CFP: Mineral Expertise: The Rules of Knowing Earthly Matter in the Early Modern World

 CFP: Mineral Expertise: The Rules of Knowing Earthly Matter in the Early Modern World - Bologna (Italy), 04.02.2027 - 06.02.2027, Deadline: 10.07.2026

Minerals have been extracted as resources, traded as commodities, ingested as medicine, and examined for knowledge across the early modern world. Their lifecycle was structured by mineral expertise rooted in tradition and trained bodies – a bezoar pulverised by a town apothecary, ore assayed by a company metallurgist, gemstones authenticated by a court jeweller. Minerals were key to medicine, metallurgy, alchemy and magic and thus a site to negotiate and legitimate forms of knowledge. Precisely because so much was at stake – both the value of objects and the reputation of people – mineral expertise was subject to scrutiny by peers and official regulation.

A central concern of the workshop is to critically assess the concept of expertise. Before the emergence of modern credentialing and professional licensing, claims to mineral knowledge were fluid and contested. We therefore approach expertise as a context-dependent process of negotiation and legitimation. It emerged when actors combined specialised skills with claims to generalisable knowledge and obtained some form of formal acknowledgment for it. Yet we are interested not only in those who have come to be recognised as experts, but in the broader topography of knowledge within which such recognition was negotiated. Which empirical practices cut across distinctions of status, and which ones did not? How did expertise relate to shared knowledge (common knowledge, the period eye, a well-indexed archive)? What distinguished experts from experienced state officials, skilled artisans, or shrewd market-goers? What were the rules of knowing earthly matter in the early modern world?

This workshop aims to compare mineral expertise from different angles. We are interested in contributions from historians of science, technology and medicine, economic historians, archaeologists and archaeometallurgists working on the period between c.1450 and c.1850 CE. By using minerals as a boundary object both of historical actors and historians who study them, we aim for a richer account of how early modern people engaged the mineral world. We aim for a history of mineral expertise that is attentive to local practices and alert to the broader structures of knowledge/power and value-making in which these practices were embedded.

The workshop will take place on 4-6 February, 2027 at the University of Bologna. We aim to discuss approximately 12 pre-circulated article-length papers (6.000–8.000 words) over two days. Decisions regarding the publication of the papers in a special issue will be made after the workshop. We welcome creative contributions that engage with, but are not limited to, the following questions:

What was mineral knowledge?

- What distinguished expertise in minerals from other kinds of earth-related knowledge (e.g. that of a farmer) and expertise in other materials (e.g. plant matter)? How were historical distinctions asserted, contested, and institutionalised?

- How was expertise valorised and employed in sites of labour — the mine, the home,the office, the laboratory, the museum? How did artisanal or vernacular knowledge validate or contradict expertise?

- How was expertise valorised and employed in imperial expansion and long-distance trade? How did different traditions of mineral knowledge interact or clash, adapt or become marginalised in contexts of empire and colonisation?

- When did specialist knowledge matter decisively? When did social networks, local experience, or consensus prove equally or more powerful?

How was mineral knowledge regulated?

- How did legal and bureaucratic frameworks — testing sites, law courts, guilds, tax regimes — shape the conditions under which expertise was recognised and gain public authority?

- What role did archives, records, and formal procedures play in transforming knowledge into expertise, or expertise into public information? What do administrative sources reveal — and conceal — about the range of actors involved in the making of mineral expertise?

- How were conflicts over mineral expertise adjudicated, and what do such disputes reveal about competing epistemologies and claims to authority?

- Which moral values were invoked in policies seeking to regulate medical, commercial, and occupational practice (e.g. peace, cosmic order, the common good, thrift, charity, godliness, justice)? Whom did experts claim to serve – and whom did they actually serve – when they worked in the ambiance of the state?

We welcome papers from all parts of the world and approaches that engage with cross-cultural encounters and wide-ranging knowledge exchange, as well as those that drill deep into a specific place and time. Since early modern categories were fluid and diverse, we are interested in both objects recognized as “minerals” today and more expansive understandings or boundary cases.

The workshop is co-organized by Monica Azzolini, Sebastian Felten and Sarah Seinitzer, as a collaboration between the SCARCE project (ERC StG, Grant number 101076422) and the Department of Philosophy (History of Science) at the University of Bologna. Potential contributors should send an abstract of no more than 250 words and a 200 word bio to scarce.geschichte@univie.ac.at by 10 July 2026. Limited funding is available to cover travel and accommodation in Bologna. Please indicate if you have other funding sources to cover your travel expenses.

