President's Semi-Annual Report
Ana Barahona, President
Dear Members,
Almost two years have passed since I took office as President of the Society in Brisbane, Australia. It's been an honor to conduct the work and duties of the Society, and to have fostered the initiatives of its members. I feel sorry about leaving the presidency, but as Past-President, I will continue to serve the Society.
Although it was difficult in the beginning to continue the work of the Presidents who preceded me, I took the challenge with responsibility and commitment, and after these last two years I can tell you that the final balance is very satisfactory. Our finances are in very good shape (see the Treasurer's report below), the next meeting in Utah is well organized (see the Local Arrangement and Program Reports below), and the participation of new colleagues has increased in all the disciplines our Society shelters.
During the Brisbane meeting, there were discussions on how to stimulate the debate on ways to enter the world's electronic publishing, and the need for the Society to make a more concentrated effort to become more integrative in its focus and meeting program. For that purpose we discussed those issues in the Council and in several committees that were published in the subsequent newsletters. These discussions were very productive and substantial, and I think they have thoroughly enriched the ways in which we see the Society and have also pervaded the program for our next meeting in Utah. I'm sure that our Society has a unique opportunity to serve as a portal to connect its members, and to foster exciting interdisciplinary communication, issues in which the Publications Committee has been working recently. I hope that the next President can encourage people to continue the discussion on these issues.
I want to mention that when we received the sad news that David Hull had passed away in August 2010, we all felt very sorry, and began to think about ways in which the Society and its members could honor his memory and pay homage to his contributions. In October 2010, I received with great pleasure the initiative of the Past-Presidents of ISHPSSB, to create the David L. Hull Prize. The Council approved the motion and the creation of the David L. Hull Prize Committee began its work with dedication and responsibility. The first Prize will be awarded in our next meeting in Utah.
We are close to the Salt Lake City meeting, so it is time for all who are planning to attend, to ready their final plans. For that purpose I'm including valuable information from Matt Haber and Jim Tabery (our hosts in Utah), from Chris Young and Mark Largent (Program Co-Chairs), from Lisa Gannett (Treasurer), about travel student support, and information regarding membership renewal from Roberta Millstein (Secretary). I'm sure this meeting will be a wonderful and insightful one!
As a registered member of ISHPSSB, you are entitled to vote in the 2011 election of officers. Please complete the on-line election following the instructions below. Your participation in the voting process is very important!
Finally, I couldn't have done my work as President without the support of my colleagues in the Council and in the Executive Committee. I don't want to pass on the opportunity to acknowledge all the people who helped me to conduct the Society's work. I am particularly grateful to Jim Griesemer, the Past-President, who definitely helped and supported me always, and to the Council Members who assisted me in finding a balance in our discussions: Paul Griffiths (our next President), Lisa Gannett, Roberta Millstein, Mark Largent and Chris Young, Jessica Bolker, Rachael Brown (the student representative), John Dupré, Jean Gayon, Manfred Laubichler, Gregory Radick, Betty Smocovitis, Matt Haber and Jim Tabery. Also I would like to thank the Committee Chairs who accepted my invitation to lead the work of the committees, Tara Abraham, Mark Borrello, Mike Dietrich, John Lynch, and Richard Burian, and to all who have served the Society as part of a Committee. I would also like to thank Frédéric Bouchard (the webmaster) and Pamela Henson (the Society's archivist). All did a great job and I'm very grateful for that.
Utah 2011
Local Arrangement Co-Chairs Report
Things are moving apace and the University of Utah Department of Philosophy is very excited to be hosting ISHPSSB SLC. The program committee will be on campus next week to tour the facilities, which will help us solidify some of the space requirements for the meeting. In the coming months we will be posting updates and information both about the meeting and visiting Salt Lake City.
We've set aside a substantial number of hotel rooms ($89/night) and residence hall beds for the week of the meeting. In the residence halls, people may reserve a bed in a single room for $32/night, or a bed in a double (shared) room for $23/night. These accommodations are immediately adjacent to the meeting facilities. So the only long hikes people will be taking are those exploring the foothills above campus!
Please encourage everyone to reserve their rooms or beds as soon as possible. If we start filling up early enough in the process we have a limited capacity to add more space. So signing up early will actually help fellow meeting-goers find accommodations. (We'll leave it to the game-theorists to model an appropriate response.)
