Editorial Office: Chris Young • History, Science, and Culture • Mount Angel Seminary, St. Benedict, OR 97373 • e-mail:
Editor’s note: This Newsletter is reaching you in the winter of 2000. It is the belated Fall 1999 issue. Transitions on the executive council, careful examination of questions surrounding site selection for the 2001 meeting, and the realization that membership data had not been maintained since 1997 — and virtually all membership information had been lost — all contributed to the delay. •
We ask that you take a moment to examine the mailing label attached to this Newsletter. If two asterisks (**) appear on the label, we have no record of your membership and hope you will join the society using the enclosed membership form at the rates listed. If one asterisk (*) appears on the label, you are paid through 1999. We ask that you enclose payment for 2000 with a completed membership form. If no asterisk appears on your mailing label, our records show that your membership is paid through 2000.
In order to update and correct our fragmentary files, please fill out the enclosed membership form with any changes in your mailing address or other information and return it to Keith Benson, or go to the ISHPSSB website where all of these options can be updated. (Addresses can be found on the back page of this Newsletter.) •
CONTENTS
President’s Corner
Notes on the 1999 Meeting
Minutes: General Meeting
Site Selection for ISHPSSB 2003
News of Members
Fellowship Opportunities
Job Opportunities
Calls for Papers
Upcoming Meetings
Dibner Institute
Graduate Programs
Publications of Interest
NSF Funding Changes
New Organizations
Lecture Series
Membership and Renewal Information
Membership Form
ISHPSSB Listserv and Website
Spring 2000 Newsletter
Society Addresses
President’s Corner
Because of our delays in getting this newsletter out the dust from Oaxaca has long-since settled, but I trust that those of you who were able to join us there last July treasure memories of an excellent meeting in a beautiful site. It surely will be hard to match the setting in years to come! The very first order of business for me, as the Society’s new president, must be to thank those who made the Oaxaca meeting such an outstanding success, especially our Mexican hosts for their care and concern in doing everything possible to make the meeting as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. We owe special thanks to the Local Arrangements Committee (Ana Barahona, chair, Ron Amundson, Walter Bock, Michael Dietrich, Christiane Groeben, and Lisa Lloyd, ably assisted on site by Edna Suarez, Sergio Martínez and many others) for yeoman service on our behalf. Ana Barahona, above all, has earned very special praise, for it was her efforts that gained us the privilege of meeting in the magnificent facility of the Santo Domingo Monastery. This meeting will live in our memories not only for the substance of the sessions and for the renewal of friendships, but also for the beauty of the site and the excellence of the arrangements. Equally strong words of thanks are due to Michael Dietrich, chair, and the others on the Program Committee (Douglas Allchin, Elihu Gerson, Lynn Nyhart, Kelly Smith, and Cor van der Weele) for their excellent job of putting together a very strong and balanced program. We can now turn toward making our next meeting just as strong and memorable.
The Oaxaca meeting was the most thoroughly international in our history. Twenty-eight countries were represented among the roughly 250 participants in the meeting. This is a sign that the meetings of the Society are serving its diverse membership well. We will make every effort to increase the value of the meetings to you in the coming years, for which purpose, I would like to have your ideas, suggestions, and feedback as to how we can improve the meetings and make them yet more useful to you.
THE NEXT MEETING will take place at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut (about five miles from New Haven and thirty-five miles from Hartford). The site is ideal and the local organizers at Quinnipiac, led by Kathy Cooke and David Valone, are very supportive in ensuring that our needs are met. Quinnipiac has ideal campus facilities for us to work and meet informally. The university can be accessed reasonably easily from major international airports, but since the meeting is not until 2001, we will supply the necessary details in due season. THE MEETING IS SCHEDULED FOR JULY 18-22, 2001. Those dates were chosen to be compatible with attendance at BOTH the International Congress of History of Science (in Mexico City, July 8-14) and the ISHPSSB meeting. If you have specific questions about local arrangements, please address them to David Valone or Kathy Cooke (email:
In this column, I will catch you up on various aspects of ISHPSSB business and float some ideas about which I would like to have feedback from the membership.
Perhaps the most important item is that we are now beginning to plan for the Society’s meeting in 2003. Please see the CALL FOR PROPOSALS TO HOST THE 2003 MEETING OF THE ISHPSSB that accompanies this column.
Continuing with more about meetings, I would like to explore with the Council and the membership at large whether, between our biennial meetings, the Society ought to encourage, and perhaps help co-organize or lend its name to, regional or topical gatherings of interest to some of our members. These would not count as full meetings of ISHPSSB, but as group meetings that we co-sponsor or that are held in some sort of affiliation with ISHPSSB. There are, of course, many ad-hoc occasions that we might take advantage of in setting up such meetings. Similarly, we might do so in connection with national and regional society meetings. These might serve as a springboard for joint meetings or special symposia between such societies and a regional group of our members or a group with a particular topical interest. Let me cite two illustrative possibilities from a dozen that spring to mind.
Here is an example of an ad-hoc opportunity for joint sponsorship by ISHPSSB. This January, the Society of Comparative and Integrative Biology met in Atlanta. One focal aspect of this meeting is the formation of a new Division of Evolutionary Developmental Biology, in connection with which a large series of events is planned. One of these was a day-long symposium that Scott Gilbert, two others, and I organized, in which historians and biologists examined some of the historical background to the new efflorescence of work linking development, evolution, and genetics through the study of molecular mechanisms and the developmental integration of organisms. The symposium focused on evolution as evolution of developmental programs or processes and on new investigative tools that have provided biologists with the opportunity to answer – or transform – legitimate questions that were posed since before the turn of the century, but which no one had the tools to answer. Nine of the speakers are members of ISHPSSB. The complex of issues raised in this symposium (and in many other related events at the SICB meeting) will interest many of our members. Those who are interested may wish to look for the published version of the symposium, due out toward the end of this year in The American Zoologist. (I’ll be glad to supply further details on request.)
Our members are heavily involved in two European societies (and no doubt more) focused on history and philosophy of biology. I have in mind the Société d'Epistémologie et d'Histoire des sciences de la vie in France and the German Society for the History and Philosophy of Biology. There has been some talk of trying to arrange a joint meeting between the two. This is obviously a fine idea. It seems to me (and has been suggested by others) that it would also be a fine idea for having a special symposium at such a meeting on (some particular aspect) of biology in Europe and/or on issues regarding national styles in biology. Would it be useful and sensible for ISHPSSB to encourage special regional meetings in connection with such projects or to join in co-sponsoring such symposia, perhaps for the purpose of submitting grant applications?
