Call for Papers: Conflict and Cooperation in the History of Cartography during the 20th century

 Call for Papers: Conflict and Cooperation in the History of Cartography during the 20th century. Workshop at the Herder Institute in Marburg/Germany, September 24, 2026

During the 20th century there were many different forms and modes of conflict and cooperation in the fields of cartography and geography. Publishing houses competed with one another to sell their products but sought partners to open up new markets. Surveying agencies advanced the mapping of nation-states and at the same time reached out to colonies, frontiers or “unknown” territories for surveying projects as part of imperial expansion. International conferences and exhibitions acted as turntables and showrooms for ideas and maps, and as arenas for experts to discuss major themes in cartography and geography.

Historians have employed a variety of methods to examine these issues. This is not only a field for the history of cartography but an intersection of many different approaches, such as the history of knowledge, the history of technology and the history of international organisation. In recent years there have been discussions about how to decolonise surveying and mapping, how to integrate the perspectives of non‑Western actors and organisations, how to attend to diverse developments, and how to critique long-established terms (such as “progress” or “accuracy”) as well as the categories and classifications used in 20th-century maps.

The workshop on September24, 2026 in Marburg aims to advance these discussions. We invite scholars to contribute presentations related to at least one of the following topics:

Dimensions of rivalry and cooperation between East and West, and North and South, in the fields of cartography and geography;

Surveying, mapping, map‑publishing and related projects that shed light on the challenges of cross‑border cooperation;

The role of experts, mapping agencies and publishing houses in debates about techniques, procedures, standards and classifications in cartography and geography;

Institutions of cooperation — such as congresses, organisations and committees — that reflect tensions between different regions of the world. 

Please send an abstract (max. 2000 characters) and a short biographical note (max. 500 characters) no later than May 5, 2026 to christian.lotz@herder-institut.de . The workshop will be held at the Herder Institute. The working language is English. 

The workshop is part of the project “The World Map 1:2,500,000 (Karta Mira) as a Vehicle of Socialist Globalization: Potentials and Limits of Scientific Standardization and International Cooperation, 1958–1989”. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG, No. 550 144 086). Thanks to the DFG, we are able to reimburse costs for travel and accommodation.

If you have questions about the workshop or about the Karta Mira project at the Herder Institute, please contact: christian.lotz@herder-institut.de

[Image: Comparability as a goal. Access to the Baltic Sea and access to the Red Sea. Karta Mira / World Map 1:2,500,000, excerpts, sheet 36 (Moscow 1972) and 95 (Sofia 1969). Call number: K 1 II L 210, Kartensammlung Herder-Institut]

Call for Papers - Playing God: Eugenics in Modern History

 Call for Papers - Playing God: Eugenics in Modern History

The scientific conference "Playing God: Eugenics in Modern History" will be held at the Museum of the Second World War in Gdańsk from November 18–20, 2026. Researchers from the fields of history, sociology, philosophy, (bio)ethics, medicine, law, and political science are invited to submit proposals for presentation topics. The deadline for submissions is June 1, 2026.

In 2024, the Polish Parliament declared 22 September as the Day of Remembrance for Victims of the Extermination of People with Mental Disorders in Occupied Poland during World War II. On that day in 1939, the first residents of the former psychiatric hospital in Kocborowo near Starogard Gdański were murdered. It was one of a number of centres where, during the German occupation, sick and disabled people were killed, thus fulfilling one of the goals of Nazi Germany's eugenics policy.

The history of modern biological engineering and social control is inextricably linked to the rise of eugenics. This movement stemmed from the seemingly noble aim of “bettering” the human race through selective breeding—a facet of the unprecedented scientific progress of the 19th century. Soon, enthusiasts began advocating for the mobilization of the modern state’s bureaucratic apparatus to turn these theories into practice.

In time, various countries introduced eugenic measures. The tragic pinnacle of this trend was reached in Nazi Germany with Aktion T4—a systematic program of mass murder through involuntary euthanasia, which claimed approximately 300,000 lives. This crime served as a technological and ideological precursor to the Holocaust.

However, eugenics was not a localized phenomenon, nor did it end with the defeat of Nazism in 1945; it was a global movement that permeated medical, legal, and social structures across continents. Many countries maintained eugenic regulations well into the final decades of the 20th century and beyond. This conference aims to examine the multifaceted nature of eugenic thought, from its intellectual origins to its practical, often violent, criminal and tragic applications.

Themes and Topics

We invite scholars from the fields of history, sociology, philosophy, (bio)ethics, medicine, law and political science to submit proposals. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Sources of Eugenic Thought: On the origins of the “improvement” of the human race.

Intellectual Genealogies: The influence of Social Darwinism and the “science” of heredity.

The T4 Program and Beyond: Analysis of “euthanasia” programs, their victims, and medical ethics in the German Reich (1933–1945).

Global Perspectives: Eugenic legislation and sterilization practices worldwide.

Institutional Eugenics: The role of psychiatric hospitals, laboratories, and welfare systems in promoting “racial hygiene.”

Gender and Eugenics: Control of female reproduction and the concept of “fit” motherhood.

Modern Echoes: The legacy of eugenic thinking in contemporary genetics and bioethics.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit your completed applications forms to: conference2026@muzeum1939.pl . Forms can be retrieved from https://muzeum1939.pl/en/news/playing-god-eugenics-in-modern-history-call-for-papers 

Submission Deadline: 1st June 2026

Notification of Acceptance: 19th June 2026

Organizational Information

The organizers will select the submissions and notify all applicants by 19th June 2026.

Successful applicants will be provided with accommodation covered by the Museum.

Please note that the organizers do not cover travel costs.

Conference proceedings may be recorded.

Małgorzata Małłek-Grabowska, Janusz Małłek, Piotr Paluchowski: Różne oblicza medycyny (zarazy, melancholia, okulistyka i lekarze) [The different faces of medicine (epidemics, melancholy, ophthalmology, and doctors)].

 Małgorzata Małłek-Grabowska, Janusz Małłek, Piotr Paluchowski: Różne oblicza medycyny (zarazy, melancholia, okulistyka i lekarze) [The different faces of medicine (epidemics, melancholy, ophthalmology, and doctors)]. Wydawnictwo UMK 2025. ISBN:978-83-231-6172-1 (Polish, German, English)

Wstęp / 11

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK, MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA

Mikołaj Kopernik jako lekarz / 15

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

Nicolaus Copernicus als Medicus / 29

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK, MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA

Dżuma w Norwegii w latach 1349–1350 i jej demograficzne oraz społeczno-gospodarcze konsekwencje / 47

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK, MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA

Jednostka i państwo w konfrontacji z epidemią dżumy w Królewcu i na Mazurach w latach 1709–1711 / 73

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK, MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA

Individuum und Staat im Angesicht der Pestepidemie in Königsberg und Masuren 1709–1711 / 85

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK, MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA

Nataniel Mateusz Wolf (vel Wolff) (1724–1784), lekarz, pionier wariolizacji, pierwotnej formy szczepienia przeciw ospie prawdziwej (czarnej) w Prusach Królewskich / 101

PIOTR PALUCHOWSKI, JANUSZ MAŁŁEK, MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA

Nathanael Mathaeus von Wolf and Johanna Henrietta Trosiener (Schopenhauer). Variolation in the 18th century on the Polish lands according to the guidelines of a doctor and the memoirs of his patient / 127

 

PIOTR PALUCHOWSKI, JANUSZ MAŁŁEK, MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA

Nathanael Mathaeus von Wolf i Johanna Henrietta Trosiener (Schopenhauer). Dokonywanie wariolizacji w XVIII w. według wytycznych lekarza we wspomnieniach jego pacjentki / 149 

MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA, JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

Epidemia cholery azjatyckiej w Prusach Wschodnich w XIX w. / 167

FRYDERYK HERMANN ARENDT

O epidemii cholery w Kłajpedzie w roku 1831, opracowanie i wstęp Małgorzata Małłek-Grabowska, Janusz Małłek, przekład z języka łacińskiego Tomasz Babnis / 227 

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK, MAŁGORZATA MAŁŁEK-GRABOWSKA

Melancholia księcia pruskiego Albrechta Fryderyka (1553–1618) / 275

LECH BIEGANOWSKI, JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

Przyczynek do historii chirurgii okulistycznej w Polsce w XVI w. (Toruńska operacja zaćmy Bartłomieja Płuczki w 1589 r.) / 321

LECH BIEGANOWSKI, JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

Bartel Płuczka als Katarakt-operateur in Thorn 1589 / 337

LECH BIEGANOWSKI, JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

Nowe przyczynki do historii okularów w Polsce w XVI w. Gdańskie okulary księcia pruskiego Albrechta / 355

LECH BIEGANOWSKI, JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

Neue Beiträge zur Geschichte der Brille in Polen. Die Danziger Brille des Herzog Albrechts von Preussen / 371

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

O książce „Zasłużeni lekarze toruńscy we wspomnieniach. Wybrane sylwetki z XIX i XX wieku” / 387

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

Wspomnienie o Leszku Bieganowskim / 393

JANUSZ MAŁŁEK

Adam Tybor (1910–1986), lekarz laryngolog. Z galicyjskich Ołpin w lekarski świat / 397

Nota bibliograficzna / 415

Wykaz ilustracji / 419

Indeks osobowy / 423

Alexander Herzen: Past and Thoughts. An Annotated Critical Edition

 Alexander Herzen: Past and Thoughts. An Annotated Critical Edition. Translated by Kathleen F. Parthé, Edited and translated by Robert N. Harris. Harvard University Press 2025.

An annotated translation of Alexander Herzen’s monumental memoir Past and Thoughts—the first new English-language edition in a century—captures the tumultuous life and penetrating cultural and political insights of the writer widely regarded as the founder of Russian socialism.

Isaiah Berlin called Alexander Herzen’s magnum opus, Past and Thoughts, “a literary masterpiece worthy to be placed by the side of the novels of . . . Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoevsky.” It was the most influential memoir published in nineteenth-century Russia, and its impact extended far beyond the tsarist era and the empire’s borders, inspiring generations of thinkers, leaders, and dissidents struggling against authoritarian regimes. The first English-language translation in a century, thoroughly annotated with a new introduction, this volume shows why Past and Thoughts is considered a great classic.

Against a dramatic backdrop of war, revolution, and exile, Herzen tells a stirring story of political agitation, marital scandal, betrayal, and despair. Past and Thoughts begins with Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow during Herzen’s infancy, then follows the author’s central role in Russia’s emerging intelligentsia, his imprisonment and exile in the frozen north, his adventures across a mid-century Europe undergoing the turbulence of revolution and unification, and his founding of the first uncensored Russian-language press. We see the Paris revolts of 1848 and the flamboyant swashbucklers of Italy’s Risorgimento through Herzen’s sharp eyes, alongside his bold journalism, which reached both the tsar’s prisoners and the Winter Palace.

This edition restores a key section on the tragic denouement of Herzen’s marriage—omitted from previous abridged versions—and includes notes offering critical insight into Herzen’s historical sketches, travelogues, satire, poetry, philosophical excursions, and polemics. Tolstoy remarked that “Herzen awaits his readers in the future.” A piercing investigation of the human spirit and its enemies, Past and Thoughts is indeed a work for our time.

Reviews

„Past and Thoughts is perhaps the greatest autobiography in Russian literature, a classic worth placing in company with Turgenev, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy. This new translation captures, as never before, Herzen’s anecdotal brilliance, wit, and inimitable essayistic style, with its layers of irony on irony.“ – Gary Saul Morson, Northwestern University

„This magnificent exercise in self-writing founded the art of political witnessing for nineteenth-century Russia. At last, Herzen’s acclaimed mega-text receives the critical English edition it deserves, expertly pruning out and eloquently filling in this world for today’s readers.“ – Caryl Emerson, Princeton University

About the Authors

Robert N. Harris specializes in nineteenth-century Russian intellectual history at the University of Oxford. He has lectured at numerous universities, including Barcelona, Cambridge, and LMU Munich.

Kathleen F. Parthé is Professor Emeritus of Russian at the University of Rochester. She is the author of A Herzen Reader, Russian Village Prose, and, with James H. Billington, The Search for a New Russian National Identity.

CfP The Far Right, Universities, and Counter-Institutional Knowledge Places

 CfP The Far Right, Universities, and Counter-Institutional Knowledge Places, University of Cologne, 10.03.2027 - 12.03.2027, Deadline 01.05.2026

The conference aims, first, to strengthen attention to (higher) learning and education within the growing body of research on the far right in contemporary history. Second, it takes up debates within the field of education about the central importance of issues of learning and education for far-right movements and deepens them through a historical perspective, particularly regarding forms and venues of adult learning. Third, the conference ties in with current debates about the stance of universities towards populist and right-wing influence.

We welcome paper proposals from all regions covering the period from the late 1960s to the present. Contributions may focus on, but are not restricted to, the following areas:

Academia under pressure: the far right’s view of higher education.

To what extent did right-wing groups and individuals regard universities as their sphere of activity? How did students, researchers, and professors campaign for right-wing goals? How were universities used as symbolic or material resources? What forms of criticism of academia and higher education emerged, and which underlying motives (such as ‘neutrality’, ‘freedom’, ‘achievement’, ‘left-wing hegemony’, ‘pedagogisation’, etc.) shaped them?

Think tanks, centres and counter-universities: self-organised knowledge places of the far right.

What learning spaces and organisations did protagonists from the intellectual right establish, and what were their main areas of focus? Which formats (e.g. conferences, summer schools, camps, self-study courses) were used, and how did they shape networks and intellectual positions? What intellectual and social significance did these “self-organised” knowledge places have?

Certified, with state recognition? Self-founded right-wing institutions and right-wing influences on established colleges and universities.

When and how have right-wing actors attempted to copy or take over established academic institutions? To what extent have they sought state funding or official recognition for their educational projects and examinations? What role do commercial right-wing institutions play that rhetorically claim university status and make broad educational promises?

Consequences and reactions in higher education and politics.

Who raised the issue of right-wing activities in the higher education context, both internally and publicly? What institutional responses and strategies can be identified? What consequences were discussed in politics regarding the regulation of right-wing ‘educational’ activities, for instance concerning charitable status of organisations, the prohibition of institutions, or financial support (e.g. from foundations)?

History of ‘science’ and ‘education’ in quotation marks?

Finally, the conference invites discussion on academic approaches to the study of right-wing learning and teaching. What are the strengths and challenges of historical analysis in this field? Which periodisations seem most appropriate? Which sources can be used, and what practical problems arise in their collection and analysis?

If you are interested in participating, please send an abstract (max. 300 words) to susanne.schregel@uni-koeln.de by May 1, 2026. There is no conference fee. We will try to obtain funding for travel and accommodation for all who do not have institutional funding.

[Image: Students block the lecture of controversial far-right historian, Lothar Höbelt, at the Vienna University. https://peoplesdispatch.org/2020/01/17/anti-fascists-protest-far-right-manifestations-in-austrian-universities/]

Mikuláš Pešta: Student Internationalism and the Global Cold War. The International Union of Students in Socialist Prague. London: Bloomsbury 2026

 Mikuláš Pešta: Student Internationalism and the Global Cold War. The International Union of Students in Socialist Prague. London: Bloomsbury 2026. ISBN 9781350425545

OA: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/student-internationalism-and-the-global-cold-war-9781350425545/#

Description

This open access book tells the history of the International Union of Students, providing a fascinating account of a significant but understudied vehicle of internationalism amidst the Global Cold War. Focusing on three main themes; student internationalism, decolonization, and socialist transnationalism, it draws on a vast array of archival sources to explore cooperation and exchange between the Cold war's three worlds, and the role of the organization in developing global socialism.

Centring Prague as a key co-ordinating centre of Cold War internationalisms and with an international focus on student organisations, Pešta contextualises the legacy and impact of student internationalism in the twentieth century. Paying particular attention to the role of 'Third World' delegates who communicated and legitimised topics such as colonialism, racism, global inequality and national liberation, it shows how the language and agenda of the IUS changed over time, and how the organization struggled to find its place after the end of the Cold War in 1989.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Prehistory

2. From Universalism to the Cold War

3. The 'Golden Age'

4. Representing the Students of the World

5. Crises and Reforms

6. Post-Mortem and Resurrections

Conclusions

CFP: Academic Freedom, Integrity, and Governance in Central Asia: Theory, Practice, and Emerging Challenges

 Central Asian Affairs is seeking contributions for its upcoming special issue, “Academic Freedom, Integrity, and Governance in Central Asia: Theory, Practice, and Emerging Challenges.”

Guest editors:

Dmitry Dubrovsky, PhD, Department of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague

Feruza Madaminova, PhD, International School of Finance Technology and Science (ISFT Institute), Tashkent

Assylzat Karabayeva, PhD, College of Social Sciences, KIMEP University, Almaty

Special Issue Scope

Academic freedom—understood as a normative foundation of higher education and a precondition to produce reliable knowledge—has become both an object of intense debate and a growing field of scholarly inquiry. Classical and contemporary theories conceptualize academic freedom variously as an individual right of scholars, an institutional condition of university autonomy, and a relational practice shaped by governance, power, and professional norms. In recent years, these theoretical debates have gained renewed urgency across different world regions.

These issues were central to two panels at the conference “Academic Freedom in Flux: Purpose, Beneficiaries, and Practices in the Contemporary World,” held on 16–18 October 2025 at the Tashkent State University of Economics. Discussions highlighted a set of challenges that transcend national contexts: the managerialization of higher education; the tightening of regulatory and political oversight over universities; and shifting modes of interaction between academic institutions and the state, society, business, and civil society.

For Central Asia, these debates are particularly salient. Ongoing reforms in higher education and research, coupled with the growing prominence of science and education in national development strategies, have reconfigured the institutional environment in which academic freedom is practiced. While reform agendas are often framed in terms of global competitiveness and integration into international academic markets, they simultaneously raise fundamental questions about how academic freedom and institutional autonomy are interpreted, negotiated, and protected in practice.

This special issue approaches academic freedom not only as a legal or declarative principle, but as a socially embedded practice shaped by governance regimes, professional cultures, and informal norms. Attention is paid to the tension between formal regulation and informal arrangements in research and higher education, including state–university relations, the effectiveness of academic self-governance, and the institutionalization of academic integrity.

A new and increasingly consequential dimension of these debates concerns the rapid diffusion of artificial intelligence in higher education and research. AI-driven tools—ranging from text generation and data analysis to automated assessment and surveillance—are reshaping everyday academic practices. In the Central Asian context, these technologies raise pressing questions about academic integrity, authorship, evaluation, control, and trust, as well as about new forms of dependency, oversight, and inequality. The intersection of AI, academic freedom, and integrity thus represents a critical and underexplored area for empirical and theoretical inquiry in the region.

At the same time, Central Asia’s historical experience makes it essential to address broader structural issues, including epistemic justice, academic imperialism, and academic colonialism. Scholars working in and on the region continue to navigate global hierarchies of knowledge production that affect research agendas, publication practices, and standards of academic “excellence.” Gender equality and inclusion, while not the primary focus of this issue, remain an important contextual dimension of academic development and are welcomed as part of broader, analytically grounded contributions.

Proposal Guidelines

This special issue invites submissions that engage theoretically and empirically with academic freedom, academic integrity, and institutional autonomy in Central Asia, both historically and in the present. The editors particularly welcome contributions based on original empirical materials and approaches from sociology, political science, history, education studies, and related disciplines.

Suggested themes include:

Theories of academic freedom and their applicability beyond Western institutional contexts

Managerial reforms and their consequences for academic freedom and institutional autonomy

Governance, self-rule, and power relations within universities

State-university relations and regulatory regimes shaping research and teaching

Academic integrity: norms, enforcement mechanisms, and institutional cultures

Artificial intelligence in higher education: implications for academic integrity, evaluation, and freedom

Formal rules versus informal practices in research and higher education

Epistemic justice, knowledge hierarchies, and global academic inequality

Academic imperialism, colonial legacies, and decolonial approaches in and about Central Asia

Academic labor, precarity, mobility, and patterns of brain drain and circulation

Gender Equality and inclusion in academia as a contextual and institutional dimension

Soviet and post-Soviet legacies of higher education and their contemporary reinterpretations

Deadline: May 15, 2026

All submissions should be sent to madaminovaferuza.f@gmail.com.

