Comparative and Cross-National History of Science, Medicine and Technology

Comparative and Cross-National History of Science, Medicine and Technology CALL FOR PAPERS for the organization of a session at the 7th STEPmeeting, National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland), 17-20 June2010.This session assesses the need of further cross-national andcomparative work in history of science, medicine and technologyprompted by current perceptions of disciplinary crisis, aroundquestions such as “big pictures”, the rise of global history, and theintegration of non-Western science in the canon of our discipline.The aim of this session is to contribute to the reinforcement ofSTEP’s research agenda and the historiographical development of thediscipline at large, by presenting papers dealing with more than onenational context in comparative fashion, and includinghistoriographical and methodological reflection on thecharacteristics, advantages, and limitations of this approach.Papers may not cover a whole country and can instead focus oncomparison of regions or more local unities of analysis.Intra-national comparisons will be admitted if justified, although wewill favour cross-national comparisons. The purpose of this session isneither to break national boundaries, nor to reaffirm them, but todiscuss about them and through them and to show how cross-nationalcomparison offer more accurate results than traditional approaches–explicitly or implicitly– restricted to the nation.Abstracts for this session should include justification of What isgoing to be compared, Why, and How, and arguments explaining how youthink that your comparative and cross-national analysis mightcontribute to change the current historiography of the topic tackledin your paper.Due to the complex nature of producing comparative research on morethan one national context, collaboration between scholars fromdifferent countries –although not strictly required– is encouraged andalways welcomed.A more detailed historiographical dossier (“Comparative History ofSTM”) is available for those interested in participating in thissession, and can be obtained by contacting the organisers.Deadlines12th October: Deadline for submission of paper proposals. Please,include name and affiliation, title, and a 400-word abstract, makingclear the relevance to the session “Comparative and Cross-NationalHistory of Science, Medicine and Technology” (What, Why, How,Historiographical Arguments). Send it as a Word or RTF document toJosep Simon (josicas@alumni.uv.es).19th October: Submission of the Session Proposal to the STEP Meetingscientific committee. Beginning of prospective contacts for potentialpublication.31st October: Deadline for submission of papers and panels to the STEP Meeting.15th December: Decision on accepted papers and sessions by the STEPMeeting scientific committee.1 May 2010: Deadline for submission of final versions of papers forpre-circulation.Contacts previous to the deadline are more than welcome. If you intendto submit a paper for this session and wish to discuss yourcontribution, do not hesitate to contact either Josep Simon(josicas@alumni.uv.es) or Néstor Herran (herran@unistra.fr).For more information on the 7th STEP Meeting:http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=75