Other accommodation options may be found on the ISHPSSB SLC website. Salt Lake City has a range of hotels near light-rail stations that make for an easy commute up to the University of Utah Ft. Douglas conference area. Please see website for more details: http://www.conferences.utah.edu/ishpssb/acommodation.html
Thank you to everyone who registered or submitted an abstract for ISHPSSB SLC. Though there were a few hiccups (as is to be expected), by and large it went very smoothly. Special thanks to everyone who took the time to designate keywords, themes and sponsors along with their submitted abstracts. This was greatly appreciated, especially by local sponsors. Sponsors are still joining us, and we now have a long list of partners. On-campus partners include the Vice-President for Research, the Brain Institute, the Division of Medical Ethics & Humanities, the Tanner Humanities Center, the College of Humanities, the Asia Center, the Environmental Humanities Graduate Program, the Gender Studies Program and the Department of Anthropology. Other sponsors include the Utah Museum of Natural History, the Salt Lake City Public Library, and Equality Utah.
Matt Haber and Jim Tabery
Program Co-Chairs Report
The deadline for submitting proposals was extended from February 28 to March 3, and in those few days, a flurry of activity from scholars around the world brought the total number of submissions right into upper end of what we had hoped to receive.
We are currently reviewing every title, abstract, session proposal, and name to be sure all necessary details are in place. We expect to have registration in the afternoon and evening on Sunday and sessions throughout the day on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, leaving evenings free for additional scholarly exchange, socializing, and exploration. Friday is tentatively reserved for some excursions around the Salt Lake City area. As you prepare to make plane reservations, we recommend that you arrive on Sunday, July 10 and leave either Friday or Saturday, July 15 or 16.
With eleven concurrent sessions in rooms situated conveniently close to the main gathering areas, we anticipate vibrant interaction throughout the week. You will want to arrive Sunday well rested and ready convene!
Proposals for over 30 posters suggest exciting works in progress as well as scholarship deserving of additional discussion in a structured but less formal setting. Refreshments during the poster session and a 'Happy Office Hour' afterwards will introduce us all to one another in true Ishkabibble fashion.
In all, we received proposals for over 400 papers to be presented during the week. Over half of those came as part of pre-planned sessions. Thank you to all of those who submitted proposals, and especially to those session organizers who brought together the titles and abstracts from diverse scholars.
The session, paper, and poster proposals came from scholars from over 25 countries, reflecting the true international reach of ISHPSSB. We will welcome many new members and look forward to seeing old friends as well.
Expect to hear from us again as we complete the preliminary program sometime in late April, and please make your travel plans early. You will also want to add accommodations information, renew your membership, and complete your registration, if any of those steps were skipped during the submission process.
Thank you for providing us with such a rich source of work from which to develop this unique program. It is a privilege for us to work with you all.
Chris Young and Mark Largent
Graduate Student Travel Support
ISHPSSB supports travel to the biennial meeting for graduate students using funds made available through memberships, donations to the society, and proceeds from past meetings. Some NSF funds will also be available for US citizens or non-US citizens studying at US institutions.
The Society's allocation of support for graduate student travel is determined by these priorities: (1) students who are presenting papers or posters at the biennial conference or participating in ISHPSSB governance; (2) students who have never received previous funding; and (3) students who did not receive funding at the previous ISHPSSB meeting.
The Society has the financial means to support only a portion of travel costs for students whose applications are successful. Award amounts will depend on the total amount of funding available to ISHPSSB, the relative cost of travel between the students' locations and Salt Lake City, and the ability of applicants to access additional resources. For ISHPSSB 2009 in Brisbane, award amounts averaged about USD $600.
Application forms are available at http://www.ishpssb.org/meeting.html. Send applications and supporting documentation to Lisa Gannett, ISHPSSB Treasurer: via email attachment to
For your application to be considered complete, you must (i) provide documentation of your travel costs (copy of receipt, travel agent quote, screen shot from airline website or site such as Expedia or Travelocity, etc.) based on best available fare, and (ii) ensure that your graduate advisor sends an email to
The deadline for receipt of complete applications is April 15, 2011. This deadline is firm: NO LATE OR INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
N.B.: Once you send in your application, it is your responsibility to keep your file up to date by providing prompt notification of any changes in your circumstances (attendance at the meeting, status as a full-time graduate student in good standing, itinerary, estimated travel costs, expected financial support, etc.). The Travel Support Committee will process the applications and notify applicants of the results by early to mid-May. Any award that you are offered at this time will be contingent on the information that has been provided and subject to adjustment should your circumstances change. To receive your award, you will be required to submit a completed reimbursement form and original travel receipts (including all boarding passes) within one month following the conference.