Please use the subject line: “Central Asia Affairs – Special Issues“

CALL FOR PAPERS Science, Dissent, and Activism: How Non-State Actors Challenged the Cold War Order

 CALL FOR PAPERS

Science, Dissent, and Activism:

How Non-State Actors Challenged the Cold War Order

Dates: Monday, September 7 – Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Place: Prague, Czech Republic

Deadline for abstracts: April 19, 2026

Scientific Committee: Carola Sachse (professor emerita, University of Vienna, AT), Katja Castryck Naumann (GWZO Leipzig, DE), Kenji Ito (University of Tokyo, JAP), Doubravka Olšáková (Charles University in Prague, CZ, organizer), Michel Perottino (Charles University in Prague, CZ)

Rationale:

In recent years, science activism has gained renewed visibility, as scientists increasingly engage in public debates on climate change, global security, and democratic governance. These developments invite us to reconsider the historical roots of scientific activism and the longer trajectories through which non-state actors have mobilized knowledge and authority in times of geopolitical tension. 

From this perspective, the Cold War emerges as a key historical laboratory for examining these dynamics. Cold War historiography has long been dominated by state-centric perspectives that privilege diplomatic elites, military institutions, and formal international organizations. In recent years, however, growing attention has been paid to non-state actors who operated across, alongside, or in tension with Cold War power structures. Scientists, intellectuals, dissidents, activists, and expert communities played a crucial role in articulating alternative forms of authority, mobilizing knowledge for political ends, and creating transnational spaces of interaction that both reflected and contested the bipolar order.

This conference seeks to advance an analytically grounded discussion of how non-state actors used science, expertise, and moral authority to challenge Cold War logics of sovereignty, security, and ideological loyalty. Particular emphasis will be placed on the interplay between knowledge production and political agency across different institutional settings, including conferences, committees, universities and research institutes, expert networks, and non-governmental organizations. A central point of reference is the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and related initiatives, understood not only as a peace movement but as laboratories of non-state diplomacy, epistemic authority, and Cold War governance. 

In addition, we are interested in contributions that examine hybrid actors occupying the space between state and non-state authority, including intergovernmental frameworks that operated as platforms of expert governance, norm production, and monitoring rather than as traditional diplomatic actors. Institutions such as the OSCE, particularly in its late Cold War and post-Cold War configurations, invite analysis as sites where non-state practices, expertise, and moral authority were institutionalized within formally intergovernmental settings. The conference aims to situate such forums within broader histories of expertise, dissent, and activism across different political systems and world regions.

We welcome empirically rich case studies as well as theoretically informed contributions from the history of science and technology, Cold War history, new diplomatic history, political sciences, international relations, political sociology, area studies, and peace studies. Comparative, transnational, and entangled perspectives are particularly encouraged.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Non-state actors and the reconfiguration of political authority during the Cold War;

• Science as a resource for dissent, mediation, and legitimacy;

• Institutional contexts of non-state action: conferences, committees, universities, research institutes, and NGOs;

• Tensions between loyalty, autonomy, and internationalism in scientific and expert communities;

• Informal diplomacy, expert forums, and the politics of “neutral” knowledge;

• Dissenting expertise within socialist, authoritarian, and post-colonial contexts;

• Activism, morality, and responsibility in nuclear, environmental, and peace-related debates;

• Knowledge circulation, surveillance, and control across ideological borders;

• Methodological challenges in studying non-state actors, expertise, and informal power.

Financial support for participants: Thanks to dedicated funding, we will be able to cover accommodation costs in Prague for a limited number of early career researchers and researchers in need. Applicants who wish to be considered for this support are encouraged to indicate this when submitting their proposal.

Submission Guidelines: Prospective participants are invited to submit a short abstract (max. 240 words) and a brief biographical note by 19 April 2026 to doubravka.olsakova@fsv.cuni.cz 

*Acknowledgement: The conference is organized within the framework of the research grant Forging Peace in the Shadow: Czechoslovak Pugwash and Pugwash in Czechoslovakia (GA25-16159S), in collaboration with the IUHST/DHST Commission on Science, Technology and Diplomacy and in collaboration with the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe in Leipzig.

AUC HISTORIA UNIVERSITATIS CAROLINAE PRAGENSIS, Vol 66 No 1 (2026) is online!

 AUC HISTORIA UNIVERSITATIS CAROLINAE PRAGENSIS, Vol 66 No 1 (2026) is online!

URL: https://karolinum.cz/en/journal/auc-historia-universitatis-carolinae-pragensis/year-66/issue-1/issue-year-2026

Zodpovědná archivářka, obětavá vysokoškolská pedagožka, přední historička vědy a vzdělanosti Milada Sekyrková jubilující

Jiří Šouša

Bibliografie Milady Sekyrkové za leta 1989–2024

Tereza Klozová

„In scamno nobilium“. Několik poznámek o vztazích šlechty a pražských univerzit v pozdním středověku

Jan Boukal

Vznik a prvních deset ročníků časopisu Acta Universitatis Carolinae – Historia Universitatis Carolinae Pragensis

Marek Ďurčanský, Andrea Veverková

„My tady muzeologii také doopravdy děláme…“ Národní muzeum a odborné vzdělávání muzejníků v letech 1918 až 1989

Libor Jůn

Ženy spjaté s Orientálním ústavem před válkou a v ČSAV

Adéla Jůnová Macková

Studia hudebního skladatele Josefa Kličky na pražské konzervatoři ve světle rodinné korespondence

Barbora Kličková

Možnosti výzkumu postavení asistentů a asistentek filozofické fakulty Německé (Karlovy) univerzity v Praze

Jana Ratajová

Studentská legie pražské univerzity v roce 1800 a její památky

Tomáš Sekyrka

„Neuznávám vskutku autoritativní systém.“ František Kovárna mezi lety 1945–1948 a po únorovém převratu

Marek Suk

Inaugurační projevy rektorů pražských univerzit od konce 19. do počátku 21. století

Petr Svobodný

Kolkovací akce při vzniku měny Československé republiky a účast absolventů právnické fakulty české pražské univerzity při ní: úsměvné i chmurné chvíle na základě pamětí Karla Leopolda

Jiří Šouša

Příspěvek k dějinám budovy Ústavu dějin Univerzity Karlovy a archivu Univerzity Karlovy a Archivního a depozitního střediska Lešetice

Michal Továrek

Vzdělávání učitelů a jejich provázanost s univerzitním prostředím v 1. polovině 19. století se zaměřením na (pražská) gymnázia

Zdeněk Vašek, Lenka Vašková

Lise Meitner (1878–1968) in Berlin – 30 Years of Research on Foundational Problems in Physics and the First Female Corresponding Member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences

Annette Vogt

Pozitivistická metoda dějin umění a její nepřátelé. Alfred Woltmann v diskusi

Jindřich Vybíral

Mezi Národním muzeem a Karlovou univerzitou: ke kariérním strategiím univerzitních absolventů a muzejních pracovníků v letech 1818–1938

Klára Woitschová

Michal Dragoun, Knihovna mistra Křišťana z Prachatic, Praha 2025

Blanka Zilynská

Alena Císařová Smítková (ed.), Libri boni semper amici fidi erunt…: kolektivní monografie k životnímu jubileu PhDr. Milady Svobodové, Praha 2023

Jan Boukal

Barbora Kocánová, Meteorologie a předpovídání počasí ve vzdělanosti středověkých Čech a Moravy, Praha 2025

Jan Boukal

Petr Čornej, Pekařův Žižka, Turnov 2024

Jan Boukal

Jiří Hrabal – Eva Janečková – Vladan Marenčík – Natálie Trojková (edd.), Krátká zpráva o cestě Šimona Aloise Tudecia de Monte Galea, Olomouc 2025

Jan Boukal

Daniela Lunger Štěrbová, Co jest k pravému porozumění architektury třeba. Johann Ferdinand Schor a jeho přednášky na pražské Stavovské inženýrské škole / Was zur wahren Einsicht in die Bau-Kunst erfordert werde. Johann Ferdinand Schor und seine Vorlesungen an der Ständischen Ingenieurschule in Prag, Praha 2024

Jan Boukal

Kristýna Kaucká – Tomáš Gecko, „Hrad“ ve světě lobbingu a financí. Jaroslav Preiss v korespondenci s T. G. Masarykem a Přemyslem Šámalem, Praha 2024

Andrea Veverková

Vlasta Mádlová, Stálé vojsko vědecké: Česká akademie věd a umění 1891–1952, Praha 2024

Marek Brčák

Michal V. Šimůnek, Narušená kontinuita. Česká věda, německá hegemonie a totální válka, 1939–1945, Praha 2025

Petr Svobodný

Call for articles: "From science to pseudoscience. Historical perspectives."

 The journal “Analecta. Studies and Materials from the History of Science” announces a Call for Papers for the 2026 issues of the journal. The theme for the year is:

"From science to pseudoscience. Historical perspectives."

We are looking for texts that analyze, from a historical perspective, the intricacies of scientific theories that have been verified, abandoned, or lost popularity over time. Authors are requested to submit abstracts of up to 300 words by May 1, 2026. Once abstracts have been accepted, the final texts should be submitted by September 30, 2026.

Please send emails to: czasopismo.analecta@gmail.com

---

The journal “Analecta. Studies and Materials from the History of Science” announces a Call for Papers for the 2026 issues of the journal. The theme for the year is: 

"From science to pseudoscience. Historical perspectives." 

We are looking for texts that analyze, from a historical perspective, the intricacies of scientific theories that have been verified, abandoned, or lost popularity over time.

The editorial board invites submissions in Polish and English that fit one or more of the following approaches to the problem:

1. Traditional and folk medicine – herbal medicine, herbal practices, and others from an ethnological and historical perspective.

2. Dead ends in science. Defunct branches of former science: alchemy, physiognomy, phrenology, galvanism, and others.

3. Para-science, parapsychology: history, sources, and development of mediums, spiritualism, hypnotism, and others.

4.    Religious/social organizations and their relationship with science: Scientology, Christian Science, Freemasonry, and others.

5. Science and ideology. Pseudoscience and its consequences: anthropometry, hygienism, eugenics, and others)

6. Conspiracy theories: Flat Earth, moon landing, Roswell, and others. History and sources.

7. New Age as alternative science. History and sources of palmistry, astrology, crystals, and other practices in popular and scientific publications.

And other historical, cultural, and sociological approaches to the title issue.

Authors are requested to submit abstracts of up to 300 words by May 1, 2026. Once abstracts have been accepted, the final texts should be submitted by September 30, 2026.

Siobhán Hearne (ed.): Socialist Humanitarianism. Journal of Contemporary History

 Siobhán Hearne (ed.): Socialist Humanitarianism. Journal of Contemporary History, online first.

Hearne, S. (2026). Introduction: Socialist Humanitarianism. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094251408474

Tot, D. (2025). State-Sponsored ‘Solidarity Weeks’, 1967–87: The Home Front of Yugoslav Humanitarian Internationalism. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094251393630

Hachmeister, M. (2025). Donate Blood–Save Lives! Blood Donation in the Czechoslovak and Polish Red Cross. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094251396914

Iacob, B. C. (2025). Overcoming Whiteness? Romanian Humanitarianism in Sub-Saharan Africa During the 1960s. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094251393602

Zou, D. (2025). Doctoring Revolution: The Paradox of Maoist Humanitarianism in Chinese Medical Aid to Algeria. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/002200942514016

Fonseca, S. (2025). The Body Politic: Leftist Humanitarianism in Latin American Social Medicine. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094251401605

Brossard Antonielli, A. (2026). Visible and Invisible: Socialist Medical Aid to Mozambique and Angola. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094261422179

Hearne, S. (2025). Exporting Socialist Health Care: Soviet Humanitarianism in the Global South. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094251393617

Brotherton, P. S. (2026). Afterword: Rethinking Socialist Humanitarianism Across Geographies, Ideologies, and Scales. Journal of Contemporary History, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00220094261429047

Jakub Střelec: Od trestu k terapii Forenzní psychiatrie v poválečné obnově Evropy [From Punishment to Therapy Forensic Psychiatry in Postwar Europe's Reconstruction].

 Jakub Střelec: Od trestu k terapii Forenzní psychiatrie v poválečné obnově Evropy [From Punishment to Therapy Forensic Psychiatry in Postwar Europe's Reconstruction]. Karolinum 2026. ISBN 978-80-246-6019-6

Jak rozuměli odborníci v poválečné Evropě násilí? Kniha zkoumá přístupy psychiatrů a psychologů k násilnému chování a kriminalitě ve třech odlišných společnostech - v komunistickém Československu, západním Německu a Velké Británii v letech 1945-1970. Prostřednictvím rozboru soudně odborného vědění a psychiatrických posudků sleduje, jak se do hodnocení lidského chování a vymezování hranic trestní odpovědnosti promítaly válečné zkušenosti, dobová mentalita, společenské postavení či etnicita. Srovnání napříč železnou oponou odhaluje nejen rozdíly, ale i sdílené naděje vkládané do vědy jako nástroje utváření člověka a společnosti.

CFP: Evidence, Experience, and Authority in Contested Knowledge

 CFP: Evidence, Experience, and Authority in Contested Knowledge - Innsbruck 27.08.2026 - 28.08.2026, deadline: 15.05.2026

When we want to convince others of our beliefs, we usually offer arguments, and, crucially, evidence. Sometimes this evidence is mundane and undisputed; more often it is complex, contested, or ambiguous. But what happens when claims concern phenomena that, by their very nature, resist empirical verification?

Photographs of flying saucers, leaked documents allegedly exposing global conspiracies, first-person accounts of alien abductions or divine visions, yeti footprints, testimonies of spirit communication, rattling tables and flickering lights in séances: in many discourses, evidence is central to credibility even when no evidence in the strict “scientific” sense can exist. Yet such claims are rarely presented as groundless. Instead, elaborate forms of justification, authentication, and evidential reasoning emerge.

This workshop explores how evidence is constructed, negotiated, and evaluated in discourses about phenomena that inherently evade empirical proof. This is particularly timely, as recent political and technological developments are reshaping narratives, demanding renewed scrutiny of how evidence is framed, contested, and weaponized.

