Working Groups

Hoaxes and Frauds: Contested Color Photography Processes around 1900
By Hanin Hannouch 

*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:

Bethany Anderson (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), "Becoming a Cybernetic Observer: Margaret Mead and a Human Science for the Cold War."

More details TBA soon.

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

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, introduction, skim the structure of the book. 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" 

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:

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

Antara Chatterjee, "Embodied and Gendered Experiences of Illness: Some Fictional Representations of Tagore and Manik Bandyopadhyay"

Behind the collections: a conversation with the Archivist.

In this session, speakers will share their experiences as archivists and reflect on the essential role they play in supporting historical research.

Elizabeth Kata (IAEA): Elizabeth Kata is the Unit Head of the Archives Unit at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria. She received her Master's in Historical Research, Historical Auxiliary Sciences and Archival Studies from the Austrian Institute of Historical Research at the University of Vienna.

Thomas Simpson, University of Warwick

"Knowing Earth through ice: frozen matter and planetary sciences before ESS"

Meeting Topic:  How can we measure or identify colours, and why does terminology matter?

Nuance: TBA

Meeting Organizer: Verena

Pedro Afonso Cristovão dos Santos, Universidade Federal da Integração Latino-Americana, "The Sargasso Sea and the 'Discovery' of the Americas: 19th Century Transnational Debates on Nautical History and Historical Geography"

Challenges and possibilities of working in a Museum.

In this session, speakers will talk about the aspects and challenges of working in a Museum.

Cameron Daddis

(PhD Candidate - History of Science, Medicine, and TechnologyUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison)