International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology
 

Abstract Deadline: February 15, 2005

This conference, which uses Open Conference Systems developed by the Public Knowledge Project, enables participants to submit abstracts online at http://www.ishpssb.org/ocs/submit.php.

Presentations can include:

Call for Papers Announcement

CALL FOR PAPERS: ISHPSSB MEETING, GUELPH July 13-17, 2005

Since its inception, the ISHPSSB has brought together scholars from diverse backgrounds together to discuss issues of mutual interest in an informal, collegial setting. Over the past twenty-odd years, the group has evolved from a small one (the earliest meetings had perhaps 60 participants) to a large one (over 600 participants in Vienna, 2003). In 2005, we hope to continue our tradition of an informal and experimental approach, while also meeting the challenge of increased attendance.

For the 2005 meeting, we especially seek sessions that
> are innovative and cross-disciplinary in content and/or format;
>strengthen the lines of communication among historians, philosophers, social scientists, and biologists;
>open conversations that lead to innovative ways of thinking about biology and the disciplines that study it;
>bring together people of different disciplinary and national backgrounds.

To facilitate communication in forming sessions, the Society invites prospective participants to post session ideas and calls for contributions to particular session electronically (check the ISHPSSB website, http://www.ishpssb.org, after 15 July 2004 for links). If you are interested in putting together a session, we urge you to post a deadline for responses to you personally.

Many areas within our broad field are wide open for cross- and interdisciplinary innovation. For the 2005 meeting, we would especially like to encourage sessions in the following areas:

-biology and aesthetics. Sessions might include such issues as the aesthetic considerations implicit in the choice of work that biologists do; aesthetics in the history and philosophy of concepts of evolutionary mate choice; the place of art in natural history museums.

-social activism and biology/biology studies. How do biologists of different sorts engage politically? How do academic students of biology (whether historians, philosophers, or sociologists/social theorists) engage with politically (and morally) charged issues? What is the relationship between biology and activism in different parts of the world?

-"applied" biology: agriculture, forestry, fisheries, horticulture, veterinary medicine, plant pathology, medicine. What is the nature of the relations (intellectual and social) between these areas and "purer" or more "basic" aspects of biology? How have these relations been different (or similar) across time and space? This is an especially appropriate area of emphasis for our meeting at Guelph, a university that emphasizes applied biological disciplines, including agriculture, bioengineering, health, and environmental sciences.

--relations between popular and elite biology. A great deal of historical and sociological work has been undertaken recently on popular biology. Far less has concerned the relations between popular and academic biology, and very little work has been done to understand the philosophical distinctions and connections between the knowledge of the two groups. How can we close these loops?

We welcome sessions in all areas of our fields; individual paper submissions are also welcome.

The basic time unit for sessions will be 90 minutes; sessions encompassing two units (but not more) are welcome, as long as there are at least five formal participants over the two sessions.
We encourage innovative formats. If you are interested in proposing a session with an unusual format (e.g., with pre-circulated papers or requiring an unusual room format or special equipment), please contact Lynn Nyhart so we can make sure it is feasible.

The following guidelines for paper acceptance have been provisionally approved by the Council and will hold for the 2005 meeting in Guelph:

ISHPSSB would like to encourage sessions that:
a) combine more than one disciplinary perspective;
b) include participants from more than one institution and/or nation;
c) promote the interaction of junior and senior scholars, including students.

(1) The program officer, in consultation with the program committee, and consistent with site constraints, will organize a rich, diverse, and high quality program. While it is the intention of the Society to be as inclusive as possible, the program officer has the discretion to reject papers or sessions that are truly inappropriate for these meetings or that do not meet basic standards of communication. The program committee is available to assist the program officer in judging borderline cases.

(2) No one may present in more than one session. An exception is made for those who organize another session, comment in another session, or give a short plenary address. Individuals may serve more than one function in a given session, e.g. chair and presenter.

(3) Each regular session must have a minimum of three presenters.

(4) Topics that extend over two sessions are acceptable, but they cannot extend over more than two sessions.

(5) All accepted participants must pre-register for the conference in order to be included in the program.

Questions? Ideas? Suggestions? Contact the Program Officer, Lynn Nyhart, at lknyhart@wisc.edu, and please be sure to include the term ISHPSSB in your subject line. Email contact is strongly preferred, but if you do not have access to it, you may also send letters via regular mail to Prof. Lynn Nyhart, Dept. of the History of Science, University of Wisconsin, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53726 USA.