Maria Silina, Soviet Museums Between the Two World Wars: Art History on Display

 Maria Silina, Soviet Museums Between the Two World Wars: Art History on Display (Routledge, 2026)

https://www.routledge.com/Soviet-Museums-Between-the-Two-World-Wars-Art-History-on-Display/Silina/p/book/9781041031222

The book critically analyzes the evolution of museology and art history during a period recognized as a crisis point for museums, characterized by the ascent of the modernist museum and the decline of previous museum representation forms such as universal collections and period rooms. Building on the concept of museums as agents of cultural diplomacy and soft power, the book considers museums as spaces where negotiations, often unsuccessful occur among various stakeholders: museum practitioners, authorities, private collectors, auction houses, and the public. The challenge of handling millions of nationalized objects since the 1917 Revolution posed a particularly complex issue for Socialist museums, necessitating accumulation, distribution, and display. It also proposes a historical account of the establishment of Soviet art departments in the mid-1930s, serving as showcases for Socialist realism. This composition was subsequently replicated across the country and throughout the Communist bloc.

 

Asiya Bulatova: Viktor Shklovsky’s Involuntary Modernism: Writing and Other Bodily Functions

Asiya Bulatova: Viktor Shklovsky’s Involuntary Modernism: Writing and Other Bodily Functions. Bloomsbury 2026. ISBN 9781350422612

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/viktor-shklovskys-involuntary-modernism-9781350422612/

CFP: International Conference “Education after Totalitarianism”

 International Conference “Education after Totalitarianism”

The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, in collaboration with Vytautas Magnus University, the Faculty of Architecture at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, the Institute of Educational Sciences at Vilnius University, as well as the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Lithuania and the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, is organizing an international academic conference on October 1–2, 2026.  

The conference “Education after Totalitarianism: Legacies and Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe” will bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss the development of education systems after 1989–1991.  

The event will seek to reveal how historical experiences of totalitarianism shaped education policy, institutions, and practices in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the challenges and changes the region faces today.  

The conference will examine how education policy, curriculum content, and value foundations have changed in the region’s countries following the collapse of the Soviet and socialist systems. More than three decades later, not only general regional trends are evident, but also striking differences: some countries have achieved internationally recognized results, while others still face challenges posed by ongoing reforms and disputes over values.  

The relevance of the conference is further underscored by the increasingly frequent public discourse in Lithuania regarding the state of the education system, the direction of reforms, and the response to global challenges. An understanding of these issues will be sought by comparing Lithuania’s experience with that of other Central and Eastern European countries with similar historical trajectories.  

Researchers and education policy experts from Lithuania and abroad are invited to the conference. Proposals for the conference may be submitted by June 30, 2026, via email to valstybingumocentras@lnb.lt.   

The conference language is English; the event will take place at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania in Vilnius.  

The conference is part of the event series “A Year with Denmark: Bridges of Culture and Solidarity”, organized by the National Library of Lithuania in collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Lithuania and the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The initiative is dedicated to marking the 35th anniversary of Denmark’s recognition of Lithuania’s restored independence. The series of events is supported by the Danish Ministry of Culture.  

CFP: Central and Eastern Europe as Method(ology) in Disability Studies

The Faculty of Management and Social Communication and the Research Platform “Disability Studies in Eastern Europe: Reconfigurations” (Jagiellonian University, Kraków) invite paper submissions for a conference "Central and Eastern Europe as Method(ology) in Disability Studies" that will be held on 27-28 November 2026, Kraków

Call for Papers

The Central and Eastern European region constitutes a specific context for the development of activism and critical disability studies. Post-socialist countries are marked by distinct historical and political trajectories that complicate generalized understandings of the Global North and have contributed to the emergence of particular conditions for the development of disability activism and critical disability studies. The socialist system and the post-socialist transformation shaped public institutions in a particular way—not only those dedicated to persons with disabilities/disabled people (we use both terms, as their choice reflects different individual preferences and modes of self-identification), but all others as well. At the same time, it hindered the development of independent initiatives, including social activism. The interests of minority and marginalized groups were often subordinated to the overarching struggle against an oppressive political system before 1989 and to economic concerns during the post-socialist transition. During both periods, attention was primarily directed toward the rights of the so-called normative majority. Although activism by disabled people/persons with disabilities did exist, it is often not recognized or commemorated today.

