedded in global
consumer culture. At a moment in time when consumption, sometimes excessive,
sometimes globalized, sometimes exploitative, is of great concern to both
the public and policy-makers, Tacoma is an appropriate place for historians
to (re)consider technologies of consumption. We are especially interested
in papers that see production and consumption as coterminous processes
and which historicize consumption as part of broader processes in the
history of technology. We define consumption very broadly to include the
public’s active engagement with technologies and technological systems,
which may include environmental, communications, and obsolete technologies.
The Program Committee encourages sessions dealing with topics appropriate
to the meeting location, such as aerospace and maritime history, labor
history, forest products, information technology, and themes relevant
to the Pacific world. We also encourage historians of technology to reach
out to scholars in aligned and/or related fields when constructing research
proposals as one way to create a more interdisciplinary environment. Finally,
we invite papers and panel proposals that emphasize the longue durée,
particularly those that problematize demarcations such as modern/premodern,
colonial/postcolonial, and preindustrial/industrial. As always, sessions
dealing with pre-modern, Medieval, and ancient topics are especially welcome.
The Program Committee's highest priority in evaluating paper and panel
proposals is scholarly excellence. The Committee welcomes proposals for
individual papers or sessions, as well as works-in-progress from researchers
of all stripes (including graduate students, chaired professors, and independent
scholars). It welcomes proposals from those new to SHOT, regardless of
discipline. Multinational, international, and cross-institutional sessions
are also desirable. We especially encourage proposals from non-Western
scholars.
For the 2010 meeting the Program Committee continues to encourage unconventional
sessions; that is, session formats that vary in useful ways from the typical
three/four papers with comment. These might include round-table sessions,
workshop-style sessions with papers that are pre-circulated electronically,
or "author meets critics" sessions. We also welcome poster proposals
for presentation in poster sessions. Please note that in general we discourage
panels with more than three papers.
The deadline for proposals is 31 March 2010. Please submit your proposals
to shot.tacoma2010@gmail.com.
Proposals for individual papers must include:
1. a one-page abstract (maximum 600 words)
2. a one-page curriculum vitae, including current postal and e-mail addresses
Proposals for complete sessions must include:
1. a description of the session that explains how individual papers contribute
to an overall theme.
2. the names and paper titles of the presenters
3. for each presenter, a one-page summary (maximum 600 words) of the paper’s
topic, argument(s), and evidence used
4. for the commentator, chair, and each presenter: one-page c.v., with
postal and e-mail addresses
Please indicate if a proposal is sponsored by one of SHOT’s special
interest groups.
Submission Instructions:
1. Materials should be sent as a single text attachment to an e-mail message
to the Program Committee Chair, Asif Siddiqi at shot.tacoma2010@gmail.com
2. Proposals for complete sessions as well as individual papers should
be submitted in one file.
3. Please adhere to the 600-word limit for each paper. Use no unusual
fonts or special formatting, and save your attachment either as a Microsoft
Word document (.doc or .docx) or as a Rich Text Format (.rtf) file. Nearly
all word processing programs, including those used on Apple computers
can save text in the Rich Text Format. Do not use Adobe Acrobat (pdf).
4. Name your attachment with your last name and the word ‘proposal’,
e.g. ‘Smith_proposal.doc’.
5. A session organizer should also deliver a description of the overall
session. If you are organizing a session and proposing a paper in that
session, you will be delivering both an “abstract” and “proposal”,
plus your c.v.
6. If you are proposing a non-traditional session you may indicate that
in the “abstract.” These also require a curriculum vitae.
General information:
While SHOT rules exclude multiple submissions (i.e., submitting more than
one individual paper proposal, or proposing both an individual paper and
a paper as part of a session), scholars may both propose a paper and serve
as a commentator or session chair.
Generally speaking, the Program Committee discourages scholars from presenting
papers at two consecutive meetings held in North America. Exceptions can
be made for scholars traveling from overseas. Individuals are always welcome
to serve as chairs and commentators and are encouraged to let the Program
Committee know if they are available.