Thus, in this workshop we ask how different communities define what counts as evidence, which semiotic, linguistic, narrative, and material resources they mobilise, and how these practices interact with broader cultural, political, and media environments

Scope and Perspectives

The workshop is explicitly interdisciplinary and invites contributions from, among others:

- Linguistics

- Media and communication studies

- Cultural studies

- Religious studies

- Sociology and anthropology

- Psychology and social psychology

- Political science and extremism studies

- Science and technology studies (STS)

- History of knowledge and ideas

- Folklore and myth studies

We are particularly interested in how these perspectives can be brought into dialogue and where their analytical tools converge, or clash.

Thematic Clusters

To foster focused yet comparative discussion, the workshop will be structured around four thematic clusters. Each cluster will bring together scholars from different disciplines working on related phenomena:

1. UAPs, UFOs, and extraterrestrial encounters: From late-1940s accounts of flying saucer sightings to recent U.S. Congressional hearings featuring whistleblowers and alleged first-hand military witnesses, how has the presence - or absence - of evidence shaped public, institutional, and military discourse on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs)?

2. New religious movements, alternative spiritualities, and occulture: In contexts that, by definition, resist rationalist explanations yet often place strong emphasis on tangible demonstrations of supernatural agency, how is ambiguous evidence negotiated, interpreted, and legitimised?

3. Political conspiracy narratives: How does conspiratorial thinking emerge through alternative forms of causality, locating evidence not in rational proof but in intuition, synchronicity, and felt interconnectedness? In what ways do conspiracy narratives reify and weaponise coincidence as objective evidence? What roles do the internet, social media, and AI play in the recent resurgence and transformation of conspiracy theories?

4. Ghosts, cryptids, and paranormal phenomena: What are the complex and often nebulous relationships between evidence, hoax, and narrativisation in accounts of paranormal phenomena? How do technology and scientific discourse contribute to the construction and validation of evidence in paranormal practices such as ghost hunting?

Across all clusters, we are interested in questions such as:

- What counts as evidence, and for whom?

- How are absence, secrecy, or unverifiability turned into argumentative resources?

- Which linguistic, visual, narrative, or performative strategies are used to establish credibility?

- How do the affordances of different media environments shape evidential practices?

- How do participants anticipate, pre-empt, or counter scepticism?

Format and Goals

This will be a small, intensive workshop designed to prioritise discussion and exchange over lengthy presentations. Contributions will take the form of short, focused papers, followed by extended discussion sessions and cross-thematic roundtables.

A central aim of the workshop is to explore how interdisciplinary cooperation on the construction of evidence can be meaningfully organized across disciplines, objects of study, and methodological traditions. The workshop provides an ideal setting for launching this longer-term interdisciplinary conversation.

Submission Details

We invite submissions of abstracts (up to 300 words, excluding references) for our upcoming workshop.

Please submit your abstract by 15 May 2026 to m.polato@mmu.ac.uk and lucia.assenzi@ph-tirol.ac.at

Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 15 June 2026.

We look forward to your contributions!

CFP: DARK MATTER: Revisiting the Architecture of Coal in Post-War Europe

 We are excited to invite submissions for DARK MATTER: Revisiting the Architecture of Coal in Post-War Europe, an in-person conference hosted by the ACME (Architecture of Coal in Modern Europe) project (ERC Advanced Grant, 2024–2030), taking place at the Irish Architectural Archive, Dublin on 5+6 November 2026.

We welcome interdisciplinary contributions that explore (but are not limited to) the following thematic territories:

Architecture of coal modernisation

Visual culture, media, and propaganda

Modernisation and infrastructure

Institutional care for labour (baths, hospitals, schools, clubs, libraries, social networks)

Housing and settlement

Transitions and afterlives of extractive landscapes

 

Keynote speaker: Łukasz Galusek (Director, Silesian Museum, Katowice)

Guest expert panellists include: Tom Avermaete, Stefan Berger, Carola Hein, Imre Szeman (others to be confirmed)

For submission details please see attached document and submit here: https://forms.office.com/e/pA835e4JBk 

 

With best wishes,

The DARK MATTER / ACME Conference Team

Professor Gary A. Boyd, Dr Tabassum Ahmed, Dr Emma Campbell, Dr Rebecca Jane McConnell, Anna Cooke, Niall Patrick Walsh, Dr Jack Kavanagh

CFP: Invisible.Things unseen in science. Prague, 08.- 09.09.2026

 

Invisible.Things unseen in science

(please note that this cfp is aimed at early career scholars, i.e. at MA students, PhDs and early postdocs)

This year's topic for the Driburger Kreis (DK) can be summed up by one simple adjective: invisible.

The Cambridge (online) dictionary defines the term as follows: ‘impossible to see’ and also: ‘ignored, not noticed, or not considered’. The conference theme thus offers a wide array in which to approach the term: research that focuses on what cannot be seen with the naked eye; that which has often been overlooked; that which has been deliberately made invisible.

A quick search in a German university library catalogue (KVK) reveals how this range has been addressed in very different areas of research. For example, the keyword “invisible” brings forth a monograph on the role of mathematics in weather forecasts, a study on migration from Bulgaria to Germany, and a book on the invisible in urban planning.

The topic “Invisible” was already selected by DK participants in 2018. Since the DK's topics are chosen democratically by the previous year’s participants and are based on current issues and topics, even themes that have already been addressed in previous editions may be revisited. The repeated election of the title ‘Invisible’ shows how relevant the topic continues to be for early-career researchers in the history of science, medicine and technology. We look forward to revisiting the topic with new questions and perspectives.”

The history of science, medicine and technology has many opportunities to make the invisible visible in its research – and repeatedly demonstrated this commitment in publications. In recent years, for example, historians of science have increasingly focused on female researchers, examined colonial and National Socialist contexts of knowledge production, and drawn attention to gender and ethnic bias in medicine – thus highlighting the hidden, overlooked and marginalised aspects of this topic.

Still, the superficial dimension of the invisible, the ‘impossible to see’, has brought new challenges in recent years as well: during the COVID pandemic, scientists reached their limits in communicating the dangers of an invisible virus. Many people argued based on what they could see in their own surroundings. The discrepancy between the invisible world of research, and the visible world of their everyday lives shook many people's faith in science. And not only in the context of the pandemic, but also in many other areas, such as climate research, the authority of scientific research is being called into question again and again. So how can scientists communicate their invisible research to an increasingly divided and critical society?

The Driburger Kreis' overarching theme invites us to take a multidimensional approach to ‘invisible’ fields of research, actors, structures, and dynamics. Possible topics and questions might include the following:

- How do scientists research objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye? What developments and inventions play a role in this?
- How was and is research on the invisible communicated to society (or funders)?
- Hierarchies and gender aspects: Who was and is invisible in the scientific community?
- Bias in medicine (and other scientific fields): What data is and was used in research? And who remains invisible in the process?
- Political dimensions of science: How and why is and has research been actively made invisible?
- Where does the data that has advanced science come from? What remains invisible in this context?