Lisa Gannett
Membership Renewal
ISHPSSB members typically renew their memberships when they register for the biennial meeting. Those who do not attend a meeting sometimes fail to renew. Currently more than 1/3 of members are late paying dues. We ask you to renew when your membership expires. Please renew promptly when your renewal notice arrives, which is via email from our online partner Wild Apricot. (The "From" address of the reminder email will be
Roberta Millstein
Agenda for the General Members' Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah
I want to recall you that the General Member's is not a business meeting for the officers, so your attendance is critically important. Official business of the Society is conducted at the members meeting, which requires a quorum (10% of all the members).
According to the Bylaws, there is a set order of business for a general members meeting. The ISHPSSB Council holds two lunch-time meetings during each of our conferences, one before the General Members' Meeting, chaired by the outgoing President, and one after, chaired by the incoming President.
BYLAWS ARTICLE II - MEMBERS 14. ORDER OF BUSINESS.
The order of business at all meetings of the Members shall be as follows:
- Roll Call.
- Proof of notice of meeting or waiver of notice.
- Reading of minutes of preceding meeting.
- Reports of Officers.
- Reports of Committees.
- Election of Directors and Officers, and/or the announcement of results of mail ballots.
- Unfinished Business.
- New Business.
Observing the Technical Niceties
- The first thing we will do at the General Members' meeting is establish whether we have a quorum (1/10 of the voting members).
- The second thing we will do is entertain a motion to suspend the rules so that we can dispense with items a, b and c to save time. (Roll Call, Proof of notice of meeting, and Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting).
- Third, we will entertain a motion not to hold an annual meeting in 2012, so as not to violate the Bylaws, which require annual rather than biennial meetings. In general, Council 'meets' virtually, by email, in non-conference (even) years.
Committee Reports
These include the Nominations Committee report of Election Results and the Site Selection Committee recommendation of Montpellier as the site for the 2013 conference.
Unfinished Business
The Council just before the 2009 Brisbane meeting discussed the appropriateness of changing the bylaw concerning voting. In the end, we decided not to change any bylaws because our application for tax-exempt status from the IRS was still outstanding. We need to revisit the following bylaw this year.
- Possible Bylaws
- Consideration of possible amendment to ARTICLE II - MEMBERS. Section 13. VOTING. Should the text of the Section be amended to include a provision for electronic voting, with similar terms (100 days prior, not less than 30 days from the date of the ballot email transmission) and to pass on to the Past-President the responsibility for the conduct of all elections and for reporting the results to the Membership? The text of this Section is as follows:
- Voting for the election of Directors and Officers may be conducted by mail. If such elections are conducted by mail, a mail ballot shall be sent to the entire Membership of The Society no more than one hundred (100) days prior to the Annual Meeting. Members shall have not less than thirty (30) days from the date of the ballot postmark in which to cast their ballot. The Secretary of The Society shall be responsible for the conduct of all elections and for reporting the results to the Membership. Candidates for each office and Directorship shall be nominated by a nominating committee or by nomination of any two Members regardless of class, of The Society. Votes taken at any meeting for any purpose shall be taken by ballot upon the demand of any member.
- Consideration of possible amendment to ARTICLE II - MEMBERS. Section 13. VOTING. Should the text of the Section be amended to include a provision for electronic voting, with similar terms (100 days prior, not less than 30 days from the date of the ballot email transmission) and to pass on to the Past-President the responsibility for the conduct of all elections and for reporting the results to the Membership? The text of this Section is as follows:
New Business
We will consider the following:
- Thanks to Outgoing Officers and Council Members
- 2013 Site Selection Discussion.
- Items brought forward from Council during the first Council meeting at the Salt Lake City Conference.
- Issues bring forward by members of the Society.
2011 Marjorie Grene Prize Report
The Marjorie Grene Prize Committee received an excellent group of submissions for the 2011 prize. The winner will be announced by May 1, 2011 and also at the 2011 meeting in Salt Lake City in July.
Tara H. Abraham
2011 David L. Hull Prize Report
As President Ana Barahona announced in the Fall Newsletter, ISHPSSB has authorized a prize in memory of David L. Hull, the first president of our Society, who passed away in August, 2010. This prize is meant to honor an extraordinary contribution to scholarship and service that promotes interdisciplinary connections between history, philosophy, social studies, and biology. In the spirit of David Hull's own service to the profession the prize and his support for the advancement of people at early stages of their careers, the prize may be awarded to individuals at any stage of their career to acknowledge and promote significant efforts they have made that combine scholarship and service.
This year's Hull Prize Committee is composed of nine individuals, namely Garland Allen, Richard Burian (chair), Lindley Darden, Michael Dietrich, Jean Gayon, James Griesemer, Michel Morange, Maria-Jesœs Santesmasas, and V. Betty Smocovitis.
The winner will be announced by May 1, 2011 and also at the 2011 meeting in Salt Lake City in July.
Dick Burian
ISHPSSB 2013 Site Selection
The Site Selection Committee has received a very thoroughly prepared bid to host the 2013 conference from the Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (CNRS- Université Paris I Sorbonne), in collaboration with Université Montpellier III- Paul Valéry, and AGROPOLIS International (Montpellier). The proposal is for a meeting in early July in Montpellier, a beautiful city on the Mediterranean coast of France which has played an important role in the history of the life sciences. Montpellier was home to the first Faculté de Médecine in France, still hosted in its initial buildings; and to the vitalist school of Medicine, flourishing in the 18th century. It is an academic city, with three Universities and many research centers, and is the most important European locus of environmental sciences, agronomy and ecology, with dozens of research teams in these disciplines. The Site Selection Committee voted unanimously to recommend to the Council that the proposal to host ISHPSSB 2013 in Montpellier be accepted. The Council will discuss and recommend the proposal to the membership at the General Business Meeting in Utah for final approval.
Paul Griffths
Election of Officers 2011
Jim Griesemer, Past-President and Chair, Nominations Committee
The Election of Officers will be conducted electronically for the second time, but using a different method than in 2009. Information on voting procedures follow the biographies of the nominees. The Nominating Committee is pleased to present the slate for the 2011 ISHPSSB election, along with biographies and photos of the nominees. Many thanks to all who suggested names and to the members of the Nominating Committee for their diligent work. They are Jim Griesemer (Chair), Marion Blute, Richard Burian, Jean Gayon, Staffan Müller-Wille, and V. Betty Smocovitis. We all owe many thanks to our current Officers and Council members.
In proposing nominees, the Nominating Committee strove to achieve balance with regard to field, gender, nationality, and experience. Finding candidates to fill some big shoes this year was not an easy task. Following the precedent of years past, we decided to nominate two Program Co-Chairs, Thomas Pradeu and Michel Morange. In accordance with the Society's by-laws, we solicited nominations from the membership at large. Those nominated by two or more members, or by the Nominations Committee, and who have expressed their willingness to serve now comprise the slate. Our sincere thanks to all who have agreed to be nominated.
NOMINEE BIOGRAPHIES
For President-Elect
Werner Callebaut studied philosophy in Ghent, Belgium (PhD, summa cum laude, 1983), and is currently the scientific manager of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI) in Altenberg, Austria, a visiting research professor in the Department of Theoretical Biology at the University of Vienna, and the editor-in-chief of the journal Biological Theory: Integrating Development, Evolution, and Cognition. He previously taught philosophy of science at the universities of Hasselt, Maastricht, and Ghent, and is a former president of the Belgian Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science. He is a member of a number of editorial boards, and co-editor of The Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology (MIT Press). His major current interests are in the philosophy of biology, theoretical biology (EvoDevo, systems biology, synthetic biology), and evolutionary economics. His publications include Taking the Naturalistic Turn (University of Chicago Press, 1993) and Modularity (co-editor, with Diego Rasskin-Gutman; MIT Press, 2005).
Programmatic statement
It is fair to say that our society is thriving, but some aspects of its functioning could be improved still. I would concentrate on three issues:
(1) Living up even more to the 'international' in our name: Although we've had meetings in three continents by now, we could try harder to involve relevant scholarly communities beyond the Anglo-Saxon world wherever they exist, such as in Middle Europe.
(2) We should do more to recruit working biologists, and chemists and physicists, many of whom are working in the life sciences, to participate, and bring back the social scientists, many of whom we've lost along the way.
(3) I would encourage us to think more clearly about whether we want to keep on growing at the price of gradually losing our cherished grassroots character and informality, for in the long run we won't be able to have it both ways.