One obvious limit on what ISHPSSB can do in such connections is financial. We run a very low-cost operation and charge people very low prices for membership. But this means that we have no significant resources to put behind such ‘extras’ as I have just suggested. Indeed, we do not have anything like the resources we would like to have in order to support participation in our biennial meetings by students and independent scholars without adequate funds. One of the tasks of the next year or two will be to conduct a thorough review of the Society’s finances and membership arrangements. We are likely to send out a questionnaire at some point to gain a better understanding of the trade-offs between our low cost and the limitations on our resources. There are obviously a number of things that must be thought through in connection with any examination of these issues – and I would welcome comments, ideas, and suggestions from members of the society bearing on these issues. WE WOULD ALSO WELCOME CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR SMALL FUND FOR SUPPORT OF TRAVEL FOR STUDENTS AND INDEPENDENT SCHOLARS. Contributions can be sent to Keith Benson, our treasurer [College Studies, Box 354330, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, tel. (+1) 206 543-6358, email <
Before closing, I should also mention some items concerning Society operations. Like most societies run by elected volunteers officers, when personnel change it takes some time and effort to relocate and straighten out the records. We now have an excellent new team in place for handling such matters, Chris Young as secretary and Keith Benson as treasurer. Both of them, but especially Keith, have put in long hard hours to improve our records and our ability to manage routine operations. Since we are a society with no permanent staff, the contributions of these two individuals are crucial to the operation of the Society. We are very lucky to have such effective and dedicated officers in place. If any of you have questions about the status of your membership, please turn to Keith (address above). For other questions, please contact Chris Young [History, Science, and Culture, Mount Angel Seminary, St. Benedict, OR 97373, tel. (+1) 503 845-3557 email <
Please note that I am on sabbatical leave at present. Until early May, mail will usually reach me most rapidly at my temporary sabbatical home address, 7434 Chummley Court, Falls Court, VA 22043, USA, tel. (+1) 703 289-3010. Mail to my permanent address [Department of Philosophy, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0126] WILL reach me, as will email to <
Notes on the 1999 Meeting
In Oaxaca, several ISHPSSB members commented on how much the Society’s support for graduate students meant to them when they were students. Graduate student presence at the 1999 meetings clearly demonstrates the continuation of this tradition. A lively group of graduate students participated in the session rooms of the monastery, as well as with interest in Society leadership and planning. The grad student segment of the community is strong and interested in seeing ISHPSSB's openness continue. Not surprisingly, we ourselves believe in the value of joining in discussions surrounding history, philosophy, and social studies of biology as we continue to train in these disciplines. The group that gathered to elect a new graduate student representative was unusually large and delightfully international. The discussion revolved around two topics, first, the availability and distribution of travel funds — a topic that the society’s officers are currently examining — and, second, how we might create a small mass of students to discuss matters particular to graduate students in the Society. One graduate student representative has a place on the Executive Council. Leon Martinez, from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, was elected representative beginning immediately after the 1999 meeting. In addition, we formed an informal "brainstorming group" (to be given a more elegant name!), whose purpose is to be a broader representation of grad students who may bring relevant issues to the attention of our elected representative. This discussion group presently includes Charbel Nino El-Mani, Naomi Dar, Gerard Fitzgerald, Ulises Iturbe, Karin Matchett, and Juan Carlos Zamora. The Oaxaca meeting was very productive intellectually, and also for the continued growth of an active international grad student community. •
Minutes: General Meeting
Finances:
about 400 active members: 300 full paying, 100 grad student; 300 members are delinquent in payments
Two years finances:
income from dues: $11,000 to $12,000
income from donations: $2,000
total: $14,000
expenditures: $7-8,000
net gain: $5-7,000
Need additional gain in order to fund more travel — had hoped to fund
$10,000 in travel.
Election Results:
President-Elect: Lindley Darden (President 2001-2003)
Council (1999-2003): Jane Maienschein, Gregg Mitman, Lenny Moss
Program Officer: Douglas Allchin (elected unopposed)
Treasurer: Keith Benson
Secretary: Chris Young
Peggy Stewart was elected unopposed as Secretary, but tendered her resignation when Chris Young agreed to be appointed by Council to fill her place for 1999-2001. Chris would have been a successful candidate for Council, but Council filled his position with the next highest vote-taker.
David Magnus was elected unopposed as Treasurer, but tendered his resignation after the general meeting. Keith Benson was appointed by Council to fill his place for 1999-2001.
The committee expresses its gratitude to successful and unsuccessful candidates for their willingness to serve the society.
Election Procedures: Three candidates were nominated for President-elect and two of those were also nominated for Council. The system of preferential voting caused no problem in the ballot-counting, and Council decided to continue this system when more than two candidates run for any single office. The system of joint Council-President-elect nomination resulted in one of the unsuccessful President-elect candidates being elected to Council. The Council decided, however, in the interest of simplicity, not to continue this innovation. Unsuccessful candidates are urged, however, not to be discouraged from serving the society in the future.
The Council decided to use the e-mail listserv and website to attempt to increase the number of ballots cast.
Education Committee: 1) established a web site, linked to the society's website. The committee welcomes additions to the site and a volunteer to take over its development. 2) affiliated with Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences, but was not able to respond to some of the funding possibilities CELS brought to our attention. Affiliation may need to be reassessed in light of available society funds. 3) organized a pre-conference workshop on teaching HPSS in biology, but had to cancel this when a majority of the presenters withdrew. As a substitute, there will be a roundtable during lunch tomorrow for all interested in future acitivities around teaching HPSS in biology at all levels K - graduate school. People interested but unable to attend lunch should express their interest to Peter Taylor. Stay tuned to the e-mail list and the newsletter for news of future initiatives.
Prize Committee: Did not award Marjorie Grene Prize due to insufficient submissions.
Local Arrangements Committee: no comment
Announcements:
1) from the Smithsonian: Pam Henson asks for members to donate relevant material to the ISHPSSB archives.
2) does anyone want to take over the listserv? [Chris Young will continue as moderator, but welcomes input.]
Nomination Committee:
contact Lisa Lloyd if you are interested in running for an office or serving on a committee
Motions:
Travel support for Graduate students and Independent scholars: That this meeting approves the principle of favoring applicants from isolated institutions, regions and countries over US ones and that the council be charged to work out the mechanics, taking into account the guidelines of other societies. [The History of Science Society guidelines sound like an especially promising source.] Affirmed by a majority vote.
Comments on the length of, and attendance of, the sessions: Need to prevent people from organizing panels and then not coming. Also, panel organizers should be more persistent in follow-up, to ensure that the panel will occur.
Should membership lists be available on the www? Pros: Allows easier contact among members. Cons: There is no easy way to maintain an updated, current list. Also, the e-mail lists are available in print every two years, if people want them.
Elisabeth A. Lloyd, with additional information from Peter Taylor. •
Site Selection for ISHPSSB 2003
CALL FOR PROPOSALS TO HOST THE 2003 MEETING OF THE ISHPSSB
ISHPSSB is beginning to plan for its meeting in summer (traditionally June or July) 2003. We issue herewith a call for proposals to host that meeting. A site selection committee, composed of Lindley Darden (chair), Walter Bock, and Jane Maienschein is currently drawing up specific guidelines for proposals. These guidelines will be available from Lindley Darden (Lindley Darden, Department of Philosophy, 1125A Skinner Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 USA; tel. (1+) 301-405-5699, fax 301-405-5690; email:
The schedule for our work on the proposals is as follows:
· By 1 April: Final detailed guidelines for proposals available from Lindley Darden and the Society’s website.
· By 30 June: Proposals submitted to Lindley Darden. NOTE: If a group wishing to make proposal cannot meet this deadline, it should be in close contact with Lindley Darden by this date at the latest. We will probably be able to accommodate some delay in the completion of proposals, but will need to know the timeline on which we will receive completed proposals.
· By 1 September: Preliminary recommendations from the Site Selection Committee to the Council of ISHPSSB, which is responsible for the choice of the site.