Contributions beyond the main theme are welcome as well!

Luisa Vögele (University of Tübingen)

Abstracts of no more than 300 words, including a short CV (combined in a Word-compatible document), should be sent to the Driburger Kreis organization team (info@driburgerkreis.de) by April 1, 2026. A total of 30 minutes (15 min presentation, 15 min discussion) is planned for the presentation and discussion, so that there is sufficient time for feedback and questions.

If you have any questions about the topic or the event in general, please contact the organizing team (also at info@driburgerkreis.de).
Guidelines and assistance for writing abstracts, as well as further information on the presentation format, can be found at https://www.driburgerkreis.de/.

Kontakt

info@driburgerkreis.de

Lecture series: History of Academic (Un)Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe

 We are happy to invite you to our upcoming lecture series “History of Academic (Un)Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe”!

From April to July 2026, colleagues from across Europe and the US will join us (in Dresden and online) to discuss the past and present of academic freedom in Central and Eastern Europe — from the 19th century to the post-Soviet period.

Thursdays, 4:40–6:10 pm

Dresden & online

The Zoom link is available here:

https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/slk/zmoe/tagungen/history-of-academic-un-freedom-in-central-and-eastern-europe 

Academic (un)freedom is a highly topical and contested issue in light of recent developments not only in Central and Eastern Europe but far beyond. Scholars and intellectuals have increasingly been confronted with professional bans, forced emigration, political pressure, and public defamation, while freedom of expression and opinion has come under growing strain.

This lecture series explores the phenomenon of academic (un)freedom from a historical perspective, spanning the period from the eighteenth century to the present day. By examining a wide range of media and forms—including legal frameworks, institutional practices, educational systems, publications, and teaching—the series aims to illuminate how academic freedoms have been negotiated, restricted, defended, and transformed over time, and how these dynamics continue to shape scholarly work and public discourse today.

April 16	Klavdia Smola/Holger Kuße (Dresden) Einführung /Introduction (only for students / nur für Studierende)
April 23	Jan Surman/Kirill Levinson (Prague/Vilinius) Academic Freedom in Central Europe in the Long 19th Century as an Idea and as a Practice
April 30	Maksim Demin (Bochum) Weak Centers, Strong Peripheries: Language, Mobility, and Academic Freedom in Alexander I’s Russia
May 7	Irina Savelieva (Houston) University Governance Regimes in Russia: From the Soviet Model to Post-Soviet Diversity
May 14	No lecture - holiday.
May 21	Nadezhda Beliakova (Bielefeld) Academic Unfreedom in Religious Studies: From Late Soviet Academic Tensions to Post-Soviet Transformations
May 28	Elena Zemskova (Tel-Aviv) Between 'Domestic' and 'Foreign': Why Comparative Literature Failed to Establish in the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia
June 4	Elena Gapova (Michigan) Autonomous Universities in the Post-Soviet Region: the Case of European Humanities University (EHU) in Belarus
June 11	Ella Rossman (Prague/Leipzig) Feminist Scholarship and Academic Freedoms in Russia: A Historical Perspective
June 18	Kirill Ospovat (Wisconsin-Madison) Knowledge as Power and Unfreedom: The Baconian Paradigm and the Origins of Imperial Science in Russia
June 25	Dina Gusejnova/Friedrich Cain (London/Wien) Book Presentation Academia and the People. Universities, Knowledge Communities, and Dissent in Central and Eastern Europe, ca. 1900-20
July 2	Dmitry Dubrovskiy (Prague) Autonomy, Academic Freedom, Internationalization, and Authoritarian Modernization in Russia 2000-2022
July 9	Georgiy Kasianov (Lublin) (Un)usual Suspects: Academia, State, and Public Opinion

Call for Participants: Tensions of Europe Summer School 2026

 Call for Participants: Tensions of Europe Summer School 2026

The Tensions of Europe Early Career Scholars Network is looking forward to seeing you at the summer school organized in connection to the XII Tensions of Europe Conference “The meaning of the past in sustainable futures,” Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 8-10 July, 2026.

The summer school will take place in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, July 6-7, 2026. It aims at introducing early career scholars to the Tensions of Europe community as well as to facilitate networking between scholars across borders, and support the consolidation and building of new academic skills.

The summer school is organised to a large extent around workshops and group discussions. Participants will be asked to do some preparatory readings (3 to 5 papers); to write a short text on their research which will be circulated before the summer school (300-500 words); and to prepare a very brief presentation on it (2-3 minutes). Additional information and materials will be provided after the notification of acceptance.

Confirmed guests include prof. Ruth Oldenziel (TU Eindhoven, Technology and Culture), prof. Nina Wormbs (KTH Royal Institute of Technology), dr. Anna Aberg (Chalmers University of Technology), dr. Emily Clark (University of Amsterdam), dr. Anne Helmond (Utrecht University). The full programme will be published in March.

We invite applicants to submit a short bio and a short text (300-500 words each) on their research project and their motivation for joining the summer school. Participation is open both to PhD and Postdocs.

Applications should be sent by March 22, 2026, 23:59 (CET), through this form:

https://framaforms.org/tensions-of-europe-summer-school-2026-participation-form-1771335576

Applicants will be notified of the results by early April, 2026. If you have questions, you can reach out to Ginevra Sanvitale (sanvitag[at]tcd.ie).

The participants of the summer school are expected to be on-site. Due to the highly interactive nature of most summer school sessions, we are unable to provide online participation.

The participation fee is 50 euro. It includes the welcome dinner, summer school lunches and coffee breaks, and the field trip. Participants will be responsible for their travel plans and accommodation. A limited number of travel grants will be offered to support participants without an institutional budget.

This Tensions of Europe Summer School is sponsored by the ToE network, alongside its institutional partners (Eindhoven University of Technology; Foundation for the History of Technology; European University Viadrina; KTH Royal Institute of Technology; Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH); National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Norsk Teknisk Museum), and by the 4TU History of Technology center (Delft University of Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, the University of Twente, and Wageningen University & Research)

Programme (to be finalised in March)

July 6

Your PhD in 3 minutes - Guests to be announced

In this session, participants presents their PhD or postdoc project and receive feedback from experienced scholars in the history of technology, as well as other Summer School participants.

Sound Recording Technology, Modernity/Coloniality, and the Very Big Sonic Archive - dr. Emily Clark (University of Amsterdam)

With the invention of portable sound recording technology around the turn of the 20th century, early comparative musicologists imagined amassing a vast archive of sonic data recorded in “the field” that could answer big questions about human difference, the origins of creativity, and the nature of humanity. In the present age of digitization and datafication, the imaginary of a very big archive that represents the world’s musical diversity is closer to realization. But the use of historical sound recordings (especially ones from contested contexts) in contemporary knowledge-making practices requires critical reflections on scientific objectivity and sonic evidence of human difference and the past.

