Other Organisations

Other organisations of interest to members of the BSLS

Originality in science

April 16, 2010 in Events, Other Organisations by Stuart Robertson | No comments

Ian McEwan speaks at a Royal Society of Literature event

Originality in science is synonymous with being first; originality in the arts is somewhat different.  At what point do these two creative endeavours overlap?  Ian McEwan is a novelist who has often taken science as a subject: Enduring Love was about a science writer, Saturday about a brain surgeon.  His latest novel, Solar, is about global warming and its protagonist is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who has given up original work to enjoy his own celebrity.  McEwan’s first book, the short stories First Love, Last Rites, was hailed for ‘an originality astonishing for a young man still in his twenties’.  Yet original work by scientists is most often achieved while they are still young: do they develop differently?  Richard Fortey’s original work is on fossils.  He is a research palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum whose books include Trilobite!, shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, and Earth: an intimate history. A Fellow both of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Literature, he is a former President of the Geological Society of London.

This event is free for Fellows and Members of the Royal Society of Literature. There are a limited number of tickets available for members of the public at all RSL events. These are sold at the door, from 6pm, on a first-come-first-served basis. We suggest a contribution of £7 (£5 concession). For further information please visit our website http://www.rslit.org, or call us on 02078454676.

Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, Courtauld Institute, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Cfp: Have You Ever Seen a Molecule? Art, Science and Visual Communication

March 25, 2010 in Events, News, Other Organisations, Related Events by Alice Jenkins | No comments

Call for papers

CRASSH, University of Cambridge

This interdisciplinary conference concentrates on the correlation between science and art/design, and the impact of the arts and artistic practices on scientific culture. The scientific focus of the conference is molecular biology, in particular structural biology. As any other micro- and nano-scale science, this research is inherently dependent upon visualising objects and data in the production and communication of scientific knowledge. Visualisation is thus an integral part of the understanding and evolution of new scientific concepts and boundaries.

Interdisciplinary collaboration in visualising molecular structures lies at the very core of contemporary research processes and products. Bringing art, design and science together is far more than just an interesting experiment in transdisciplinary cross-communication, it is a necessary step in exploring new ways of optimising imagery at the molecular level and thus breaking new ground.

We welcome submissions for presentations broadly within visualisation of science. Please submit abstract of no more than 250 words, a brief CV and a few lines on your interest in this conference by email to rsk@mrc-mbu.cam.ac.uk before 1 February 2010. For registration and submission of abstract please use the relevant form on our conference website.

Speakers will be notified two weeks after submission deadline. Please be aware that the number of places is limited. Registration and payment must be completed by 11 March 2010.

SHAC Workshop: History of Alchemy and Chemistry

January 5, 2010 in Events, Other Organisations, Related Events by Stuart Robertson | No comments

Department of History and Philosophy of Science
University of Cambridge

This one day workshop, aimed particularly at postgraduates and early career
researchers, introduces and explores historiographical and methodological
issues unique to the history of alchemy and chemistry. We will investigate
the practical challenges of researching chemistry over different periods,
from pre-modern matter theories and artisanal practices, to the shaping of
chemistry as a formal discipline in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, and the increasing permeability of chemistry’s boundaries with
other disciplines, including physics and the biosciences, in modern times.
Participation is welcomed both from scholars already working on related
topics, and those interested in exploring points of intersection between
the history of chemistry and their own research.

Discussion will be framed by presentations from junior and established
scholars, including:

  • Hasok Chang (University College London), ‘Why has chemistry become
    unfashionable for historians of science?’
  • Jennifer Rampling (University of Cambridge), ‘Interpreting alchemy: text,
    image, and practice.’
  • Karin Ekholm (Indiana University, Bloomington), ‘Some problems in the
    history of seventeenth-century chemistry.’
  • John Perkins (Oxford Brookes University), ‘Searching for chemists in
    eighteenth-century France.’
  • Pieter Thyssen (Catholic University of Leuven), ‘The Replication Method in
    the history of chemistry: resolving a nineteenth-century priority dispute.’
  • Viviane Quirke (Oxford Brookes University), ‘Chemistry, the pharmaceutical
    industry, and medicine in the twentieth century: drugs as “boundary
    objects.”‘

Lunch is provided. There is no charge for attendance, but registration is
required. Assistance is available towards the cost of travel and
accommodation. Please email Jennifer Rampling for further
details, and to register.

Sponsored by the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (SHAC).
For more information on SHAC, including details of the Society’s award
scheme for junior scholars, see www.ambix.org.

The workshop immediately follows the BSHS Postgraduate Conference in
Cambridge (5-7 January).

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Oxford Literature and Science Seminar

May 16, 2009 in Events, Other Organisations by Michael Whitworth | No comments

The Oxford Literature and Science seminar is meeting twice termly; all with a research interest in the area are welcome, whether members of the university or not. The second event in Trinity Term 2009 will be held in the Breakfast Room, Merton College, Oxford.

Friday 12 June 2009 (7th week), 2pm.

Jean-François Peyret (founder and director of the Tf2 theatre company, Paris), speaking about Les Variations Darwin.

