CfA: New Directions in the Historiography of Genetics

The historiography of genetics has radically changed in the past few decades. Gregor Mendel’s Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden is no longer simply regarded as a study of the problem of heredity (e.g., Olby 1979; Gliboff 1999; Müller-Wille and Orel 2007). The so-called “great rediscovery” story has been greatly reshaped (e.g., Meijer 1985; Rheinberger 1995; Simunek, Hoßfeld, and Breidbach 2011). The Mendelian-Biometrician controversy has been and is being re-examined (e.g., Sloan 2000; Radick 2005; Pence 2011; Radick forthcoming). The gene-centric narrative of the history of genetics has been seriously challenged (e.g., Keller 2000; Oyama 2000; Harman 2004; Waters 2006). The significance and role of women in the history of genetics is being reassessed (e.g., Dietrich and Tambasco 2007, Richmond 2007, 2010, 2017). The history of developmental biology has been retold (e.g., Crowe et al 2015). The role of non-Western geneticists and the networks they created is being established (e.g., Dietrich 2016). And there is an increasing interest in the role of the genome in the historiography of genetics (e.g., Lamm 2014, 2015). This special issue aims to explore and examine new approaches in the historiography of genetics by integrating the role of women, national and international peripheries and networks, development, genomics, and new frontiers in the methodologies now available to historians of biology. We invite contributions that address the relevant topics and questions. The submissions from early career scholars and underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged.

Guest Editors
Yafeng Shan (Department of Philosophy, University of Kent, UK)
Ehud Lamm (The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Israel)
Oren Harman (Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Bar-Ilan University, Israel)

Submission Guidelines
Please submit an abstract of max. 500 words until February 29th, 2020 to Yafeng Shan, Ehud Lamm and Oren Harman. We will invite full papers by April 15th, 2020, and the deadline for full papers is December 31st, 2020. Full papers will have to follow the general Guide for Authors of Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. For any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact Guest Editors.

https://www.journals.elsevier.com/studies-in-history-and-philosophy-of-science-part-c-studies-in-history-and-philosophy-of-biological-and-biomedical-sciences/call-for-papers/new-directions-in-the-historiography-of-genetics