Working Groups

*NOTE SPECIAL TIME*

Colonialism in Astronomy: Discussion of Readings

Join us for a group discussion of the following readings on the topic of colonialism in astronomy, led by Steve Case. (Note that these articles are all open access and may be obtained directly through the links listed below.)

Papers:

For our first session of the year, Bethany Anderson (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) will present her in-progress article manuscript, "Becoming a Cybernetic Observer: Margaret Mead and a Human Science for the Cold War."

First Meeting of the year! Join us for a social introductory meeting.

Rado, Mei Mei. The Empire’s New Cloth : Cross-Cultural Textiles at the Qing Court. Yale University Press, 2025, Introduction and Chapter Four.
 

Book presentation of 

“Beauty: the Body as Artefact. Historical Sources from Cicero to Goya”, ed. by Romana Sammern and Julia Saviello (Routledge 2026, OA, DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003464846) and 

“Selling Pharmaka, buying health in ancient Greece and Rome: retail therapy”, ed. by Laurence Totelin (Routledge 2026)

Meeting Topic:  "Iridescence in early modern natural history drawings" A work-in-progress
              Author: Giulia Simonini (Bibliotheca Hertziana)
             Commentator: Anne-Valérie Dulac (Sorbonne)

Nuance: Nicole Liao (University of Toronto) "Synthetic Color and Early Experiments in Biological Staining."

Meeting Organizer: Giulia & Sarah

The essay will be available soon!

Jason Terry (Freie University Berlin) and Pamina Herrmann (Freie University Berlin): Sensing the Unknown: Worlds of Knowledge and Natural Histories in England and the English Empire (17th/18th Century)

Island Tinkerers: Innovation and Transformation in the Making of Taiwan's Computing Industry

At our inaugural meeting, Honghong Tinn will be presenting her recent book Island Tinkerers (MIT Press, 2025) with a focus on Chapter 10. It will be followed by a commentary from Chen-Pang Yeang, and then general discussion and Q&A.

Required reading: Chapter 10 and/or the introduction. Recommended reading: the entire book.

Introductory session: 

a) Meet the conveners and the participants

b) Discuss the working group's orientation to the launch of a new journal, Psychedelic Cultures

c) Discuss plan for the year

Ali Glassie, Northeastern University, Syllabus Assessment Workshop: "Ocean Literacies" 

In this session, we will read and discuss Andrew Williams's working paper, “The ILET Seminar of 1977 and the Entanglement of Academic and Political Networks in the Era of NWICO.“

Welcome Back and New Issue of HoPP* - Community Pharmacy Issue

Hosts/Speakers: Professors Kelly O'Donnell & Lucas Richert 

In this meeting, the editors of HoPP will discuss Pharmacist-Historian Collaborations and reflect on the challenges and surprises of cross-disciplinary work. 

Reviel Netz (Stanford University), discussing Archimedes' The Method

More details TBA

Richard Luke Fallon and Grace Exley, University of Cambridge 

Introduction to Science Studies and the Long Eighteenth Century

This introductory session will set the foundation for the year to come. Participants will have the opportunity to meet new colleagues, learn about new research, and contribute ideas for meeting topics.

Agenda:

First meeting of the Engineering Book and Journal Club.

We'll discuss the book, Vleuten, Erik van der, Ruth Oldenziel, and Mila Davids. Engineering the Future, Understanding the Past: A Social History of Technology. Amsterdam University Press, 2018.

Opening ceremony: roundtable on DHST activities and its comissions.

In this session, representatives of different DHST Commissions will speak about the role and activities DHST is carrying out.

Geoff Belknap, National Museum of Scotland

Seminar