· By 1 January, 2001: IF a clear first-choice candidate has emerged from the proposal process, completion of an agreement with the host for the 2003. However, if a viva voce meeting of the Society’s Council is required to choose the site for the meeting, since the Council will not hold a meeting until we gather at Quinnipiac, the final decision on a host may not be made until July 22, 2001. In that event, we would hope to have a contractual agreement with the host completed in August 2001.
Since there is some slack in this schedule, we welcome questions about specific issues bearing on proposals or their timing. These and other questions about procedures and about the content of proposals should be addressed to Lindley Darden. •
News of Members
Ariel Barrios Medina has been commissioned by the National Academy of History to write a chapter on biomedicine (1914-1984) for the New History of Argentine (Nueva Historia de la Nacion Argentina) to be published in 2001. He has previously published an hypermedial biography of the Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay (Nobel Prize winner 1947). The editors want a social and institutional history of biomedical sciences, and the impact of biomedical sciences on the Argentine people. The author would like suggestions for exemplary articles in the history of medicine during this period that could be used as models for such an article. •
Daisy Lara de Oliveira (1958-1999)
Daisy Lara de Oliveira was born at Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, in May 22, 1958. She graduated in Biology in 1979 from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and soon started her post-graduate studies in Ecological Genetics, obtaining her M. Sc. degree in 1982. Her work dealt with natural selection and effective size of natural populations of the butterfly Heliconius erato phyllis. Afterwards she moved to the Faculty of Education of the same University to teach and work on problems related to biology teaching. However, she always kept a deep interest in evolutionary biology. Later, in 1995, she was admitted to the doctoral program in Genetics. There she worked in the historical development of the Evolutionary Synthesis, being interested particularly in the notions of progress and chance as expressed in papers and correspondence of the architects of the synthesis. She was finishing her thesis and preparing a communication for the meeting of the ISHPSSB at Oaxaca, Mexico. She passed away in a tragic car crash, last May 21. The publication of the content of her dissertation is being prepared and it is hoped it will soon appear. –Lilian Al-Chueyr Pereira Martins •
Calls for Papers
ALIFE VII: Call for Workshop/Tutorial Proposals
August 1-2, 2000.
DEADLINE: March 3rd, 2000.
We are soliciting workshop and tutorial proposals for ALIFE VII. Proposals should include a brief summary (1-2 paragraphs) on the topic and objectives of the session, as well as listing potential presenters. Priority will be given to proposals that parallel the themes for the conference.
Workshops and tutorials will be held on August 1st and 2nd, 2000. Proposals should be in plain text.
Please send questions and proposals to Carlo Maley, <
Society for Human Ecology, XIth International Conference
Snow King Resort, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, U.S.A.
October 18-22, 2000
Democracy and Sustainability: Adaptive Planning and Management
Ever since Aldo Leopold articulated the ethics of respecting the land as a community within which we live, and Rachael Carson focused attention on the deep-reaching effects of human choices, an increasing proportion of mankind has become aware of the need for human activities to be in harmony with natural processes. For a decade and a half, scholars and practitioners from around the world have been meeting at 18-month intervals in Society for Human Ecology Conferences to discuss issues in the interactive field of human / environment interdependence: Human Ecology. As we begin a new century and millennium, the pace of human-induced change in the world is accelerating. But there is a modifying counter-trend in many nations, to include more and more of the public in environmental and public resource decisions. Last year’s SHE conference dealt with contributions of interdisciplinary research to adaptive decision-making. In October we will build on that discussion of adaptive planning and management decisions, focusing in on the interrelationship between democratic institutions and ecosystem sustainability.
The concerns of Human Ecology are distinctly interdisciplinary and transnational. New ideas from one discipline enrich, and are enriched by, discussions with other disciplines. In scale, research projects from one level have quite valuable implications for other levels - regional, national, international. SHE-XI will bring together researchers from communities around the world whose concerns are the enrichment of human well-being and the concomitant protection of environmental quality. From local to world scale, scholars are working on issues such as: the relationships between human activities and environmental change; the effects of environmental changes on human health and well-being; the dynamics of human adaptation to societal, technological, and environmental change; methods by which environmental planning and decision making can be improved.
Specific sessions at SHE-XI will be organized around the papers, round tables, and special sessions submitted. Sessions at previous SHE Conferences have included: Sustainable Development, Ecological Transitions, Design and the Built Environment, Urban Ecosystems, Participatory Environmental Decision-Making, Environmental Policy Analysis, Quality of Life, Education of Human Ecologists
The SHE-XI Conference will consist of Symposia, Paper Sessions and Workshops, Round Table Discussions, and Poster Sessions. This call invites proposals for Special Sessions, Symposia, Workshops, and Round Tables immediately. For conference planning purposes, the deadline for group proposals is May 15, the deadline for specific presentation titles and abstracts will be June 30. If you plan to attend, organize a session, develop a round table, or organize a workshop or symposium, please reply at your earliest possible opportunity.
SHE-XI is being held in one of the most beautiful mountain environments in North America. We are inviting significant participation from land and resource managers in the Jackson Hole ecosystem, and hope to be able to offer local demonstration tours of human / ecosystem problems in environmental and natural resources management.
To propose Sessions or submit Titles and Abstracts, please contact: Dr. Jonathan G. Taylor, First Vice President, Society for Human Ecology, C/O Social, Economic, and Institutional Analysis Section, MESC / USGS, 4512 McMurry Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80525; Phone: (970) 226-9438; FAX: (970) 226-9230; e-mail:
Upcoming Meetings
Columbia History of Science Group
3-5 March 2000
Friday Harbor, Washington
The annual meeting of the Columbia History of Science Group brings together historians of science and interested scholars from the Pacific Northwest, which stretches from Sydney, Australia at least as far as Washington, D. C. The group is always looking to expand these geographic boundaries. Events include a keynote speaker, extended evening discussion of recent scholarship in the history of science, a full day of presentations (balanced with ample breaks for investigation of forests, intertidal communities, and recreation — Ken Griffey, Jr. and Alex Rodriguez were reportedly spotted at last year’s meeting), and the Milosian Banquet. Topics range from ancient Mesoamerican agriculture to Sanskrit representations of gender to the sociology of the modern supermarket. Your paper and session proposals are welcome. Deadline for submission is February 15, 2000. Contact: Bruce Hevly, CHSG Program Coordinator, Department of History, Box 353560, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195; Phone: (206) 543-9417; e-mail:
For more information, contact: Bart Hacker, CHSG President, NMAH 4011, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0620; Phone: (202) 357-2250; Fax: (202) 357-1853; e-mail:
Joint Atlantic Seminar for the History of Biology
Princeton University
1 April 2000
A critical forum for historians of biology in training, this seminar provides an opportunity to present a paper to a particularly well-informed and engaged audience of faculty, students, and scholars from many institutions. The meeting is informal and highly focused. Graduate students and recent graduates are particularly encouraged to submit abstracts for consideration and, as is customary, every effort will be made to minimize the costs of attending for all graduate students. There will be a welcoming reception on Friday night, March 31, and all papers will be delivered on Saturday, April 1. On that Saturday evening there will be a banquet for all attending the meeting.