For these reasons, the systemic transformation and transition to a democratic capitalist system did not result in the recognition of civil and human rights for all, but rather for those groups that were already privileged. Moreover, neoliberal capitalism—characterized by an emphasis on independence, entrepreneurship, self-reliance, productivity, mobility, communicativeness, and flexibility—has contributed to economic disparities, inadequate support systems, insufficient accommodations, and restricted access to education, employment, and public services. These conditions have not been conducive to strengthening the professional, social, academic, or political participation of persons with disabilities/disabled people.

The ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by Central and Eastern European countries (which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year) has contributed to improving the situation of this group by setting directions for legal, political, and cultural change. In a number of contexts in the region, the Convention is not only regarded as a normative framework—whose legal provisions, however, often fall short of producing meaningful change in practice—but is also actively used by disability movements as a political and policy instrument, as well as a tool for advocacy, shadow reporting, and monitoring of states, thereby fostering a strong sense of ownership and engagement. At the same time, the Convention emerged from extensive disability activism and advocacy and remains deeply rooted in disability studies and disability organizing; its genealogy, therefore, cannot be understood solely as top-down. However, in many countries in the region, the implementation of its provisions remains slow, fragmented, and, at times, merely declarative.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing since 2022, has placed the entire region in a state of insecurity and has directly affected the situation of disabled people/persons with disabilities. Among other factors, this contributes to the fact that persons with disabilities/disabled people in Central and Eastern Europe find themselves in a distinct position compared to many contexts commonly associated with the Global North, although both categories are internally diverse and should not be treated as homogeneous. This situation is shaped by multiple historical, political, and socio-economic conditions, including—but not limited to—the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Critical disability studies emerge directly from the realities in which they are situated. In order to maintain both scholarly credibility and social impact, they must continually undertake the work of situating themselves in context. This includes taking into account the past, present, and potential futures of the region and the groups they concern, as well as the cultural competences, experiences, and discourses within which the researcher operates. These situated experiences of disabled people/persons with disabilities, as well as those of allies and both disabled and non-disabled researchers, form the foundation for further knowledge production, the development of language and concepts, and the recognition of relationships between phenomena.

 

This raises important questions:

What does the “toolbox” of critical disability studies in Central and Eastern Europe look like today?

Which methodological approaches developed within Anglophone critical disability studies allow us to conceptualize and understand the situation of persons with disabilities/disabled people, as well as to study activist, artistic, and emancipatory movements in the region?

What concepts, rooted in local knowledge and experience, do we apply in our research projects?

What theories and methodologies do we therefore develop? How do we share them? How do we develop them?

In the countries of the region, critical disability studies still rarely function as a distinct academic discipline—there is a lack of dedicated study programs, departments, institutes, or doctoral programs. Consequently, research in this field remains dispersed across various disciplines, such as cultural studies, sociology, history, art studies, as well as legal and political sciences. While this dispersion hinders institutional development and research collaboration, it is also seen as a potential strength: it fosters theoretical and methodological diversity, enables the combination of research tools, and supports the circulation of knowledge about disability across disciplines. As a result, disability studies in the region are characterised by a high degree of interdisciplinarity and intersectionality.

For these reasons, the emergence of locally conditioned research practices, theoretical approaches, and activist and emancipatory strategies in the region is increasingly evident. The resulting “toolbox” represents not only a creative adaptation of theories developed in Anglophone contexts, filtered through the historical and contemporary experiences of disabled people/persons with disabilities in Central and Eastern Europe, but also includes approaches that are alternative to, or in critical dialogue with, them. In this sense, knowledge production in the region is not confined to local contexts alone but contributes to broader theoretical and methodological debates. Although the development of this field can be traced through a growing number of academic publications, as well as self-advocacy and activist initiatives, there have so far been relatively few attempts to systematically capture and map it.

