ICHM’s peer-reviewed journal, History of Meteorology 6 (2014), is now available with a special section of papers from the 2014 International Congress of History of Science, Technology, and Medicine edited by Ruth A. Morgan.
Categories
Author: ichmeteo
From 20-21 November 2014, a group of historians, science studies scholars, and representatives from the Norwegian weather service met for a workshop titled, “Climate in meteorology, meteorology in climate studies.” Organised by the History of Meteorology Group at the University of Bergen, the workshop was hosted in the university’s Geophysical Institute, the home of the Bergen School of Meteorology that was responsible for the development of so many foundational concepts of modern meteorology and climatology. Aided by travel grants from the International Commission for the History of Meteorology, the workshop was an opportunity for early career researchers to present papers alongside senior researchers from the field and discuss at length aspects of climate studies’ history, development, and relationship with meteorology.
Attendees at the ‘Climate in meteorology, meteorology in climate studies’ workshop stood on the stairs in the University of Bergen’s Geophysical Institute, where many illustrious figures from the history of meteorology have previously stood (Photograph courtesy of Dania Achermann).
University of Warwick, 16 May 2015
CfP Deadline: 10 December 2014
http://warwick.ac.uk/RulingClimate
‘Ruling Climate’ aims to explore the relationship between cultural perceptions of the environment and practical attempts at environmental regulation and change between 1500 and 1800.
In the early modern period, the environment became a privileged locus of scientific debate and governmental action. Discussions spread across Europe and its colonies as to how to improve the land, and possibly even the climate of a given place; practical efforts were made to enhance the healthiness, productivity, and overall pleasantness of the environment (both natural and built) in the belief that environmental ‘improvement’, as it was then called, would immediately bring about human improvement—a larger, healthier, happier population that would make the country more powerful. Such debates and practices were driven by a persistent belief in the influence that landscape, weather and climate would exert on human beings, both at a physical and a spiritual level. ‘Climate theories’—first advanced by ancient authors such as Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle and Ptolemy—remained a popular explanatory paradigm throughout the early modern period, actively dictating trends in environmental management, social governance, and the administration of both private and public health, as well as shaping colonial attitudes to foreign climates and peoples. Yet the period between 1500 and 1800 was also one of substantial intellectual, scientific, and technological change in which new conceptions of nature, climate, and weather were developed. The human footprint on Earth grew heavier, whilst the first moves towards conservation and sustainable resource management were made. Finally, it was in this period that changing climatic patterns were observed for the first time, partly because of a cooling trend that reached its peak around 1650 (the so-called Little Ice Age).
Lyman Briggs College (LBC), an undergraduate, residential, liberal arts, science program at Michigan State University, invites applications for a tenure-system assistant professorship in HPS of Computing, Networks, or Big Data, to be jointly appointed between the LBC and one of the following units: James Madison College or the Department of Geography. The candidate must have a background in the history, philosophy, or sociology of science, technology, environment, or medicine, and studies computational or network sciences as a subject illustrating core HPS topics such as: expertise and trust; methods of data collection and analysis; or, participatory GIS. We also welcome candidates who use natural language processing or social network methods for studying collaborative research and scientific production. The successful candidate will have an excellent record of teaching and research accomplishments and be committed to undergraduate education. Requirements include a Ph.D (or be scheduled to have a conferred Ph.D. by August 15, 2015) with expertise in the HPS of science, technology, environment, or medicine. Interests in non-western science and/or diversity and inclusion as related to science would be especially welcomed. Duties include teaching three HPS courses in LBC and one course in the joint appointment department, and maintaining an active research program. Salary and start-up support is competitive and commensurate with experience.
16th International Conference of Historical Geographers (ICHG)
Dates: Sunday 5 to Friday 10 July 2015
Location: Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London, SW7 2AR
Website: www.ichg2015.org
Categories
News: Fleming in the Toronto Star
ICHM’s Professor Jim Fleming featured in this article about geoengineering in the Toronto Star.
