STEP - Science and Technology in the European Periphery

The 4th Norwegian Conference of History of Science will take place at the
University of Oslo from 20-22 November 2011.

Conference theme: "Geographies and the History of Science".

Key notes: Anne Hardy (London), Lissa Roberts (Twente), and H. Otto Sibum
(Uppsala).

Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2011.

For further details and call for papers:
www.hf.uio.no/iakh/english/research/projects/ffu/vithist-2011/

In this year's conference we want to develop a common theme around the geographies of scientific knowledge and skills. The last decades have seen a great interest in questions about where science is done, how scientific ideas and practices travel, and in what sense different sciences help redefine geographies. For small countries and small scientific communities the notion of being "peripheral" once seemed like a good tool for explaining the development, or lack of development, of science. Today we can no longer do with this simple geographical notion as a cause, but need to approach it as a phenomenon to be investigated. We would like to discuss and address questions about how scientific knowledge is made local or peripheral, what sites are made into centres and which localities rendered peripheral. Which scientific endeavors are more localized and which are more at home in networks. We are also eager to engage with questions about how theories, methods and instruments travel, who make them travel and in what sense, and how they are accommodated and appropriated in new settings. Finally we should problematize power relations and constrains to circulation, including questions of ownership, authority and exclusion. Our hunch is that different disciplines have different geographies and different modes of travel, and our hope is that contributions to this conference together can paint a more vivid map of the geographies of sciences in Norway (and elsewhere) through our collaborative efforts.

The Programme Committee invites papers or sessions from historians of science, technology and medicine and their colleagues in the wider scholarly community on any theme, topic or period.

Proposals for papers should include name, email address, title and an abstract of no more than 250 words.

The deadline for submitting abstract is 1 June 2011.

For questions regarding payment and registration, please contact: vithist-2011@iakh.uio.no

On behalf of the Programme Committee,
Vidar Enebakk
Forum for University History
University of Oslo