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Conference Opportunities

Climate in meteorology, meteorology in climate studies

November 20-21, 2014, Bergen, Norway

 

The International Commission on History of Meteorology (ICHM) announces four competitive travel bursaries available to graduate students and recent Ph.D.s to support their participation in a workshop hosted by the history of meteorology project at the University of Bergen. The university will provide accommodation at the workshop for the successful applicants. The bursaries are intended to support the costs of airfare, prorated by distance and cost.

 

Applicants should send their name, contact information, affiliation, year or expected year of Ph.D., dissertation topic or title, and a 200-word abstract of a proposed paper to Georgina Endfield, President of ICHM, Georgina.Endfield@nottingham.ac.uk by 4pm August 1st, 2014.  All submissions will be considered by an ICHM panel.

 

The purpose of the workshop is to discuss the relationship between weather and climate, the historical role of climate in meteorology, and how this relationship has changed over time. Throughout history, climate has drifted in and out of weather studies. What we call climate has been defined differently both in the scientific literature and in the political sphere. Climate has caught the attention of physicians, physicists, geophysicists, politicians and the public. When, how and why did it ever catch the interest of the meteorologist? How important was climate to meteorologists, and how important was meteorology in scientific studies of climate?

 

The study of weather has historically been a negotiation between the past, the present, and the future. In the course of the last 250 years, conceptions of what has been climate have varied. Emphasis has shifted between geographical and temporal properties of climate, between empirical studies and the production of theory, and between optimism and fear. While climate used to be something that humans were exposed to, today it is climate that is exposed to humanity. The aim is to provide an arena for broad discussions around these themes, to foster the exchange of ideas, and to encourage networks building in the history of meteorology. The workshop will consist of prepared talks, discussions, and social activities.

 

The History of Meteorology Group, Department of Archeology, History, Cultural Studies, and Religion (AHKR) University of Bergen

http://vitenskapshistorie.b.uib.no/forskningsprosjekter/meteorologihistorie/