For more information about the Society for the History of Technology and
our annual meeting, please see the SHOT webpage:
http://www.historyoftechnology.org/
For questions, please contact SHOT Secretary Bernie Carlson at shotsecy@virginia.edu.
Jane Carlson
Admin Assistant to Exec. Sec
Society for the History of Technology
Charlottesville, VA
(434) 975 2190 (fax)
(434) 987 6230 (cell)
24th International Baltic Conference on the History of Science
8-9 October 2010
Tallinn University of Technology
Akadeemia tee 3 12618
Tallinn, Estonia
Third conference on the history of science in Norway
"University history, university collections and university practices"
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway,
14-17 October 2010
First Announcement and Call for Papers
After very successful meetings in Oslo in 2008 and Tromsø/Lofoten
in 2009 we are pleased to announce the Third conference on the history
of science in Norway, which will take place from 14 to 17 October 2010
at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim,
Norway. The conference is being hosted in collaboration between the Forum
for Kunnskapshistorie and the NTNU Anniversary History Project.
The theme of the conference will be "University history, university
collections and university practices". In 2010 the Norwegian University
of Science and Technology and the city of Trondheim will be celebrating
the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Norwegian Society
of Sciences and Letters in 1760 and the 100th anniversary of the Foundation
of the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1910. We invite submission
of papers and organised sessions related to the theme as well as to the
history of science in its broader sense, including the history of social
sciences and humanities. Please send proposals of no more than 200 words
(word doc or rtf format) to the email address below before 15
April 2010. Please include a short biography highlighting main
research interests no more than 50 words. Proposals will be reviewed by
the Programme Committee. Participants will be notified by 31 May.
Presentations are limited to 20 minutes, with additional 10 minutes for
discussion. The conference language will be English.
For submission of abstracts and requests for more information, please
contact:
Ragnhild Green Helgås (ragnhild.g.helgas@ntnu.no )
The program committee
Thomas Brandt
Anne Kristine Børresen
Roland Wittje
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Submission Deadline: 1 May 2010
We are pleased to announce that the 24th International Baltic Conference
on the History of Science will be held on 8 - 9 October 2010 at Tallinn
University of Technology.
Abstracts should concern one of the following fields in the Baltic and/or
Nordic context:
- philosophy and methodology of science
- history of medicine and museums
- history of natural sciences and mathematics
- history of technology and engineering
- history of social sciences, humanities and education
The deadline for submitting abstracts (of approximately 500 words) is
1 May 2010. Abstracts should be sent as e-mail attachments in either .doc
or .rtf format. Please indicate in which section you would prefer to present
your paper. If you do not receive confirmation of receipt of your abstract
within a week, please resubmit or contact the organizers. Decisions concerning
the abstracts will be communicated by 30 June, 2010.
The programme of the conference will be announced in early September 2010.
Accepted abstracts will be published before the start of the conference.
Language of the abstracts and of the presentations is English. Reading
time of the papers is 20 minutes (15 minutes + 5 minutes discussion).
The abstracts should be sent to Mr. Mait Talts
mait.talts@tseba.ttu.ee
Conference registration fee is 40€, 25€ for graduate students.
Details of payment will be announced in January 2010.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee:
Peeter Müürsepp
Professor of Philosophy and Methodology of Science
Tallinn University of Technology
Chairman of the Organizing Committee
Akadeemia tee 3
12618 Tallinn, Estonia
phone: +372 6204116
e-mail: peeter.muursepp@tseba.ttu.ee
Philosophy of Scientific Experimentation: A Challenge to Philosophy
of Science
Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh
October 15-16, 2010
Call for Papers
This workshop will explore research in philosophy of scientific experimentation
that challenges dominant views in contemporary philosophy of science.
It will focus on the philosophical analysis of the design, structure,
calibration, use and the readings of experimental apparatus, as well as
broader experimental conditions. Some of the central philosophical issues
to consider in light of such analysis are the nature of scientific theory,
the role of evidence, and the structure of explanations and understanding
of natural phenomena.