In this presentation, I share reflections from my currently ongoing research on ethnographic sound recording collections from the context of Dutch colonial history. Drawing from several collections that were created in the Dutch East Indies, South Africa, the Caribbean, and the rural Dutch countryside, I investigate themes including: the entanglement of methods and theories used in colonial ethnography and European studies of “the folk”; the histories of archival stewardship that make specific sound collections (in)accessible; the digitization and datafication of sound recordings, including for use in contemporary data-driven scholarship; and possibilities for critical reinterpretation of historical collections, for example through restitution or artistic reappropriation.

Digital Methods for Web History: Platform Historiography - dr. Anne Helmond (Utrecht University)

This session introduces digital methods for web history to study websites, platforms, and apps as evolving digital media objects and as key environments where social issues unfold over time. It addresses the challenge that these objects are continuously updated, often overwriting earlier states, while still leaving traces that can be repurposed for historical analysis. The session shows how archived web materials can be used to reconstruct change across multiple levels: (1) Socio-cultural: Using archived pages to track public discourse, controversies, and cultural phenomena unfold over time within archived web spaces. (2) Analysing front-end change, including interface design, platform affordances, and policy texts (for example Terms of Service or moderation guidelines) to examine how participation, visibility, and governance are reconfigured over time. (3) Excavating back-end histories through archived source code to trace the development of tracking and advertising technologies. Participants will learn how to work with web archives to build longitudinal datasets, analyse change across websites and platforms, and develop website or platform biographies. The aim is to provide a practical toolkit for doing historical research with digital traces and web archives, alongside a clear understanding of archival limitations, tool choices, and methodological trade-offs.

July 7

Oral histories in old and new ways. A workshop/discussion about different methods of oral history - dr. Anna Aberg (Chalmers University of Technology)

In this workshop we will discuss the different ways we do or could do oral history (including, but not limited to, through interviews, walks, collective biography writing, witness seminars, group interviews, etc.). You will be asked to present your own experiences with oral history methods, or why you do not use them, and we will touch upon their different challenges and uses.

Reaching beyond the academy - prof. Nina Wormbs (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

In this session I will share my experience working with non-academic audiences. This can be done in several ways, and on the basis of different kinds of expertise. One is to share research findings with people outside of academia, though popular writing, media participation or public lecture. Another is to put ones skills in reasoning and perspectivising in use in public inquiries, boards or advisory groups. These and other ways of thinking and communicating history of technology does not only profit society, but is also personally very stimulating and feeds back into research and innovation.

Closing lecture - prof. Ruth Oldenziel (TU Eindhoven, Technology and Culture)

Adam Kucharski: Podróże edukacyjne Lubomirskich w XVIII wieku. Studium z dziejów mobilności i wykształcenia koronnych elit magnackich Rzeczypospolitej [The Lubomirski family's educational travels in the 18th century. A study of the history of mobility and education among the magnate elites of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth].

 Adam Kucharski: Podróże edukacyjne Lubomirskich w XVIII wieku. Studium z dziejów mobilności i wykształcenia koronnych elit magnackich Rzeczypospolitej [The Lubomirski family's educational travels in the 18th century. A study of the history of mobility and education among the magnate elites of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]. Wydawnictwo Naukowe UMK 2025. ISBN:978-83-231-6262-9

Magnacka rodzina Lubomirskich herbu Szreniawa, należąca do koronnej elity państwa, odegrała ogromną rolę w dziejach Rzeczypospolitej XVI–XVIII w. W dotychczasowej literaturze historycznej poświęcano sporo uwagi dokonaniom jej reprezentantów na polu polityki, gospodarki, kultury oraz spraw społecznych. Szczegółowo analizowano także kwestie rodzinne. Niniejsza monografia przedstawia poszczególnych Lubomirskich w XVIII w. w nieco odmiennej optyce – przez pryzmat ich wykształcenia i podróży edukacyjnych po Europie, które w tym stuleciu odbyli prawie wszyscy młodzieńcy tego rodu. W badaniach wykorzystano różne typy przekazów źródłowych – korespondencję listowną, instrukcje wychowawcze, metryki uczelniane, rejestry wydatków, relacje prasowe i pamiętnikarskie oraz dzienniki podróży. W układzie chronologicznym ukazano przebieg podróży edukacyjnych kolejnych męskich potomków rodziny w XVIII w., rozpoczynając od zarania epoki saskiej. Narracja przedstawia te kwestie na szerszym tle, z uwzględnieniem edukacji krajowej, tradycji antenatów oraz roli rodziny, opiekunów, guwernerów, mentorów i najbliższego otoczenia podróżujących. Wpływ na przebieg podróży edukacyjnych Lubomirskich miały ważne wydarzenia polityczne w kraju: wielka wojna północna, wojna o sukcesję polską, konfederacja barska, pierwszy rozbiór. Wyjazdy kształcące Lubomirskich do Francji, Austrii, Włoch, Saksonii, Czech, Holandii i Szwajcarii oraz na Śląsk miały za cel nawiązanie kontaktów, zdobycie ogłady i doświadczenia, zwiedzanie oraz kształcenie prywatne i naukę w różnorodnych rodzajach szkół – poczynając od kolegiów zakonnych, przez popularne akademie rycerskie i nowoczesne szkoły wojskowe, na uniwersytetach kończąc. Lubomirscy utrzymywali kontakty z koryfeuszami ideologii oświecenia oraz towarzystwami naukowymi. Osobny rozdział został również poświęcony zagranicznym wyjazdom pań Lubomirskich. Grand tour kobiet z tej familii magnackiej odznaczał się bogactwem aspektów: rodzinnych, edukacyjnych, krajoznawczych i kolekcjonerskich. Dużą rolę w mobilności kobiet odgrywały także podróże lecznicze do kurortów wód mineralnych pozwalające na osiągnięcie celów zdrowotnych, towarzyskich, kulturalnych i poznawczych.

Online event: From Wild Boar to Household Resource Use: Czech Contemporary Ecological Anthropology

 ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY TODAY WEBINAR SERIES 2025-2027

Host Country: Czechia and Slovakia

Date and Time: March 10 2026, 15:00 – 17:00 (CET)

Title: From Wild Boar to Household Resource Use: Czech Contemporary Ecological Anthropology

Discussants: Luděk Brož and Petr Jehlička - Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Chair: Doubravka Olšáková, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

Type: Panel

Abstract:

The BOAR project is an anthropological study of veterinary knowledge and practice beyond animal

health, examining how veterinary science increasingly mediates human-wildlife interactions, and serves

to structure and govern society through biosecurity measures. More specifically, the project focuses on

how recreational hunting communities, self-appointed stewards of wild boar, are becoming key subjects

for veterinary interventions.

The RESOURCE project turns the usual logic of reasoning about the use of resources upside down.

Instead of investigating the wasteful and destructive forms of consumer life, it aims at frugal practices in

Czech and Dutch households. The research focuses on the management of two key household

resources: food and water.

URL: https://universiteitleiden.zoom.us/j/67225642207?pwd=PAJnx9q9ajHGbdCibXBi3BXn7URTp3.1