Contact: Angela N.H. Creager and Gerald L. Geison, Program in History of Science, 129 Dickinson Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1017; Phone: (609) 258-1680 (Creager) or 258-4701 (Geison) or 258-6705 (Program); Fax: (609) 258-5326; e-mail:
The Nature of Nature: An Interdisciplinary Conference on the Role of Naturalism in Science
Date: April 12-15, 2000
Place: Baylor University, Waco, TX (USA)
Is the universe self-contained or does it require something beyond itself to explain its existence and internal function? Philosophical naturalism takes the universe to be self-contained, and it is widely presupposed throughout science. Even so, the idea that nature points beyond itself has recently been reformulated with respect to a number of issues. Consciousness, the origin of life, the unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics at modeling the physical world, and the fine-tuning of universal constants are just a few of the problems that critics have claimed are incapable of purely naturalistic explanation. Do such assertions constitute arguments from incredulity — an unwarranted appeal to ignorance? If not, is the explanation of such phenomena beyond the pale of science? Is it, perhaps, possible to offer cogent philosophical and even scientific arguments that nature does point beyond itself? The aim of this conference is to examine such questions.
Confirmed participants in plenary sessions include: Michael Behe, Simon Blackburn, William Lane Craig, Howard Ducharme, Geoffrey Hellman, Robert Koons, Everett Mendelsohn, Stephen Meyer, Nancey Murphy, Ronald Numbers, Alvin Plantinga, Sahotra Sarkar, Henry Schaeffer, John Searle, William Talbott, Michael Tooley, Howard Van Till, Dallas Willard, Michael Williams, and Edward Zalta.
For more information, please contact: Bruce L. Gordon, The Michael Polanyi Center, P.O. Box 97130, Baylor University, Waco TX 76798-7130; Phone: (254) 710-4175; Fax: (254) 710-3600; e-mail:
Third European Social Science History Conference
12-15 April 2000
Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Third European Social Science History Conference (ESSHC) aims at bringing together scholars interested in explaining historical phenomena using the methods of the social sciences. The conference is characterized by a lively exchange in many small groups, rather than by formal plenary sessions.
The Conference welcomes papers and sessions on any topic and any historical period. It is organised in a large number of networks: Africa – Antiquity – Asia – Childhood – Criminal Justice – Culture – Economics – Education – Elites – Ethnicity – Family/Demography – Geography – Government and Politics – Health – Labour – Latin America– Middle Ages – Migration – Nations – Oral History – Political Movements – Quantitative Methods – Religion – Rural – Sexuality – Social inequality – Technology – Theory – Urban – Women/Gender. Further information about the European Social Science History Conference can be obtained from the Conference Internet site at http://www.iisg.nl/ESSHC/ or from the conference secretariat: European Social Science History Conference 2000, c/o International Institute of Social History, Cruquiusweg 31, 1019 AT Amsterdam, Netherlands; Telephone: +31.20.6685866; Fax: +31.20.6654181 E-mail:
Representing Animals at the End of the Century
Center for Twentieth Century Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
13-15 April 2000
By tracing how animals have been represented in different contexts, in different practices, and by different disciplines over the course of the last hundred years, this conference will explore the connections between our understandings of animals and the historical and cultural conditions in which those understandings have been formed. The conference will move from discussions of the material presence of animals -- studies, for example, of the changing place of animals in urban spaces and modern sensibilities — to explorations of how contemporary media culture is shaping our fundamental cultural expectations of animals, of ourselves, and of our environments.
Papers might consider any aspect of the representation of animals in late nineteenth- and twentieth-century cultures, including the exhibition of animals in circuses, rodeos, zoos, and county fairs, and in artifactual displays in museums, bars, living rooms, and grocery stores; the portrayal of animals in natural history documentaries and television programs; the masquerading of humans as animals in performance art; and the use of animals in the creation of various semiotic systems. Literary and film genres might include the bestiary, fables, allegories, the fairy tale, children’s literature, nature movies, and science fiction. Other visual domains might include nature photography, cartoons, and advertising. The discourses, tropes, and iconography of popular art as well as the meanings of animals in such diverse cultural activities as sport hunting and pest control would also be relevant. Other issues might include pet keeping; the projection of complex emotional and ethical lives onto animals; the very idea of endangered species; and the movable boundary between domestic and wild. While the core disciplinary perspective of the conference will be historical and the geopolitical focus Euro-American, scholars from the full range of humanities disciplines, with interests far beyond the traditionally conceived "West," will participate.
Selected papers from the conference will be included in a book planned for publication in the Center series, Theories of Contemporary Culture with Indiana University Press.
Special Guest Speaker: Jane Goodall
Contact: Nigel Rothfels and Andrew Isenberg, Conference Organizers Center for Twentieth Century Studies University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee P. O. Box 413 Milwaukee, WI 53201 USA tel: 414-229-4141; fax: 414-229-5964; email:
Midwest Junto for the History of Science
Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology, Kansas City, Missouri
14-16 April 2000
The forty-third Annual Meeting of the Midwest Junto for the History of Science is an informal forum for presentation and discussion of short papers by scholars, graduate students, and interested persons in general, on all areas of research in the history of science and technology. For information please contact Eliseo Fernandez, Reference Librarian, Linda Hall Library, 5109 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO 64110. Phone: (816) 363-5020. Fax: (816) 926-8785. E-Mail:
Summer 2000 at MBL: Putting Humans into Ecology
During the first week of June, 2000, the Dibner Institute Seminar at MBL will address "Putting Humans into Ecology." This is a pressing issue for scientists and policy makers today, that urgently needs some historical perspective. What do we know from history that should inform that discussion? And how have assumptions and conclusions changed over time? Jim Collins will lead the seminar. As a biologist and historian currently funded by NSF to study international cases of amphibian decline, and our knowledge of how humans affect that decline, he will bring important scientific questions to the fore. At the same time, study of humans and their complex actions must be included within ecological theory because humans as individuals and as societies are part of Earth's natural history. Accomplishing this task thus means building ecological theory around a multidisciplinary perspective integrating the natural and social sciences and the humanities. This Dibner Institute Seminar will explore the evolving history of efforts to put humans into ecology. Those working on the history, philosophy, and sociology of ecology, as well as ecologists, are encouraged to apply. For more information, email Carla Chrisfield at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology (
The Gaia Hypothesis
University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
19-23 June 2000
This conference will emphasize not only interactions of biota with atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the soils and the sediments, but also the involvement of biota in maintaining the steady states of key biogeochemical cycles, climate acide/base and redox balances. The three interlinked themes will be Gaia in time, the role of the biota in regulating biogeochemical cycles and climate, and dealing with complexity and feedbacks in the earth system.
Topics to be discussed: How has the global biogeochemical/climate system called Gaia changed in time? What is its history? Can Gaia maintain stability of the system at one time scale but still undergo vectorial change at longer time scales? How can the geologic record be used to examine questions? What is the structure of Gaia? Are the feedbacks sufficiently strong to influence the evolution of climate? Are there parts of the system determined pragmatically by whatever disciplinary study is being undertaken at any given time or are there a set of parts that should be taken as most true for understanding Gaia as containing evolving organisms over time? What are the feedbacks among these different parts of the Gaian system, and what does the near closure of matter mean for the structure of Gaia as a global ecosystem and for the productivity of life? How do models of Gaian processes and phenomena relate to reality and how do they help address and understand Gaia? How do results from Daisyworld transfer to the real world? What are the main candidates for "daisies"? Does it matter for Gaia theory whether we find daisies or not? How should we be searching for daisies, and should we intensify the search? How can Gaian mechanisms be investigated using process models or global models of the climate system which include the biota and allow for chemical cycling?
