Working Groups

The Consortium invites scholars to join our topical working groups for challenging and collegial discussion of interesting publications in their fields and of each others’ works-in-progress.

Each group meets monthly. All interested scholars are welcome to participate via online video conferencing.

To join a group:

  1. Log in, or create an account
  2. Click on a group below
  3. Click on the "Request Membership" link
Submit a discussion paper for one of the working groups.

Upcoming Meetings

Please set your timezone.

Monday, March 16, 2026, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT

 

Divya Kumar-Dumas (University of Maryland)

Metal, Matter, and Meaning: Toward a Textual and Scientific History of the Sumhuram Yakṣī

Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT

Aijie Shi, University of Wisconsin-Madison, “The Life History of Laminaria japonica in the Northwest Pacific”

Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT

Speaker: Ryan A. Kashanipour, University of Arizona

Title: Epidemics and Epistemologies: Experiencing Illness in Colonial Yucatán

Monday, March 23, 2026, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EDT
Alexander Silaen (University of Vienna)
Colonial Entomology and Labor Relations in Sumatra, 1880–1930 of the Gregorian Calendar

Tuesday, March 24, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

Kelcey Gibbons (History, Anthropology, Science, Technology, and Society, MIT)

Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 10:00 - 11:30 am EDT

Rajarshi Sengupta (IIT Kanpur)

Hyperrealism in James Forbes’ Studies and Chintz Textiles: Through Research and Practice 

Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT

From the eerie vision of the owl to the radiant vision of man: Study and conservation-restoration proposal of three tri-color carbon prints by Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, c.1907-1912, by Isaak Cecchetto González

Abstract:

Friday, March 27, 2026, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Wednesday, April 1, 2026, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT

Amy Woodson-Boulton (Loyola Marymount University), "The Question of Kinship: Totemism, Animal Ancestors, and the Evolution of Culture"

Thursday, April 2, 2026, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EDT

Speaker: Camille-Mary Sharp

Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Visual Arts /Center for Sustainable Curating, Western University -- https://cmsharp.ca/ 

Session title: Petro-museologies

Thursday, April 2, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT

Manon Raffard, "'We may perhaps avoid the plague, but die from phenol': Phenol disinfection in French cities during the 1884 cholera epidemic"

Friday, April 3, 2026, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT

Al Coppola (John Jay College, CUNY)/Anita Guerrini (Oregon State University)

Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT

Color in antiquity

In this meeting, we will explore color in antiquity through recent scholarship, both from the material and theoretical perspectives. The eight invited speakers will briefly present current work-in-progress or recent results of their work on different aspects of archelogical investigation on color, followed by a final discussion.

Dr. Omid Oudbashi, University of Gothenburg, Color technology in Ancient Iran –  

Friday, April 10, 2026, 12:30 - 2:00 pm EDT

Remi Gandoin, “Windpower Siting in Denmark”

Monday, April 13, 2026, 1:00 - 2:30 pm EDT

New Methods in Mining Studies II

Environmental Lifeworlds of Extraction in Africa: Methodological Insights by Iva Peša (University of Groningen)

Wednesday, April 15, 2026, 12:00 - 1:30 pm EDT

Speaker: JJ R. Strange, PhD Candidate at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Title: Crisis in the Garden: How War and Environmental Loss Transformed Chinese Pharmaceutical Research (1935-1955)

Format: Presentation followed by Q&A

Friday, April 17, 2026, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm EDT

*Note Special Date*

"How to Draw the Buddha and Dissect a Corpse: Iconometry and Anatomy in Early-Modern Tibet"

Briana Brightly (Harvard University)

Commentator: TBC

Monday, April 20, 2026, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT

Jan Gerris (University of Ghent)

Tandulaveyāliya - An ancient Jain philosophical reflection on life

Tuesday, April 21, 2026, 2:00 - 3:30 pm EDT

Daniella McCahey (Texas Tech University) and Sam Robinson (University of York), TBA chapter from their in-progress book on the Discovery Investigations. 

 

Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 10:00 - 11:30 am EDT

Mackenzie Cooley (Hamilton College)