Peyret’s work has included productions such as Les Variations Darwin, Galileo, and Le Cas de Sophie K, all of which involved collaborations with scientists.

Further details about the seminar are to be found at:

http://oxford-lit-and-science.blogspot.com/

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Reviews for the Journal of Literature and Science

March 19, 2009 in Other Organisations by Martin Willis | No comments

The Journal of Literature and Science, a peer-reviewed, electronically available journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature and science, is seeking new reviews for its next issues. The JLS reviews journal articles in the broad field of literature and science or the cultural history of science published within the year from one volume of the journal to the next (so presently from early-2008 to the present). The Journal does not publish book reviews (other journals do a more than adequate job of this already). Articles can be submitted without prior solicitation from the editors, should be 500-750 words in length, in MLA style, and should be submitted with a copy of the journal article. Publication of reviews is at the discretion of the editors.

The Editor-in-Chief, Martin Willis, would be glad to receive reviews and review queries by email to mwillis@glam.ac.uk

The JLS can be accessed at www.literatureandscience.research.glam.ac.uk/journal/

Arts-Science Encounters: A series of events at Sheffield University

March 10, 2009 in Other Organisations by Alice Jenkins | No comments

The Arts meet Science in a series of provocative talks, where anything could happen.

The Arts-Science Encounters are a series of talks bringing together researchers from across the University´s five faculties and recognised external speakers. The topics are broad ranging, including speakers from more than twenty disciplines, ranging from Chemistry, Fashion Design, Literature and Law, to Music, Neuroscience and Physics. Guest speakers and soloists include Darwin’s great-great grand-daughter Ruth Padel, former Lindsay Quartet cellist Bernard Gregor-Smith, and renowned science writers Richard Holmes and Denis Noble. The talks are free and open to the general public and are pitched at non-specialists.

Details of the programme are available here.

‘ “Romantic Biographies” c.1770-1835’ May 2009

March 4, 2009 in News, Other Organisations, Related Events by Stuart Robertson | No comments

“Romantic Biographies”: Writing Lives and Afterlives, c.1770-1835
The Early Careers and Postgraduate Conference for The British Association for Romantic Studies

8 May 2009 at Research Institute for the Humanities, Keele University

“As little more than an infant, he was walking through a graveyard with his sister, Mary, ten years his senior, and reading the epitaphs on the universally belauded dead — for he was a precocious reader, who, it is said, ’knew his letters before he could talk’. As he came away, he turned to his sister and asked: ’Mary, where are the naughty people buried?’ This, we may be sure, though a joke to the reader, was not uttered as a joke by the small child” — Robert Lynd on Charles Lamb

For the biennial BARS Early Careers and Postgraduate Conference for 2009 we invite papers on lives and afterlives in the Romantic period. In particular, we are interested in biography and biographical criticism, including the receptions and depictions of both major and minor writers and artists who lived between c.1770 and 1835. We are also interested in multidisciplinary conversations about the pedagogical issues associated with our theme, as well as reflections on archival and methodological problems and solutions. We will have a roundtable discussion on Teaching Romanticism, chaired by Professor Sharon Ruston, as well as a roundtable panel on Archival Research, a Q&A session on Academic Publishing, and a Keynote address by Professor David Amigoni.

Topics might include, but are not limited to:

  • The production and reception of Collected Works
  • Biographies, book history & periodical culture
  • The Death of the Author: biographical criticism after Theory
  • Biographical dictionaries & anecdotes
  • “Biofictions” (e.g. Peter Ackroyd’s Blake)
  • Literature: Life: Science
  • Reception histories of major/minor authors
  • Biographies and the new media
  • Genius & Celebrity
  • Biographies after Johnson and Boswell
  • Classical precedents
  • Morality, censorship and life writing
  • Lives and visual art / Lives on stage
  • Published and unpublished letters
  • Autobiographical writing & memoirs
  • Epitaphs & tourist industries

Each paper will last 20 minutes. Please send abstracts of around 200 words to Dr. Daniel Cook. We especially welcome panel proposals. In this instance send us a panel title, a list of three or four speakers and a chair (if appropriate), titles of the papers, and abstracts.

Deadline for abstracts: 19th March 2009

Organisers: Dr. Daniel Cook (Keele), Amber Kay Regis (Keele) & Matthew Sangster (Royal Holloway)

CFP: Fourth Annual Science and the Public Conference

October 27, 2008 in Events, News, Other Organisations by John Holmes | No comments

University of Brighton, June 13th and 14th 2009.
Science and the public: uncertain pasts, presents and futures.

The relationship between science and the public has provided fruitful material for analysis from a range of academic disciplines, and an important area of policy and practice, in recent years. Studies and experience have revealed a startling complexity, past and present, in science communication, a range of channels (formal, informal, fictional) through which dialogue and debate takes place, and a wide variety of participants in these interactions. Science itself has been reconceptualised, and the complexity of science as a discourse, as practice and as a form of life raises many questions. Science has long been seen as a quest for certainty, even if that goal is unachievable, but our interactions with and examinations of science often reveal, and are characterised by, many uncertainties: what are we encountering, describing and making when we examine science in its many forms? At the same time as this critical examination of the interface between science and the public has been taking place, a dramatic proliferation in modes and amounts of public engagement with science occurred. Science museums, outreach work and edutainment for younger people have achieved new prominence while history of science and popular science texts flourish in the market. This conference will bring together academics and practitioners who have an interest in the intersection of science and non-science, be that in contemporary, past or future societies, to confront and discuss the uncertainties, and certainties, of science and the public.