See the conference web site for more information: http://www.agu.org/meetings/cc00bcall.html •
Seventh International Conference on Artificial Life: The Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems, "Looking Backward, Looking Forward"
Reed College, Portland, Oregon, USA
1-6 August 2000
Artificial life is an interdisciplinary research enterprise investigating the fundamental properties of living systems through the simulation and synthesis of life-like processes in artificial media. This year’s conference coincides with the birth of a new millennium, and this presents an opportunity to take stock of the community’s main achievements and central open questions: hence the conference theme "Looking backward, looking forward." In addition to showcasing the best current work, this conference aims to play a pivotal role in shaping the artificial life research agenda in the years to come.
To catalyze reflection about the theme "Looking backward, looking forward" an open-ended web-based discussion will proceed the conference. This on-line discussion will survey artificial life’s main achievements and central open questions as well as the future organizational structure of the artificial life community. To enhance the community’s collective intelligence as much as possible, everyone is encouraged to participate in this discussion. The theme "Looking backward, looking forward" will interconnect most of the events at the conference. The conference will kick off with a presentation of the consensus that emerged from the community’s web interactions. All conference presenters will be encouraged to connect their work to the theme. A roundtable discussion toward the end of the conference will reassess artificial life’s important achievements and open questions in the light of presentations and discussions during the conference. And there will be a forum to address the idea of founding an international society for artificial life. Complete and up-to-date information about the conference will always be available through the conference web site at: http://alife7.alife.org; mail: Artificial Life VII, Reed College, 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd., Portland OR 97202, USA; phone: (503) 788-6693; Fax: (503) 788-6643; email:
The Society for the History of Technology
Munich, Germany
17-20 August 2000
Contact: Dr. Michael Allen, SHOT Program Chair, Zentralinstitut für Geschichte der Technik, Deutsches Museum, Museuminsel 1, D-80306 München, Germany. Phone (49) (89) 2179 402; Fax (49) (89)2179 324; email:
Dibner Institute
The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology is pleased to announce the appointments of the Dibner Institute Fellows for 1999-2000. The Institute has appointed nineteen Senior and eleven Postdoctoral Fellows. They come from several nations and pursue many different aspects of the history of science and technology.
The following nineteen persons have been appointed as Dibner Institute Senior Fellows: Davis Baird, Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of South Carolina; Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent, Professor at Université Paris X; Christine Blondel, Chargée de Recherche at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France; David Bloor, Professor at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Director of its Science Studies Unit; William Brock, Emeritus Professor of History of Science, the University of Leicester, UK; Kenneth Caneva, Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Claudine Cohen, Associate Professor at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris; Jack Copeland, Professor at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; Mordechai Feingold, Professor of Science Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute; Yves Gingras, Professeur Titulaire in the Department of History, University of Québec at Montréal; Ruth Glasner, Senior Lecturer at Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Helen Lang, Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department, Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticutt; Wenlin Li, Research Professor at the Institute of Mathematics, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China; Nancy Nersessian, Professor, Program in Cognitive Science at Georgia Institute of Technology; William Newman, Professor at Indiana University; Lawrence Principe, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University; Gregor Schiemann, Assistant Professor at Humboldt Unversität, Institut für Philosophie, Berlin; Ana Simões, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, University of Lisbon, Portugal; and John Stillwell, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
The Dibner Institute has made the following eight Postdoctoral Fellowship appointments: Luca Ciancio; Slava Gerovitch; Michael Gorman; Christophe Lecuyer; Massimo Mazzotti; Jutta Schickore; Brett Steele; and R. Andre Wakefield.
The Dibner Institute has reappointed the following persons to a second year as Postdoctoral Fellows: Arne Hessenbruch; Klaus Staubermann; and Benno van Dalen.
The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology is pleased to announce that fellowship awards have been made to eleven Ph.D. candidates enrolled in programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Boston University; and Harvard University. The Dibner Graduate Fellowship program is open to students writing their doctoral dissertations. Selection is based on excellence and scholarly promise, without regard for need. Fellows include: Babak Ashrafi, MIT; David Kaiser, Harvard; Matthew Jones, Harvard; Robert Martello, MIT; Benjamin Pinney, MIT; Gerald A. Ward, Boston University; and Timothy Wolters, MIT. •
Fellowship Opportunities
Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies
This program is administered by the Council and based at the Free University of Berlin. Funded by the Berlin state government, with United States administrative costs funded by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, its purpose is to encourage the comparative and interdisciplinary study of the economic, political and social aspects of modern and contemporary German and European affairs. The program supports anthropologists, economists, political scientists, sociologists and all scholars in germane social science and cultural studies fields, including historians working on the period since the mid-19th century. Fellows are expected to produce a research monograph (doctoral dissertation, book manuscript) dealing with some aspect of German or European studies, including US-European relations. Awards are for a minimum of 9 and a maximum of 12 months. Fellows participate in the program's seminars twice monthly and present their work alongside senior scholars in Berlin.
Eligibility: Citizens and permanent residents of the United States and Canada are eligible to apply. At the dissertation level, applicants must have completed all requirements (except the dissertation) for the Ph.D. at the time the fellowship begins. At the postdoctoral level, the program is open to scholars who have received the Ph.D. degree or its equivalent in the last two years.
Berlin Program fellowship stipends are dm2,000.-per month for individuals, dm2,250.-for fellows accompanied by a spouse who is not working or on scholarship, and dm2,500.-when the couple is accompanied by a child. The Program provides one round-trip airfare for the fellow between the fellow's residence at the time of award and Berlin. In addition, funds for intra-European travel are provided on an individual basis for necessary research site visits between the semesters. Application deadline: February 1, 2000. For further information contact: Berlin Program, Social Science, Research Council, 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019 USA; Phone: (212) 377-2700; Fax: (212) 377-2727; E-mail:
Library Resident Research Fellowships, 2000-2001
The American Philosophical Society Library accepts applications for short- residential fellowships for conducting research in its collections. The Society’s Library located near Independence Hall in Philadelphia, is a leading international center for research in the history of American science and technology and its European roots, as well as early American history and culture. The Library houses over 6.5 million manuscripts, 190,000 volumes and bound periodicals, and thousands of maps and prints. Outstanding historical collections and subject areas include the papers of Benjamin Franklin; the American Revolution; 18th and 19th-century natural history; western scientific expeditions and travel including the journals of Lewis and Clark; polar exploration; the papers of Charles Willson Peale, including family and descendants; American Indian languages; anthropology including the papers of Franz Boas; the papers of Charles Darwin and his forerunners, colleagues, critics, and successors; history of genetics, eugenics, and evolution; history of biochemistry, physiology, and biophysics; 20th-century medical research; and history of physics. (The Library does not hold materials on philosophy in the modern sense.)
The fellowships, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Grundy Foundation, the Isaac Comly Martindale Fund, and the Phillips Fund, are intended to encourage research in the Library’s collections by scholars who reside beyond a 75-mile radius of Philadelphia. The fellowships are open to both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who are holders of the Ph.D. or the equivalent, Ph.D. candidates who have passed their preliminary exams, and independent scholars. Applicants in any relevant field of scholarship may apply. The stipend is $1,900 per month, and the term of the fellowship is a minimum of one month and a maximum of three, taken between June 1, 2000 and May 31, 2001. Fellows are expected to be in residence for four consecutive weeks during the period of their award.