For President-Elect
Edna Suárez-Díaz. I am a Full Professor at the National University of Mexico (UNAM) since 1996. However, my relation to the ISHPSSB started in 1991, when I attended the meeting at Northwestern University as a Masters Degree student. Since then I have never failed to attend the bi-annual meeting of our society! The ISHPSSB meetings have become a source of inspiration, collaboration and friendships. Through the years I have served several committees in our society: the Grene Prize, Nominations, Program and Publications, and I was elected Member of the Council (2007 -2009). I also co-organized the Meeting at Oaxaca in 1999, which became a turning point in the internationalization of our society.
If I am elected I will put my energy into maintaining the society as a place where historians, philosophers, social scientists and biologists come to share ideas and plan future collaborations. Also, I would like to see the society moving into a direction of growing openess to people in many regions of the World, not only Latin America, but Asia and Africa. Student support is also crucial for mantaining the innovatiness and spirit of the society, so I think we could do more in that respect. Finally, I would like the society to keep the relaxed mood and informality which have been so important in the definition of our society.
I obtained my PhD at UNAM; my areas of research include the history and philosophy of molecular evolution, and the origins of genomic tools. Recently, I have been moving to the history of post-WWII studies of human populations in México. I have made research stays at UC Irvine and Harvard, and recently I spent three years at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin Germany (2005-2008).
For Secretary
Anya Plutynski joined ISHPSSB in 1998. She has been on the faculty at the University of Utah since Fall of 2001. Her research is in history and philosophy of biology, primarily in the early 20th century. She has written on the role of models and idealizations in scientific explanation. She also has interests in cancer causation and prevention, environmental science and policy. Here is a link to her page at the University of Utah: http://www.philosophy.utah.edu/?module=facultyDetails&personId=131&orgId=300
For Treasurer
Lisa Gannett is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada. She received her PhD in philosophy of science from University of Western Ontario in 1998. Since travelling to Leuven as a grad student in 1995, she hasn't missed an ISHPSSB meeting. Lisa's research is on group concepts in genetics and genomics. She is (still) working on a book project, Mapping Flies, Mapping People: Theodosius Dobzhansky and Populations in Genetics. Lisa has finished two terms (4 years) as Treasurer and is willing to serve an additional (and final!) term.
For Program Co-Chair
Michel Morange was trained in biochemistry and molecular biology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where he obtained his PhD in 1978. He then turned to cell biology, and entered into François Jacob's lab in the same Institute. He is Professor in Biology at the University Paris 6 and at the École Normale Supérieure. Michel Morange also received in parallel a formation in history and philosophy of sciences (PhD in 1978). He is the Director of the Centre Cavailles for History and philosophy of sciences at the Ecole normale supérieure (USR 3308, CNRS). His main interest is the history of the transformations of biology during the 20th century: Michel Morange (1998) A history of molecular biology (Cambridge: Harvard University press)); (2001) The misunderstood gene (Cambridge: Harvard University Press) ; (2008) Life explained (New Haven: Yale University Press).
For Program Co-Chair
Thomas Pradeu is Assistant Professor at Paris-Sorbonne University & Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences (IHPST, Paris). Areas of specialization: Philosophy of immunology; philosophy of biology; general philosophy of science; metaphysics of science. His research deals mainly with biological individuality and the definition of the organism, with a particular focus on immunology and developmental biology. He earned his PhD in 2007 at Pantheon-Sorbonne University, supervised by Jean Gayon and Edgardo Carosella, with committee members Stéphane Chauvier, François Duchesneau, Richard Lewontin, and Michel Morange. In 2004, he was a Visiting Fellow, Harvard University, History of Science Department. His book The Limits of the Self. Immunology and Biological Identity is forthcoming at Oxford University Press (New York), based on his 2009 publication, Les Limites du soi. Immunologie et identité biologique, Montreal, Presses Universitaires de Montréal. Together with Edgardo Carosella, he co-authored L'Identité, La part de l'autre. Immunologie et philosophie, Paris, Odile Jacob, 2010 and has co-edited three other volumes. He is the author of several papers, both in science and philosophy of science journals. He is a member of the editorial board of the Etudes philosophiques and the Bulletin d'Histoire et d'Epistémologie des Sciences de la vie and has served as a referee for Biology and Philosophy and Biological Theory. He has organized several international conferences, including "The Making up of the Organism" (Ecole normale superieure de Paris, 2006) and the third Congress of the French Philosophy of Science Society on "Science and decision" (Ecole normale superieure de Paris, 2009). http://thomas.pradeu.free.fr/Homepage_Pradeu.htm
For Council
For Council: In voting for Council, members choose three of the six candidates.