Keynote speakers:
Allan Franklin, University of Colorado
Marcel Weber, University of Konstanz
We invite submissions of extended abstracts (1000 words) of papers of
approximately 30 minutes presentation time. Please include your name,
the title of the paper, your academic affiliation and your e-mail address
in the submission.
The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2010.
Please direct your submissions to https://www.easychair.org/login.cgi?conf=philexp1.
The decisions will be announced by July 15, 2010.
Accommodation will be provided for speakers.
Organizing Committee: Slobodan Perovic (Chair), Allan Franklin, John D.
Norton, Wendy Parker, Marcel Weber.
Questions can be directed to Slobodan Perovic, sperovic@pitt.edu, or Karen
Kovalchick, rubus@pitt.edu.
For updates, visit: www.pitt.edu/~pittcntr
^TOP
HOPOS 2010 Conference June 24 - 27, 2010
Central European University Budapest, Hungary
http://www.hopos2010.ceu.hu/
The eighth international congress of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science will be sponsored by the Central European University (CEU), Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), with financial support of the Rector of Central European University. The conference venue will be the CEU campus in downtown Budapest.
The conference is open to scholarly work on the history of philosophy of science from any disciplinary perspective. Keynote speakers will be announced and a call for papers will be issued summer 2009.
HOPOS, The International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science, is devoted to promoting serious, scholarly research on the history of the philosophy of science. We construe this subject broadly, to include topics in the history of related disciplines and in all historical periods, studied through diverse methodologies. We aim to promote historical work in a variety of ways, but especially through encouraging exchange among scholars through meetings, publications, and electronic media. Information is available at http://www.hopos.org.
2-YEAR MELLON TEACHING FELLOW - SCIENCE, MEDICINE AND SOCIETY IN AFRICA
The Centre of African Studies and the Department of History and Philosophy of Science invite applications for a 2-year Mellon Postdoctoral Teaching Fellowship in Science, Medicine and Society in Africa.
Ideal applicants will have gained a PhD (or equivalent) within the last 5 years or by the time of the appointment, in disciplines within the humanities and social sciences.
Full details on the project and how to apply are attached and also available on our websites www.african.cam.ac.uk or www.hps.cam.ac.uk or from The Administrator, Centre of African Studies, The Mond Building, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RF.
Closing Date: 12 March 2010
Interview Date: 21/04/2010
Limit of tenure: 30/09/2012
Coversheet for employment:
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/hr/forms/pd18/pd18.doc
St. Thomas University
Limited-Term Position in Math & Science and Technology Studies
The Math & Science and Technology Studies (STS) Programme, St. Thomas
University, invites applications for an entry-level, 10-month limited
term appointment, at the rank of assistant professor, to begin August
1, 2010, pending budgetary approval.
Celebrating its centenary in 2010, St. Thomas University is an undergraduate,
liberal arts institution whose roots are in the faith and tradition of
the Roman Catholic Church. With an enrolment of 2, 400, its students graduate
with Bachelor of Arts, Applied Arts, Education, and Social Work degrees.
The faculty members are distinguished teachers, researchers and scholars,
and the university holds three Canada Research Chairs.
The successful candidate will demonstrate expertise in at least two of
the following areas: sociological, philosophical, political, or policy
aspects of science and technology, as well as competency in the history
of science and technology. Area of research is open.
A PhD or imminent completion is required. Applicants are to submit a curriculum
vitae, samples of scholarly work, evidence of teaching effectiveness (teaching
portfolio preferred), and arrange to have three letters of reference sent
directly to Dr. Jane Jenkins, Director, STS Programme, St. Thomas University,
Fredericton NB, E3B5G3.
Closing date March 12, 2010, or when position
is filled. Applicants are responsible for ensuring that their files, including
letters of reference, are complete by this date.