There is no special application form and this notice provides all the essential information needed to apply. Applicants should submit the following: (1) cover sheet stating a) name, b) title of project, c) expected period of residence, d) institutional affiliation, e) mailing address, f) telephone numbers, and e-mail if available, and g) social security number; (2) a letter (not to exceed three single-spaced pages) which briefly describes the project and how it relates to existing scholarship, states the specific relevance of the American Philosophical Society’s collections to the project, and indicates expected results of the research (such as publications); (3) a c. v. or résumé; and (4) one letter of reference (doctoral candidates must use their dissertation advisor). Published guides to the Society’s collections are available in most research libraries, and a list of these guides is available on request. Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult the Library staff by mail or phone regarding the collections.
Support for the Library Resident Research Fellowships is provided by: The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Grundy Foundation The Isaac Comly Martindale Fund The Philips Fund
Address applications or inquiries to: Library Resident Research Fellowships, American Philosophical Society Library, 105 South Fifth St., Philadelphia, PA 19106-3386. Telephone: (215) 440-3400.
http://www.amphilsoc.org
Applications must be received by March 1, 2000.
Notice of awards will be mailed by May 1, 2000. •
Smithsonian Institution Libraries Resident Scholar Programs
Fellowship Deadline: April 1, 2000
The Smithsonian Institution Libraries (SIL) Resident Scholar Programs offer short-term study grants for 2001 with stipends of $2,500 per month for durations of one to six months. The Dibner Fund supports awards in the SIL Dibner Library Resident Scholar Program for research in the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology. Awards are also offered in the Special Collections Resident Scholar Program for research in SIL's special collections. Scholars are expected to be in residence at the Smithsonian Institution. Deadline for applications: April 1, 2000. Application materials are available online or write to Smithsonian Institution Libraries Resident Scholar Programs at the address below. Contact information: William Baxter, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Resident Scholar Programs, NMAH 5016 MRC 630, Washington DC 20560-0630; Phone: (202) 357-1568; e-mail:
Graduate Programs
The Federated History Department of NJIT and Rutgers University-Newark invite applications for its graduate degree programs in the History of Technology, Environment and Medicine (HisTEM). The department offers the Masters of Arts (M.A.) for generalists and for students interested in preparing for further graduate study in history; it offers the Masters of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) for current and prospective secondary school teachers of history and social studies.
Program administration and teaching are shared by faculty from both campuses, and the full resources of both universities are available to all history graduate students. Degrees are awarded jointly by Rutgers and NJIT. A limited number of scholarships are available for qualified students.
The joint NJIT/Rutgers-Newark graduate history program is the largest and most diverse masters-level program in New Jersey. In addition to a faculty of national and international reputation, the HisTEM program offers rare opportunities for hands-on learning and archival research in association with local institutions such as the Thomas Edison National Historic Site in nearby West Orange, the Newark Museum, the New Jersey Historical Society and the special collections of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
For more information, please contact Lisa Herschbach, Graduate Coordinator, HisTEM, Federated Department of History, NJIT/Rutgers University-Newark, University Heights, Newark, NJ 07102; 973 596 5634; email:
Admissions information is available from the Office of University Admissions, University Heights, NJIT, Newark, NJ 07102; 973 596 3300; email:
Job Opportunities
Assistant Director, Science and Technology Studies, Falls Church, Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech announces a tenure-track appointment in Science and Technology Studies (STS) at the Assistant Professor or early Associate Professor level beginning August 16, 2000. The successful candidate will serve as a member of the STS faculty and as Assistant Director of the STS Graduate Program at the University's Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church, located in the northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
We seek applications from scholars with demonstrated experience in one or more research traditions in STS and willingness to learn about others. Candidates must have the Ph.D. in hand by August 2000 as well as ability to engage productively in program development; ability to offer guidance to students who are working professionals and are diverse in background, race, gender, and ethnicity; strong teaching record and willingness to contribute to distance learning; and commitment to an active research program.
A major responsibility of this position is to continue building a strong regional presence for the STS Program, expand enrollments for STS courses, and recruit candidates for the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The Assistant Director receives some release from teaching in exchange for this important administrative work.
The hiring unit for this position is the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (CIS) in the College of Arts and Sciences. Formed in 1995, CIS is comprised of a number of interdisciplinary programs, including the STS Graduate Program and undergraduate programs in Black Studies; Humanities; Humanities, Science, and Technology; Interdisciplinary Studies; Judaic Studies, Religious Studies; and Women's Studies. The STS Program is run jointly with the Departments of History, Philosophy, and Sociology.
The STS Program provides opportunities for students to pursue the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The Program has a strong record placing 23 Ph.D. recipients and 54 M.S. recipients in appropriate positions. At present, 44 students are in residence at the Blacksburg campus and 28 students at Falls Church, established in 1995.
Interested candidates should send a detailed letter of application, current CV, recent writing sample, syllabi for courses taught or teaching portfolio if available, and at least three letters of recommendation. We will begin screening applications on February 21, 2000. The review process will continue until the position is filled.
The College of Arts and Sciences is deeply committed to recruiting, selecting, promoting, and retaining women, persons of color, and persons with disabilities. We strongly value diversity in the college community, and seek to assure equality in education and employment. Individuals with disabilities desiring accommodations in the application process should notify the search committee chair (TTY: 1-800-828-1120) by the application deadline.
Please send applications to Gary Downey, Chair, STS Search Committee, Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0227. You may also call or write: 540-231-4761 (o), 540-231-7615 (dept), 540-231-7013 (fax),
Work opportunity for running a global scientific network on population-environment analysis (PEN).
The IUSSP (International Union for the Scientific Study of Population) in collaboration with IHDP (International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change) and with a grant from the MacArthur Foundation is launching a scientific network based on the internet to serve as a world-wide clearing house on scientific advances in the field of analysing the complex interactions between human populations and the natural environment.
This is an important and exciting new field with many initiatives taken in different parts of the world and from a number of rather different disciplinary perspectives. Due to its fairly recent origin and multidisciplinary nature, this field is still characterized by a lack of efficient communication and methodological consolidation. Guided by a scientific steering committee, the successful applicants will be responsible for keeping the network going through discussion groups, online conferences, bibliographies, solicited contributions, book reviews, etc. The network will initially exist for two years. The work does not require relocation of the successful applicants. It can be done from any place with a good internet connection. Working times are flexible and the applicant does not have to work full-time on the network. Two applicants from different backgrounds will be selected. Compensation will be in the form of fee contracts of up to US$ 50,000 (full time equivalent per year). A doctorate in a related discipline, research experience in population-environment analysis and computer skills are considered necessary.
