ESHS Bologna 2020
The theme of the 2020 meeting is “Visual, Material and Sensory Cultures of Science”,
a very broad and inclusive topic. Sessions and talks might address the
history of the sensory approaches
to scientific objects, their material culture, as well as the building
of scientific practices based on the use of the senses (vision, hearing,
touch and smell), with particular attention to the history of the
relationship between the visual arts and the sciences
across nations, periods, and historiographies; visual epistemologies
and the cultural practice of thinking scientifically with images; and
the relationship between different media (print, photography, digital
imaging, etc.) and scientific disciplines in various
social, political, and economic contexts. Given the developments of the
discipline in the past twenty years, we see this theme as particularly
topical and capable of generating broad historical questions at the same
time. This theme will provide ample opportunity
to take stock and reflect on “sensory cultures” and on the “visual
turn”, to assess their strengths and weaknesses, but also to explore
their relationship with competing or overlapping historiographical
trends such as the material and global history of science,
medicine and technology.
CALL FOR SYMPOSIA
The Scientific and Organizing Committees of ESHS 2020 invite proposals
for symposia to be held during the conference, according to the
following standard format:
Four speakers in a 120-minute slot.
The organiser will chair the symposium or may propose a chair (who may
not be a speaker in the session) and if requested also a commentator.
Each speaker
presents one after another. The session is then open to questions and
general discussion, which may be introduced by a commentator, if
requested. In addition to the symposium abstract an abstract is required
for the presentation of each speaker (but not for
the commentator).
In selecting symposia for the conference, the Scientific Committee will
give preference to those that address the conference theme in one or
more of its different aspects (see above). We encourage proposals that
reflect diversity, including speakers from all
genders, with different geographical origin and nationalities, as well
as with different institutional affiliations and stages of their
professional careers. Prospective symposium organisers are advised to
issue an open call for participants, e.g. through
the Mersenne mailing list (link) and
others.
If organisers wish to propose more than one symposium on the same theme,
then they should use a single title for the connected sessions with a
number to distinguish them, e.g. Visual Language in Modern Geology
1 and Visual Language in Modern Geology 2. No more than four symposia may be proposed on the same theme.
Please note that individuals may not appear in the programme as a
speaker and/or commentator more than once, unless they are a plenary
lecturer or prizewinner. Individuals
may chair
more than one session, however, and speak or comment in one session and
chair another. Accordingly, individuals who have submitted an abstract
as part of a symposium proposal should not respond to the call for
standalone papers unless they
have received notification that the symposium proposal was
unsuccessful. The conference organisers will inform symposium proposers
whether their proposal has been successful by the end of January, well
in advance of the closure of the call for standalone papers.
The proposal, submitted by one or two organizers, should include an
abstract about the theme and the rationale of the symposium, with the
abstracts of all the papers. Each abstract should not exceed 300 words
(including possible references) and should be accompanied
by 3 keywords. A short biography (max. 150 words) of the organizers and
all the speakers, including the commentator (if requested) is required.
Proposals should be prepared in a single Word file (size 12 Times New
Roman font, text single-spaced) according to the following format:
1. Title of the Symposium
2. Organizer(s) (full name(s), academic title, institution, address, email and a short biographical note of max.150 words). Please,
indicate the corresponding organiser with the symbol *
3. Abstract (max. 300 words, including possible references)
4. Keywords (3)
5. Chairperson (full name, academic title, institution, address, email and a short biographical note of max.150 words)
6. [only if requested] Commentator (full name, academic title, institution, address, email and a short biographical note of max.150
words)
To be followed by the abstracts of the four papers, in order of presentation, according to the format below:
1. Title
2. Author(s) (full name(s), academic title, institution, address, email and a short biographical note of max.150 words). In
case of multiple authors the first author should be the presenting and corresponding author.
3. Abstract (max. 300 words, including possible references)
4. Keywords (3)
Please send your proposal, as an attached file, by email (with subject "ESHS 2020 Symposium Proposal") to eshs2020@
Proposals may be submitted from 15 October 2019 until 23.59GMT on 15 December 2019.