Possible topics may include:

  • Scientific controversies in the media
  • Experts and expertise in public
  • The representation of science in fiction
  • Public expectations of science and technology
  • Historical analysis of the relationship between science and the public
  • The role of museums, outreach and edutainment
  • Science communication in theory and practice
  • The role of news and entertainment media (including the internet)
  • The construction of interdisciplinary projects and frameworks

Keynote Speakers (confirmed):

Dr Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor of Clare College, University of Cambridge
Professor Steve Fuller, Sociology, Warwick University

Abstract submission

Individual paper proposals for a 20 minutes presentation should be submitted by abstract (no longer than 300 words) to scienceandpublic@googlemail.com by 14th February 2009. Please include full contact details (name, affiliation, email) of all authors and four keywords.

Panel submission

The conference organizers also encourage full panel submissions and roundtable sessions. Panel proposals should include a panel abstract and individual abstracts for each of the papers on the panel as well as contact information (name, affiliation, email) of the presider (moderator) and all panel members. Roundtable proposals should be a single abstract with names and contact information for all presenters.

Conference Fee

In line with previous years the conference fee is expected to be in the region of £50 with concessions for students.

All submissions should be emailed to scienceandpublic@googlemail.com by 14th February 2008. Please send enquires to this address as well.

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Colloquium: Charles Darwin in Europe

October 3, 2008 in Events, News, Other Organisations, Related Events by Alice Jenkins | No comments

A one-day colloquium on Charles Darwin in Europe will be held at Darwin’s college Christ’s, Cambridge, on Thursday 26 February 2009 to celebrate the bicentenary of his birth as well as the launch of *The Reception of Charles Darwin in Europe*, edited by Eve-Marie Engels and Thomas F. Glick. The colloquium will continue the discussions begun in its pages. All are welcome to attend.

Registration costs £35 (£40 on the day); concessions £20. Because of limited capacity early registration is advised. Registration forms and further details are available from the Reception of British and Irish Authors in Europe Project Office: RBAE@clarehall.cam.ac.uk.

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Society for Literature, Science and the Arts conference 2008

May 19, 2008 in Other Organisations, Related Events by Alice Jenkins | No comments

The 22nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (SLSA) will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 13-16, 2008. The SLSA welcomes papers and panels on all topics of interest to SLSA members. This year, they also invite papers that touch on the theme of “Reiteration.” The deadline for proposals is 15 July 2008. Contact the conference organisers at SLSACharlotte08@uncc.edu.

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Science and the Public conference, 21-22 June 2008

April 30, 2008 in Events, Other Organisations by Alice Jenkins | No comments

University of Manchester, UK

Today the sciences are linked to society through many different channels of
communication. The public interfaces with science during controversies that
involve scientists as well as journalists, politicians and the citizenry as
a whole. This interdisciplinary conference brings together diverse strands
of academia in order to consider science, technology and medicine as they
intersect with non-professional cultures in both contemporary and historical
settings.

The deadline for registration is Saturday 14 June.

For registration details and further information, see the conference
website, or email scienceandpublic@googlemail.com

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‘Between the Lines’ lecture: Philip Ball on his book on Paracelsus

February 18, 2008 in Other Organisations by Alice Jenkins | No comments

Museum of the History of Science, Broad Street, Oxford

Tuesday 19 February, 7 pm

In the next in an occasional series of lectures by authors of successful books in the history of science, Philip Ball will talk about his book, The Devil’s Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science. Philip Ball has been awarded the Dingle Prize (2007) by the British Society for the History of Science and is described in The Sunday Times as ‘one of our most versatile and gripping science writers.’

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New Kings interdisciplinary MA in Eighteenth-Century Studies

January 24, 2008 in News, Other Organisations by Stuart Robertson | No comments

King’s College London and the British Museum are delighted to announce the launch in September 2008 of their new MA in Eighteenth-Century Studies.

This is an interdisciplinary degree drawing upon the skills of scholars from eight departments in King’s School of Humanities, alongside those of senior staff at the Museum.

Further information is available on the Kings College website. Inquiries may be made to the convener of the new MA, Dr Clare Brant.

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Link: ‘Interfacing Sciences, Literature and Humanities’

March 21, 2007 in Other Organisations by Stuart Robertson | No comments

ACUME2 is an EU funded centre, based at the university of Bologna, with partners across Europe. Its broad aim is to co-ordinate and develop new university curricula across European universities, curricula which explore and work in the interfaces between the sciences and humanities. As such it seems like an interesting link and a creative challenge of sorts to the work that members of the BSLS pursue.

ACUME2 is organised into five “subprojects�?:

Future events are planned and we’ll be working to discover whether the BSLS can work with scholars and researchers from ACUME2

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