An equal opportunity employer, St. Thomas University if committed to employment
equity for women, Aboriginal peoples, members of visible minority groups,
and persons with disabilities. The university welcomes applications from
all faiths and backgrounds. All qualified candidates are encouraged to
apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
UNIVERSITY LECTURER IN PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
University of Cambridge
Salary: £36,715-£46,510 pa
We intend to appoint a University Lecturer in philosophy of science. Responsibilities
include contributing to all aspects of undergraduate teaching and supervising
graduate students, in addition to taking a prominent part in leading research
in the field in the Department and taking on administrative responsibilities.
Shortlisted candidates will be informed in late-March and will be invited
to the Department to present seminar papers and for interview. The successful
candidate will be expected to take up the position on or before 1 October
2010. Appointments will be for a probationary period of five years, with
appointment to the retiring age thereafter, subject to satisfactory performance.
Further details are available at: http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/jobs/lectureship.html.
Due to a technical hitch, the formal advertisement for this post will
not appear in the press until 26 February 2010. Due to a legal requirement
for positions to be advertised for a 28 day period, the deadline for submission
of applications has been extended to 25 March 2010.
We are expecting a large volume of applications and so we request that
applicants submit their papers as soon as they possibly can and we would
be greatly appreciated it if applicants could let us know in advance (by
emailing <hps-admin@lists.cam.ac.uk>)
if they are going to be using the later closing date.
Applications, in HARD COPY ONLY including CV, names of 3 referees, list
of publications, details of teaching experience and 2 samples of recent
work, should be sent to the Administrator, Department of History and Philosophy
of Science, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RH.
Please include the University's coversheet for employment, form PD18 (available
at www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/personnel/forms/pd18/pd18.doc),
complete
parts I and III.
Applicants should ask their referees to post or email references to the
Administrator (th10001@cam.ac.uk),
to arrive by the closing date.
Quote Reference: JN06104
Closing Date: 25 March 2010
Jobtalks will take place on 14th April with interviews on 15th April 2010
Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections - home of
the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers - is pleased to announce the renewal
of its Resident Scholar Program for 2010. Grants of up to $7,500 are available
to researchers interested in conducting work in the OSU Libraries Special
Collections.
Applications should be submitted by April 10, 2010.
More details are available at the following link:
http://paulingblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/now-accepting-applications-for-2010-resident-scholars/
The Department of Science and Technology Studies at UCL seeks
to appoint a full-time Lecturer in Philosophy of Science, with teaching
and research interests in the philosophy of science, and - preferably
- the history and philosophy of the physical sciences broadly construed.
The successful applicant must hold a PhD in the appropriate subject area,
and is expected to have a range of interests within history and philosophy
of science, to be active in research and publication, and to be capable
of teaching the subject to undergraduate and postgraduate students from
a wide range of backgrounds.
Closing date: 16 Apr 2010; interviews in early
May
Job advert: www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/jobs/
Search "UCL Current Vacancies" using reference: 1130132
About the department: www.ucl.ac.uk/sts
For informal enquiries, please contact Prof. Steve Miller (Head of Department)
by phone on 020 7679 3490, or by email at s.miller@ucl.ac.uk.
*Alexander von Humboldt Foundation - Transatlantic Cooperation in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Law, and Economics*
Through the TransCoop Programme, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation supports transatlantic research cooperation between German, American and/or Canadian scholars in the humanities, social sciences, economics, and law. Joint research initiatives can receive up to 55,000 EUR over a three-year period. Prerequisite is that the American and/or Canadian partners raise matching funds equalling at least the amount granted by TransCoop. [Note that SSHRC funds can be used to provide the requisite matching funds.]
Funds can be used to finance short-term research visits lasting up to
three months, to organise conferences and workshops, for material and
equipment and printing costs, as well as for a limited amount of research
assistance. Up to 15 p.c. of the TransCoop funds granted can be earmarked
for the German partner institution and used as an administrative lump-sum.
Deadlines: April 30 and October 30
Program Information:
http://www.humboldt-foundation.de/pls/web/docs/F27670/programme_information.pdf
Please submit news items by email to the webmaster.