CfP: Symposium ESHS 2018:Mathematics education in European military academies (18th and 19th centuries): unity or disunity?

SESSION PROPOSAL AND CALL FOR PAPERS
European Society for the History of Science, Biennial Conference
 
UCL Institute of Education
London, 14–17 September 2018



Mathematics education in European military academies (18th and 19th centuries): unity or disunity?

Organisers: Mònica Blanco (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya), Olivier Bruneau (Archives Poincaré-Université Lorraine)

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Deadline for paper submission (title+short abstract): December 14, 2017

It is well known that military academies and schools contributed essentially  to the production and circulation of higher mathematics in 18th- and 19th- century Europe. Over the past thirty years there has been a fair amount of historical work on mathematics education in European military academies, approaching the subject matter in a variety of ways. A number of studies focus on the mathematical courses produced and used at the Spanish military academies and pinpoint their outreach. Others address the importance of the military academies of Woolwich ,Sandhurst in the circulation of mathematics in Great Britain and in the appropriation of mathematical knowledge across the Channel. Meanwhile, recent works on the American military schools (e.g. West Point) consider the mathematical exchanges between France and the United States. Finally, the École Polytechnique and its school of application in Metz played a central role in the development of mathematics early in the 19th century.
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these military schools and academies underwent several evolutions regarding their status, their ways of recruitment and changes in their curricula. So far such evolutions have been studied mainly individually, from a local or national perspective exclusively. Such a simplistic pattern has led up to a lack of case studies dealing with the mathematics education in military academies with a wider global perspective, and studying the local obstacles within the pedagogical, institutional or diplomatic framework. Through this symposium, we envisage exploring the local and national dynamics involved, and assessing their impact on mathematics education in the military context. More cross-national and comparative case studies will doubtless contribute to improve our understanding on the construction and circulation of mathematical knowledge in 18th- and 19th-century Europe.
Hence, the circulation of mathematical knowledge between a number of military schools and academies, not only within national boundaries, but also across borders, will be considered. We are also interested in discussing whether changes in mathematics curricula took place simultaneously or rather independently. That is, if one school underwent a change of curriculum, could the same change be tracked down at other national or international schools? Or did they prefer to stick to a more traditional education?
In short, the aim of this symposium is to provide a cross-national comparative analysis of the production and circulation of mathematics in European military academies through a number of case studies from the 18th and 19th centuries. This crossnational comparative analysis can help identify points of unity or disunity in the military educational context.

Those interested are invited to submit a title and a short draft abstract to the organizers before December 14.