Paulo C. Abrantes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and in the Biological Institute at the University of Brasilia, Brazil. He received his PhD (Doctorat) in history and philosophy of science at the University of Paris I (1985). He is a researcher of the Brazilian Research Counsil (CNPq) and a Visiting Fellow of the Pittsburgh Center for Philosophy of Science. He has carried out post-doctoral research in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University. He is currently working in the philosophy of biology and has also published in philosophy of mind, in general philosophy of science and in history of science. He organized a collection of papers in the philosophy of biology (which came out this year) written by philosophers and biologists from various Latin-American countries. In this collection he co-authored a paper on Richerson and Boyd's dual inheritance theory, comparing this approach with others being currently discussed on the role played by culture in human evolution. He has been a member of ISHPSSB since 2004 and has attended the last three meetings since Guelph.
Richard Delisle. It is a genuine honor to be invited to propose my candidacy to a post on the Council of ISHPSSB. Having been a formal member since 2005, my association with the Society in fact dates back to the Hamden (Connecticut) Meeting of 2001. At the time, I was a relatively young scholar with a brand-new Ph.D in paleoanthropology (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa) in my back pocket looking for every opportunity not to return home so that I could continue my research in Paris. Who would not have done the same? My research being concerned with the history and epistemology of the field of human evolution, I received an invitation from David Hull to join a session in Hamden. David was always looking for new approaches and perspectives. Enchanted by this experience, I asked David what would be the best way to integrate the spheres of the history and philosophy of biology. He replied: "just read and write about it." In fact, I did more than that by plunging into a Ph.D in philosophy of biology (Université de Montréal, 2007) and writing on Darwinism. Since then, I never relinquished my multidisciplinary position between fields. When I hear from paleo-anthropologists that I am not one of theirs, from the historians that I am a philosopher, and precisely the reverse from the philosophers, then I know with certainty that I am in the right place!
Ageliki Lefkaditou received her PhD in History and Philosophy of Ecology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh) in 2009. She is a lecturer in the Department of Ecology at the AUTh. At present she also holds the post of vice-rector’s advisor of economic affairs and development and actively promotes the university's sustainability program. Her research interests include the holism-reductionism debate, mathematical modeling, public understandings of science and science education. She regularly invites her students to explore the nature of science and scientific inquiry by treating them as much as an aspect of the ecological subject matter as population models or nutrient cycles. After joining the society in 2003, she has always been enjoying the genuine interdisciplinarity and openness of the ISHPSSB meetings.
Emily Schultz. Professor of Anthropology at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. Ph.D. Indiana University, 1980. Trained in four-field anthropology (cultural anthropology, biological anthropology, linguistic anthropology and archaeology). I joined ISHPSSB in 2005, and find it an exciting and indispensable setting for rethinking naturalcultural connections in anthropology for the twenty-first century. My scholarly work ranges across subfields: from ethnography in Cameroon, West Africa, to a book on Benjamin Whorf, to a 2009 publication exploring the 'anti-antievolution dilemma' in contemporary North American anthropology. With Robert Lavenda, I have co-written three introductory anthropology textbooks, one of which covers the traditional four fields.
Akihisa Setoguchi is an associate professor in Department of Economics at Osaka City University, Japan. He earned a B.S. in biology, and then earned a Ph.D. in the philosophy and history of science at Kyoto University. His field of research is at the border between the history of biology and environmental history. His interests include the history of ecology and the agricultural sciences. He has published a book on the history of economic entomology in Japan, and several articles in English. He is currently working both as a member of the editorial board of The Japanese Journal of the History of Biology and as a book review editor of the journal, East Asian Science, Technology, and Society. He has been a member of ISHPSSB since 2005, and he organized the ISHPSSB off-year workshop, "Biology Studies in East Asia," in 2008.