The conference Disability Studies in Eastern Europe – Reconfigurations, held in Kraków in May 2024 (marking the culmination of the long-standing research platform of the same name, which has networked scholars from the region), provided an opportunity to examine the scale, condition, and research areas within Eastern European critical disability studies. At the same time, it sought to map the specificity of research methods and methodologies, as well as the self-advocacy and activist strategies of persons with disabilities/disabled people in Central and Eastern Europe. Rather than asking what Central and Eastern European disability studies can offer to a presumed “global field,” it is important to consider how CEE disability studies contributes to and reshapes disability studies more broadly, how it is positioned within these knowledge hierarchies, and how the “global” field is itself structured by dominant Anglophone—particularly American and British—frameworks.

 

We invite submissions addressing, however, not exclusively, the following issues:

how theoretical tools in critical disability studies are mobilised, adapted, and transformed in Central and Eastern European contexts, and how these engagements both contribute to and unsettle dominant Anglophone epistemological frameworks that often define what counts as “global” disability studies;

autoethnography and reflective accounts in one’s own research, self-advocacy, and activist tools;

the development of activist and artivist movements in Central and Eastern Europe;

art and culture created by disabled people/persons with disabilities:  unique aesthetics, critical and emancipatory tools, potential for individual and collective agency;

the local contexts of implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the countries of the region;

the impact of the history of disability on modes of research and on the current situation of persons with disabilities/disabled people;

mapping the specificity of critical disability studies in the region from both institutional and substantive perspectives;

access to education and the possibilities for academic career development for disabled researchers.

 

SUBMISSION:

You may submit:

individual paper proposal, that should include an abstract up to 250 words;

panel proposal, that should include an abstract of the panel and abstracts of 3 to 4 papers/presentations (each up to 250 words);

roundtable proposal, that should include an abstract of the roundtable (up to 250 words) and list of  discussants and their affiliations.

To submit your proposal please use the SUBMISSION FORM (https://forms.office.com/e/LaT4Axm5a0).

The deadline for submitting proposals is 20 July 2026. Presenters will be notified of the acceptance of their paper or panel by 1st September 2026.

The conference will be held  in Kraków in person. There is no conference fee.

The rules of procedures can be found here (https://ujchmura-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/magda_zdrodowska_uj_edu_pl/IQBCUiYp_DFeTZ3M7DmKSnFeAemMd0W3kxEGlQbkga_IuhM?e=enLrNn). If you have any questions please feel free to write to: monika.kwasniewska@uj.edu.pl or magda.zdrodowska@uj.edu.pl

 

Program Committee:

Monika Kwaśniewska Mikuła (Jagiellonian University), chair

Hana Drštičková (Charles University in Prague)

Magda Szarota (Polish Academy of Sciences)

Magdalena Zdrodowska (Jagiellonian University), organising team

Holý, Martin, et al.: Die Universität Basel und die Böhmischen Länder (1460–1630).

 Holý, Martin (in cooperation with Boldan, Kamil; Pelc, Vojtech; Podavka, Ondrej; Ryantová, Marie; Vaculínová, Marta): Die Universität Basel und die Böhmischen Länder (1460–1630). , Ostfildern: Jan Thorbecke Verlag 2025. ISBN: 978-3-7995-2045-4

Open Acess: https://shop.verlagsgruppe-patmos.de/media/medien/pdf/ebook/9783799521253_ebook.pdf

Das Buch befasst sich mit den Beziehungen zwischen der Universität Basel und den böhmischen Ländern im Zeitraum von 1460 bis 1630. Untersucht werden die Struktur und die grundlegenden Entwicklungstendenzen der Universität, ihre Frequentierung durch die Bewohner der böhmischen Länder, ihre soziale und konfessionelle Zusammensetzung, ihr Bildungsprofil und die weiteren Laufbahnen der Studierenden.

Ein anderer Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem Alltagsleben der Studenten in Basel (Finanzierung, Studium, Unterkunft, Verpflegung usw.), ihren literarischen Aktivitäten, Korrespondenznetzwerken, Stammbüchern und Bibliotheken. Auch der Einfluss des Basler Buchdrucks auf die böhmischen Länder wird in dem Buch analysiert. Einen integralen Bestandteil der Monographie bilden die Anhänge, deren umfangreichster Teil Biogramme von 211 untersuchten Persönlichkeiten enthält.

Call for papers: Nourishing the Socialist Bloc: Food, Health, and Environment after 1945

 Call for papers: Nourishing the Socialist Bloc: Food, Health, and Environment after 1945

26–27 November 2026

‘George Barițiu’ Institute of History & Romanian Academy of Sciences, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

[https://sites.google.com/view/nutripol-statesocialism/news]