Categories
Call for Papers: Emotional Geographies
We seek proposals for sessions that will explore the multiplicity of spaces and places that produce and are produced by emotional and affective life. We welcome an inclusive range of theoretical and methodological engagements with emotion as a social, cultural and spatial phenomenon. Themes may include, but are not limited to:
migration, landscapes, development, nature/cultures, governance, arts, aging, embodiment, children and youth, cities, animal studies, wellbeing, memory, non-human actors, and methods. Call for session proposals will close on 14 November.
http://emotionalgeographiescon
‘Ruling Climate’ aims to explore the relationship between cultural perceptions of the environment and practical attempts at environmental regulation and change between 1500 and 1800. The conference will be held at the University of Warwick on 16 May 2015. Submit proposals by 10 December 2014.
In the early modern period, the environment became a privileged locus of scientific debate and governmental action. Discussions spread across Europe and its colonies as to how to improve the land, and possibly even the climate of a given place; practical efforts were made to enhance the healthiness, productivity, and overall pleasantness of the environment (both natural and built) in the belief that environmental ‘improvement’, as it was then called, would immediately bring about human improvement—a larger, healthier, happier population that would make the country more powerful. Such debates and practices were driven by a persistent belief in the influence that landscape, weather and climate would exert on human beings, both at a physical and a spiritual level. ‘Climate theories’—first advanced by ancient authors such as Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle and Ptolemy—remained a popular explanatory paradigm throughout the early modern period, actively dictating trends in environmental management, social governance, and the administration of both private and public health, as well as shaping colonial attitudes to foreign climates and peoples. Yet the period between 1500 and 1800 was also one of substantial intellectual, scientific, and technological change in which new conceptions of nature, climate, and weather were developed. The human footprint on Earth grew heavier, whilst the first moves towards conservation and sustainable resource management were made. Finally, it was in this period that changing climatic patterns were observed for the first time, partly because of a cooling trend that reached its peak around 1650 (the so-called Little Ice Age).
‘Ruling Climate’ aims to investigate this complex of problems in an interdisciplinary fashion, focusing particularly on three central research questions:
- continuities and discrepancies between ancient and early modern climate theories: how were classical theories of climatic influence received and adjusted to new contexts in the early modern period? How did the understanding of climate itself change over time?
- climate theories and ‘eco-governmentality’: how did climatological ideas inspire and sustain governmental efforts of various kinds, at both a domestic and a colonial level? e.g. the displacement of populations, environmental planning in connection to public health issues, engineering works, choice of specific sites for new colonies, etc.
- governed with climate / governing climate: what is the relationship between theories of climatic influence and the development of strategies to cope with / modify climate and the environment? e.g. through agricultural improvement, increased human settlement, draining of bogs and marshes, deforestation, etc.
We welcome abstracts for 20-minute papers from PhD students and scholars at any stage in their career. Papers from all disciplinary backgrounds are welcome, including environmental history, colonial history, intellectual history, historical geography, history of philosophy, history of medicine, history of science, history of political thought, history of technology. Please send a 200-word abstract (including your name, institutional affiliation and a provisional title) and a one-page CV to rulingclimate@gmail.com. Successful speakers will be notified in January 2015.
As climate change becomes arguably the most pressing issue of our time, with evolving implications for societies in every cultural context, we seek to enhance our understanding of the ways in which culture and climate intersect with and animate one another. Cultural responses to and representations of climate are particularly compelling at a time when catastrophic weather events are becoming more commonly manifest and are inspiring a wide array of cultural and interpretive responses. Paying particular attention to the cultural implications of climate and to cultural, political, and societal responses to climate change, this conference explores how humanities-based scholarship can be brought to bear upon the evolving reality of climate change. Conference events include keynote talks given by internationally renowned climate and culture scholars, traditional academic papers and presentations, and a variety of interdisciplinary and multimedia performances. We thus invite submissions from scholars from across the humanities, broadly defined, who are dealing with any aspect of climate and climate change in a cultural context. The conference is hosted by the University of Prince Edward Island, home of the Atlantic Climate Lab and the Institute of Island Studies. Prince Edward Island is known for its breathtaking natural beauty and charm, thus making it an especially apt location for a conference on climate change and its human implications. Please submit abstracts of 250-300 words to jmcintyre@upei.ca by January 5, 2015. For more on the conference, visit its website or its Facebook page.
SEARCH Project, University of Melbourne (Australia), won the 2014 University of New South Wales Eureka Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Scientific Research for their 1,000 year climate history: http://australianmuseum.net.