Giuseppe Testa. Giuseppe Testa holds an MD from the University of Perugia, a PhD from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, and an MA in Health Care Ethics and Law from the University of Manchester. His unique accomplishment is the successful pursuit of a double career as practicing life scientist and scholar in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Bioethics. As practicing molecular biologist he heads the Laboratory of Stem Cell Epigenetics at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, with a research focus on the epigenetics of genome programming and reprogramming. Key accomplishments include the development of new genome engineering technologies and the characterization of a novel histone demethylase. He pursued a parallel training in History and Philosophy of Biology, STS and Bioethics as the first awardee of the Branco Weiss Fellowship 'Society in Science'. He was a visiting fellow in the Program on Science, Technology and Society at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Berlin Institute for Advanced Studies and was selected as Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania in 2008-2009. In 2006 he co-founded the interdisciplinary PhD program of the European School of Molecular Medicine on 'Foundations and Ethics of the Life Sciences', the first PhD that combines training in the molecular life sciences and in the humanistic disciplines around them. His humanistic scholarship focuses on the epigenetic causation of diseases and the co-production of scientific and social order through the alignment of the epistemological, social and political features of contemporary biology. He has published in leading peer reviewed journals both in science and in Bioethics/STS, including Cell, Cell Stem Cell, Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Science, Bioethics, Science as Culture. He authored with Helga Nowotny 'Naked Genes: Reinventing the Human in the Molecular Age' that just appeared with MIT Press. He organized major international conferences, including 'The Times of Cloning: Historical and Cultural Aspects of a Biotechnological Research Field' at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, 'Reprogramming Cell Fate' at the European Institute of Oncology and the interdisciplinary summer school at the EMBL 'Deconstructing and Reconstructing Life: from Classification to Design'. He serves on the advisory boards of several research networks and academic societies, including the Ethics and Public Policy Committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). He is the recipient of several scientific prizes, including in 2003 the Roche Prize for leading bioscientist of the next decade. His complete CV and list of publications are available at: https://www.ifom-ieo-campus.it/research/testa.php
Electronic Voting and the Election Process
In 2009, electronic voting was conducted through IT support at UC Davis under the management of Jim Griesemer. Budgetary pressures in California prevent a repeat process this time. After some testing, we have decided to move our election to a commercial venue: SurveyMonkey.com, which has been used successfully by many corporations. We estimate it will cost ISHPSSB less than $100 to operate a secure, anomymous, electronic election through SurveyMonkey.
The procedure for voting is that each member in the members' database will receive an email invitation that looks like the one below, which was sent to me during a test of the system. Those in the members' database will receive the invitation containing a link to the poll that is tied to the member's email address. This unique url prevents multiple votes (even if additional attempts are made from other machines, accounts, or IP addresses). ISHPSSB will also send an electronic announcement to the ISHPSSB listserv, announcing the election. If you receive the listserv message but not an invitation from me to vote, that may indicate your email address in the ISHPSSB database (which you set when you last registered your membership) has changed or is invalid. It is important that you make sure a valid email address is associated with your ISHPSSB membership. To update your profile, go to: http://ishpssb.onefireplace.com, log in, and 'View profile' to verify your email address. If you receive the listserv notice but not a voting invitation, email me at
We expect to send the listserv notification of the voting dates for the election in the second week of April. The poll will be open for two months, Mid-April to Mid-June. The results will be tallied and presented to the membership during the Members' Meeting at the Utah conference in July, 2011.
If you have rigorous spam filters set for your email account, you should make sure you do not filter out email from me, James Griesemer (
The ballot fits on one page. You will check boxes for candidates following the instructions. If you vote incorrectly, e.g. for more than three Council candidates, an error message will warn you to correct your vote. When you are finished selecting candidates, you click the 'next' button at the bottom of the page, which will take you to a 'sign off' page. If you click 'Prev', it will take you back to the voting page where you can change your votes. If you click 'Done', you will complete and submit your votes and will then be locked out of the site until voting is complete.
Sample invitation:
From:
Subject: ISHPSSB 2011 Election
Body:
As a registered member of ISHPSSB, you are entitled to vote in the 2011 election of officers. Please complete the on-line election by clicking on the link below and following the instructions.Here is a link to the election page:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/NE0I81KEPO
This link is uniquely tied to this survey and your email address. Please do not forward this message.
Thanks for your participation!
Please note: If you do not wish to receive further emails from us, please click the link below, and you will be automatically removed from our mailing list.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/optout.aspx
Call for Nominations for Student Representative 2011-2013
ISHPSSB needs you! Every ISHPSSB council has a student representative. The student representative takes part in decisions of the council on behalf of the other student members. Aside from acting as an advocate for fellow students and sitting on the Student Advisory Committee and Travel Support Committee, past student representatives have taken part in other aspects of the society, for example, organising an off-year workshop.
Elections for a new student representative on the ISHPSSB council will take place at a meeting of students during the Salt Lake City conference. Any student member of ISHPSSB in good standing may nominate for the position. Nominations should be submitted to the current student representative, Rachael Brown (rachael.brown[at sign here]anu.edu.au), accompanied by a brief biography as well as a platform statement. Nominations must be submitted two weeks before the Salt Lake City meeting. Nominees must be present at the Salt Lake City meeting in order to be elected.