Applications should be sent before 1 March 2000 to: Dr. Wolfgang Lutz, IUSSP Secretary General (
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
The Department of Science and Technology Studies invites applications for the position of department chair at the rank of tenured full professor. The ideal candidate has experience in program building and will be able to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among the humanities and social sciences, and between them and other schools in the university, such as engineering, architecture, and science. Rensselaer is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women and members of minority groups. Send CV, letter of application, and names of three references to Chair, Search Committee, STS Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY 12180-3590. Review of applications will begin March 1 and continue until the position is filled. The preferred starting date is August 1, 2000. •
NSF Funding Changes
Increased funding at NSF Recent budgetary decisions at the National Science Foundation will increase the FY99 base budget of the Science & Technology Studies Program — which supports research and training in history, philosophy, and social studies of science and technology — by 7.47% over its FY98 base. (The modal increase experienced by other programs within the NSF Division of Social and Economic Sciences, in which the STS Program now finds itself, was under 2.0%.) Once all internal NSF budgetary adjustments have been made, the STS Program will make grants totaling more than $3.4 million in this fiscal year. The decision to raise the STS budget so significantly derived from several considerations. First, in recent years the Program experienced a major increase in the number of proposals submitted by STS researchers. Excluding dissertation and workshop proposals, supplement requests, and similar matters, these numbers rose from 80 in FY96 and 68 in FY97 to 107 in FY98. This increase led to a significant decline in the Program’s "success rate," which went from 44% in FY 96 and 53% in FY97 to 35% in FY98. Second, all involved in the review of these proposals agreed that the increased number came at the "upper end of the quality distribution," so that the number of otherwise fundable proposals that the Program could not support rose especially sharply. This major budget increase is designed to begin, at least, to address this problem. The Program’s fiscal year includes two "review cycles," with annual "target dates" of 1 February and 1 August. It thus hopes to receive an even greater number of proposals later this summer. The formal STS Program Announcement is most readily available on the World Wide Web, at: www.nsf.gov/sbe/sber/sts
This Website provides direct links to NSF’s "Grant Proposal Guide" and other resources for potential applicants. Since 1973, the STS Program and its predecessors have been overseen successively by Ronald J. Overmann (1973-1995) and Edward J. Hackett (1995-1998). The current STS Program Officer (who will serve through August 2000) is Michael M. Sokal, who may be reached at
Important News for NSF Grantseekers
Sometime in the second half of the year 2000 the National Science Foundation will begin to REQUIRE (with some minor exceptions) that ALL proposals prepared for NSF consideration MUST be submitted via FastLane, NSF’s Web-based document handling system. All researchers and others planning to submit proposals to NSF's Societal Dimensions of Engineering, Science & Technology Program (SDEST) and its Science & Technology Studies Program (STS) should take steps to comply with this requirement by making contact with their institution’s Sponsored Programs Offices well in advance of these programs’ Summer 2000 target date of August 1, 2000.
After much negotiation, it appears that SDEST and STS will be granted the authority to issue waivers of this requirement for proposals submitted by independent scholars. Such potential applicants should keep in close touch with these programs as the target date approaches to determine precise mechanisms for the granting of such waivers. But once this requirement goes into effect, it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that such waivers could be granted to researchers affiliated with just-about ANY U.S. institution.
For further information about FastLane and this requirement, please consult the FastLane Website, <www.fastlane.nsf.gov>; or Gail Williams of NSF’s Division of Information Services (
Publications of Interest
Debating Darwin: Adventures of a Scholar
, John C. Greene, 1998, Regina Books, (Post Office Box 280, Claremont, CA 91711, USA). $34.95, Special rate of $20 per copy for classroom use.
In this book John C. Greene, author of The Death of Adam, Darwin and the Modern World View, and Science, Ideology, and World View, draws together a series of essays, old and new, on the origins and cultural impact of Charles Darwin’s ideas. He also enters into an epistolary dialogue with two leading evolutionary biologists, Theodosius Dobzhansky and Ernst Mayr, on the historical, philosophical, and religious aspects of this major revolution in Western thought and feeling. •
Evolution’s Eye: A Systems View of the Biology-Culture Divide, Susan Oyama, 2000, Duke University Press. $18.95/£12.95 (paper), $54.95/£37 (cloth).
Susan Oyama elaborates on her pioneering work on developmental systems by spelling out that work’s implications for the fields of evolutionary theory, developmental and social psychology, feminism, and epistemology. Her approach profoundly alters our understanding of the biological processes of development and evolution and the interrelationships between them. •
The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolution, 2nd edition, Susan Oyama, 2000, Duke University Press. $19.95/£13.50 (paper), $59.95/£40 (cloth).
A critical intervention into the ongoing and perpetually troubling nature-nurture debates surrounding human development. Originally published in 1985, this was a foundational text in what is now the substantial field of developmental systems theory. In this revised edition, Oyama argues compellingly that nature and nurture are not alternative influences on human development but, rather, developmental products and developmental processes that produce them. •
Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. Anne Fausto-Sterling, 2000, Basic Books.
In Sexing the Body, I set discussions about intersexuality, debates about alleged male/female differences in brain anatomy, and accounts of the rise of sex hormones and theories about their role in male and female behavior within a more general call to update older versions of feminist theory. In the early 1970s feminists and some psychologists converged on the idea that sex one’s physical body ought to be analyzed separately from gender. Gender came to be seen as the acquired expression of masculine or feminine behaviors (gender role) and included one’s sense of self, the internal conviction that one was either male or female (gender identity). For feminists, "gender" came to mean cultural trappings attached to bodies with different genitalia. Feminists argued that although men’s and women’s bodies served different reproductive functions, few other sex differences were inborn in the body and unchangeable by life’s vicissitudes. If girls couldn’t learn math as easily as boys, the problem wasn’t built into their brains. The difficulty resulted from gender normsdifferent expectations and opportunities for boys and girls. Having a penis rather than a vagina was a sex difference. Doing well in science class (or not) was a gender difference. And presumably, the latter could be remedied, while the former could not.
Insisting on the sex/gender distinction, however, creates a problem. Feminists set the terms so that sex represented the body’s internal anatomy and physiology while gender coded for social forces that molded behavior. This left open the possibility that male/female differences in cognitive function and behavioral differences of other sorts could result from sex differences. In some circles, the matter of sex versus gender became a debate about how "hardwired" intelligence and behaviors such as male aggression or female intuition are in the brain. Feminist theorists were great at showing how culture contributed to gender but they turned the body itself over to biologists and physicianswho promptly began to argue that many aspects of what feminists thought of as culture really were inborn and thus belonged to the domain of sex.
One major thread of Sexing the Body is that nature and nurture (sex and gender) are indivisible and must be studied together, as part of a mutually constitutive system. For example, an increasing number of scientists and philosophers argue against the idea that behaviors are innate. Instead they suggest that all behaviors emerge from a developmental system that includes the organism and both its internal and external environment. Discussion of developmental systems theory has been a notable presence at recent ISHPSSB meetings. In this book I embrace the developmental systems approach and apply it to the development of human gender difference. Culture and history literally shape the body. Such a claim erases the sex/gender distinction, allowing neither the body nor culture to predominate. •
SHIPS News
The latest issue of the SHiPS News (December 1999, 9/2) is now assembled and available at your convenience. This is a Newsletter for the Sociology, History and Philosophy of Science in Science Teaching. On the web, go to: http://ships.umn.edu/9-2/
Contents include: "News of the Network: Moving Online;" Phillip Eichman, "From the Lipid Bilayer to the Fluid Mosaic: A Brief History of Membrane Models;" Colin Russell, "Bunsen — Without His Burner;" as well as case studies, science dramas, book briefs, ‘websights,’ commentary, and resources. •
Science as Culture 8(2), June 1999
Special Issue: "Biologistic Metaphors, Then and Now" includes: "Sociobiology Sanitized: Evolutionary Psychology and Gene Selectionism" by Val Dusek; "Darwinian Ideological Discourse Part II: Re-Anthropologizing Nature by Naturalizing Competitive Man" by Julio Muñoz-Rubio; "‘Malthus on Man: In Animals No Moral Restraint’" by Robert M. Young; "Transforming Genes: Metaphors of Information and Language in Modern Genetics" by Adam Hedgecoe.