The election of a student representative will not be the only item on the student meeting agenda. There will be a general discussion of issues concerning students such as travel funding, student run off-year workshops and student networking opportunities. The discussion will kick off online before the meeting itself - log on to the graduate student discussion board at http://www.ishpssb.onefireplace.com to have your say.
Rachael Brown
Treasurer's Report
The financial statement for 2010 will soon be posted to http://www.ishpssb.org/operations/treasurer.html, following its approval by Council and preceding the May 15th IRS deadline for the information returns required of tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charities and our General Members Meeting in Salt Lake City in July. Please take a look!
Please also consider making a donation to ISHPSSB. You can direct your donation to Graduate Student Travel, the David L. Hull Prize, the Marjorie Grene Prize, or General Funds. To make an electronic payment, go to http://ishpssb.onefireplace.com/. If you are joining the society or renewing your membership, choose "Membership", and you can make a donation on the same form. At any other time, choose "Donate to grad student travel & Society prizes." Alternatively, you can mail a check (made out to "ISHPSSB") to Roberta Millstein, ISHPSSB Secretary, Department of Philosophy, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA, 95616-8673, USA.
ISHPSSB is an IRS tax-exempt 501(c)(3) public charity. Your contributions (membership fees and donations) are tax-deductible in the US and possibly elsewhere depending on tax treaties. In the US, donations of $250 or more need to be substantiated with a written communication from the charity (e.g. receipt or letter)—your electronic receipt is fine; for contributions less than $250, a bank record (e.g. cancelled check) is also acceptable.
Your generosity is greatly appreciated!
Lisa Gannett
Secretary's report
As you may have noticed by now, I will be stepping down as ISHPSSB Secretary in July 2011 and a new Secretary will take my place. I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for the opportunity to work with you. It has been my pleasure to serve this wonderful Society, to see its "inner workings" (think: lots of emails!), and to get to know many of you better. But this isn't a goodbye, really, and I hope to continue to volunteer for the Society in other capacities. When I took over from Chris Young four years ago, I knew that I couldn't fill his shoes, so I set myself the much more meagre goal of transitioning us to online, automated membership renewal. I know that the system has had its problems here and there, and I appreciate your bearing with me as we tried to work through them together. I am hopeful that it will put our membership list on good footing for some (Internet) years to come. See you in Utah!
Roberta Millstein
Special Offers from Publishers
Annals of Science
$99 or £60/year; subscribe online via the 'news and offers' link on the journal's website www.informaworld.com/tasc or write directly to the publisher (contact Lisa or Roberta for address).
Biological Theory
Subscribe online via journal's website http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/biot (contact Lisa or Roberta for code which you need to enter to receive the society discount of 20%).
Biology and Philosophy
$62/year; together with Journal of the History of Biology: $99/year; order when you renew your membership or at other times via PayPal on the society's website (membership page).
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences$50 or €40/year; order when you renew your membership or at other times via PayPal on the society's website (membership page); if you are a subscriber to HPLS and want to arrange electronic access through the Stazione Zoologica website, please contact Christiane Groeben.
Journal of the History of Biology
$56/year; together with Biology and Philosophy: $99/year; order when you renew your membership or at other times via PayPal on the society's website (membership page).
Metascience
$39 or €39/year; subscribe online via the 'Journal for Societies Members' link on the Springer website http://www.springer.com/generic/order/journals+subscription?SGWID=0-40514-0-0-0.
Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
$45 or €39/year; to purchase a discounted subscription, contact your Elsevier regional sales office http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/contact.cws_home/regional.
Note that all PayPal subscriptions to journals through the Society will soon migrate to the Wild Apricot registration service at http://ishpssb.onefireplace.com/
Contact
- Ana Barahona, President
National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAMThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Paul Griffiths, President-Elect
University of SydneyThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Lisa Gannett, Treasurer
St. Mary's UniversityThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Roberta Millstein, Secretary
University of California, DavisThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Mark Largent, Program Co-Chair (2009-2011)
Michigan State UniversityThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Chris Young, Program Co-Chair (2009-2011)
Alverno College, Milwaukee, WisconsinThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Pamela Henson, Archivist
Institutional History Division
Smithsonian Institution Archives
Washington, DC 20560-0414
(202) 786-2735This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - Frédéric Bouchard, Webmaster
University of MontrealThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
For additional Council contact information, visit our website at http://www.ishpssb.org or contact Roberta Millstein.
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