Science as Culture
8(4) features four main articles: "Is Science Studies Lost in the Kuhnian Plot? On the Way Back from Paradigms to Movements" by Steve Fuller; "Global Climate Science, Uncertainty and Politics: Data-Laden Models, Model-Filtered Data" by Paul Edwards; "The Spectre of Colour: a Sociobiological Paradigm" by Barbara Saunders; and "From West to Non-West? Basalla’s Three-Stage Model Revisited" by Dhruv Raina
Science as Culture
is numbered in volumes, each comprising four issues per year, starting in 1990. Personal rate for four issues: £32 or $48 in North America; Institutional rate for four issues: £92 or $138 in North America.
All orders and remittances should be addressed to: Carfax Publishing Limited, PO Box 25, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3UE, UK. Tel. +44 (0) 1235 401000; Fax +44 (0) 1235 401550; E-mail
Radical History Review
A special issue of Radical History Review, co-edited by Anne-Emanuelle Birn and Gerard Fergerson, will explore the history of the health professions in an attempt to offer new perspectives on the relationship between society and 20th century medicine, public health, and the health sciences. We invite papers that offer political, social, and cultural analyses of professional struggles, medico-scientific developments, the role of civil society, the corporatization of medicine and public health, the role of political institutions, race, class and gender formations and intersections, and other themes bearing on the relationship between the health professions and society in the U.S., global, and comparative contexts.
Maximum length is 20-25 pages, including endnotes (please follow Chicago Manual of Style 14th edition historical endnotes style). Send 5 copies of your double-spaced manuscript by February 15, 2000 to:
Gerard Fergerson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Health Policy, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, 4 Washington Square North, New York, New York 10003-6671
Any questions, please email:
New Organizations
We are interested in organizing a special interest group within the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) for scholars working on topics related to "nature and technology," broadly construed. We hope to have the first meeting at the 2000 SHOT conference in Munich next August and perhaps start an online community as well. If you are interested in joining or would like more information, please contact one of us at the email addresses below.
Jim Williams, Department of History, De Anza College,
Announcing www.SocietyforHumanEcology.org
The Society for Human Ecology is pleased to announce the debut of its new web site. In addition to offering information on SHE such as the Society’s mission and a list of Society officers, SocietyforHumanEcology.org has special resources such as a listing of graduate programs in Human Ecology, calls for papers and conference announcements (including an announcement for SHE’s upcoming 11th International Conference), and links of importance to human ecologists. Since this new site exists to meet the needs of its users, www.SocietyforHumanEcology.org features an anonymous feedback form. Users are encouraged to suggest improvements to the nascent site. The Society for Human Ecology is interested in the impacts of human activity on environmental change, the impacts of environmental change on human health and well-being, and the dynamics of human adaptation to societal, technological, and environmental change, and the mechanisms by which environmental planning and decision making can be improved. •
Lecture Series
"Scientific Ethos: Authority, Authorship, and Trust in the Sciences," at St. John’s College, University of British Columbia.
All talks are on Thursday evenings, 7:30-9:00 p.m., in the Social Lounge of St. John’s College. More information is available from Alan Richardson (
24 February: Peter Dear, Department of History and Department of Science, Technology, and Society, Cornell University, "Authority, Trust, and the Self-Evidence of the Intelligible."
16 March: Evelyn Fox Keller, Department of Science, Technology, and Society, MIT, "Theory and Practice in Contemporary Biology."
6 April: Steven Shapin, Department of Sociology, UCSD, "Like Anybody Else: A History of the Idea of the Scientist’s Moral Equivalence."
4 May: Lorraine Daston, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, "The Morals of Objectivity." •
Membership and Renewal Information
To join ISHPSSB or renew your membership send the enclosed Membership Form to Society Treasurer Keith Benson or fill out the form on the Society’s Website:
http://www.phil.vt.edu/ISHPSSB/member.html
Existing members need to renew if the mailing label on the most recent newsletter has one or two asterisks on the top line. If you think the information in the membership files is out of date (e-mail addresses seem especially volatile), please provide the new information to the society treasurer.
Graduate students qualify for a reduced membership fee — only US $ 10 for two years. Emeritus members pay no fee. Otherwise a regular membership is US $ 35 for two years.
All checks must be in US $; payment by Visa/Mastercard is welcome. Credit card payments can be sent electronically. (As far as we understand this is relatively safe — as safe as the postal service, maybe safer — since everything is automatically encrypted.) Receipts for payment will be sent out, but to reduce administrative costs, this will be done only if requested. If paying by credit card, your monthly credit card statement should serve as your receipt. •
Membership Form
Name
Institution
Address
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e-mail address
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FAX
Additional address
Check one:
Two year regular membership $35 (1999-2000)
Two year student membership $10 (1999-2000)
2000 membership (available only if one asterisk *
appears on your mailing label) $15
Additional contribution (to fund student travel to meetings): $
Total enclosed: $
Note: New members will receive a confirmation letter from Keith Benson and are encouraged to subscribe to the society’s listserv (see instructions below).
ISHPSSB Listserv and Website
Listserv
The ISHPSSB listserv provides instant information to members around the world. The listserv is moderated by an ISHPSSB member, so no "junk" e-mail gets through — only information of interest to members. This will include updates on the 1999 Meeting in Oaxaca!
As a member of ISHPSSB, you are not automatically subscribed to the society’s listserv. Subscribe today to stay in touch.
The moderated listserv for the society is sponsored in part by the University of Minnesota Program in History of Science and Technology. Any member interested in receiving mailings on this listserv should "subscribe" to the list by sending the following message:
SUBSCRIBE ISHPSB-L yourfirstname yourlastname
to:
To send a message (information of interest or questions related to the history, philosophy, and social studies of biology) to all the people currently subscribed to the list, send to:
Newsletter information goes out regularly on the listserv. Every ISHPSSB member is encouraged to subscribe to the e-mail list to enjoy more frequent and rapid correspondence with other members. If you know members who have not subscribed, please encourage them to do so.
Questions? Contact the listserv moderator, Chris Young, directly at:
Website
http://www.phil.vt.edu/ISHPSSB/
The ISHPSSB Website is the best source for the latest information on the 1999 Meeting in Oaxaca, including travel arrangements and program updates.
The web pages also contain the latest newsletter, instructions for how to subscribe to our listserv, and links to additional resources in science and technology. You can join ISHPSSB right over the web, as well as participate in a survey on the impact ISHPSSB has had in your professional life. You can access the site by typing the address into any web-browser. Ideas for additional items to include are always welcome — please forward them to Valerie Hardcastle, web site administrator; e-mail:
Spring 2000 Newsletter
The next issue of the Newsletter will be published in Spring 2000. Deadline: May 1, 2000. Announcements, news of interest to the society, and photos of professional events are welcome. Please send submissions (preferably via e-mail) to the editor, Chris Young,