INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, AND SOCIAL STUDIES OF
BIOLOGY
Editorial Office
Chris Young
History of Science/Natural Philosophy
Mt. Angel Seminary
St. Benedict, OR 97373
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
NEWSLETTER
Fall 1997
Sixteenth Issue
(Volume 9, No. 2)
CONTENTS
SOCIETY AND MEETING INFORMATION
President’s Corner
Presidential Plenary from the 1997 Meeting
Notes on the 1997 Meeting
Minutes from the 1997 General Meeting
Notes on the 1999 Meeting
ISHPSSB Website and Listserv
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Jobs in the Field
Special Offers for Members
Conferences
Publications of Interest
Web sites/E-mail Lists of Interest
Dibner Fellows 1997-1998
MEMBERSHIP & RENEWAL INFORMATION
SPRING 1998 NEWSLETTER
SOCIETY ADDRESSES
SOCIETY AND MEETING INFORMATION
President’s Corner
Elizabeth Lloyd, President 1997-99
Several concerns about the July meetings in Seattle were brought to my
attention, and I would like to let the members of the Society know that
I and the other members of the executive council and the committees are
addressing them. The problems in Seattle with the physical layout of
the scheduled meeting rooms, coffee, and book exhibits, have prompted
very careful scrutiny of future sites; we will be looking for clusters
of meeting rooms and wheelchair accessibility as major desiderata of any
future building locations.
The most serious concerns about the program included scheduling problems
and worries that European contributors were excluded from sessions with
American contributors. We hope to alleviate future confusion about
scheduling by prohibiting any program changes within 30 days of the
meetings, unless every person involved in all sessions is involved in a
decision to change the schedule. The Program Chair, Michael Dietrich,
will be insuring the integration of European and American program
participants into the various sections.
The exciting prospect of holding the next ISHPSSB meetings in Oaxaca has
prompted a few ideas for special elements in the program. One idea is
to hold a short session related to archaeology and anthropology in the
morning, from 9 a.m.-11 a.m., and then take a bus excursion to the
spectacular ruins at Monte Alban, with a guided tour. The trip would
take the afternoon, and we would return for a BBQ dinner. This would be
the only element on the schedule for that day, and would provide the
whole group with the opportunity to learn about the local history and
the scientific issues that surround it. We are seeking member-feedback
on this idea, so please let either Michael Dietrich (Program Chair) or
me know what you think.
Finally, we are making a call for volunteers to be liaisons to other
societies, groups, or committees. We’d like to urge members to notice
and look for opportunities to connect to other groups that have
overlapping interests with ours. In addition, we would like to know
what the members think about having our Society send a delegate to the
AAAS. The Philosophy of Science Association has its own membership and
delegate, and we should consider whether we want to do the same.
Thank all of you who participated in the meetings in Seattle; the
excitement of the discussions, the informal contacts, and the lasting
friendships that arise out of these meetings help keep us all going
during the strains of the academic year.
Presidential Plenary from the 1997 Meeting
Peter Taylor, ISHPSSB Past President
“Biology and the Agents Without History”
The speakers in this plenary were invited to address the people and
things tending to be written out of biology and of our studies of
biology, but implicated materially, discursively, economically, or
psychologically as the Others. Adele Clarke spoke “On the Need for
Immodest Witnesses: The Case of ‘Othering’ the Reproductive Sciences,”
and Anne Fausto-Sterling spoke about “The Standard Rat and the Universal
Human.” Hebe Vessuri was scheduled to speak about “Core-Periphery
Relations and the Social History of Biology,” but she was at the last
moment unfortunately unable to attend. I took the opportunity of time
thus freed up to sketch some of the sources and strands woven into the
plenary topic.
There are many changes going on in the world that link developments in
the life sciences and in the engineering of living forms to diverse
processes:
to the ever-expanding and ever more rapid circuits of information,
finance, and commodities; to the declining regulatory state as it makes
space for these ascendant transnational networks; and to capital’s
extension of its legal domain over intellectual property, life-form
patents, and marketable pollution licenses. Changes in life have also
evoked both resistance and participation by “new” social movements. In
their discourses, globalized responsibility for sustaining the
environment coexists with the promotion of individualized responsibility
for disease and health. And, while some peoples fear being pushed
further to the margins through the production of new hybrids, others
give a liberatory spin to their visions of more extensive coupling with
machines (Taylor et al., 1997, p.1).
Even for those ISHPSSBers who study the past, these changes, and, more
generally, the political-economic restructuring of the 1980s and ‘90s,
influence the wider and the more immediate contexts for their work.
These changes are often labeled “globalization,” but this obscures a
lot. People in far distant places have their lives linked for
centuries. As anthropologists Eric Wolf reminds us, accounts of
commercial expansion and the rise of industrial capitalism in Europe
after 1492 “must take account of the conjoint participation of Western
and non-Western peoples in this worldwide process.... Social historians
and sociologists have shown that the common people were as much agents
in the historical process as they were its victims and silent
witnesses. We thus need to uncover the history of ‘the people without
history’” (Wolf 1982, pp. ix-x).
This perspective can lead to qualitative changes in how a situation
ought to be understood. For example, in the context of biodiversity and
resource conservation, Charles Zerner exposed that “in the Central
Maluku Islands [of Indonesia], the so-called sasi restrictions on entry
into resource areas or on harvests from them, far from being the
indigenous conservation institutions that they have been recently
called, have been continually re-interpreted and used for different
purposes not only by local elites and others in Maluku communities but
also first by Dutch colonial officials, then by Indonesian government
officials, and, most recently by environmental NGOs as well” (Vayda
1997, p.11; discussing Zerner 1994). The environmental groups invoke
conservation and tradition, but the Maluku are particularly interested
in pushing back the outsiders so they can extract the resources
themselves.
The Wolfian perspective leads us to another source or strand for the
plenary topic, the “New Social History.” Since the 1970s, historians
who have looked have uncovered extraordinary documentation of the lives
of peoples previously without history, from slave diaries to early
colonial American wills whose list of tools convey much about the
gendered division of labor.
This, in turn, leads us to feminist scholarship, itself consisting of
several strands:
i) Exposing the contributions of women to biology;
ii) Pointing to the particular kinds of contribution women have been
able to make. Or, in standpoint philosophy, are positioned to be able
to make;
iii) Pointing to the shaping of biological theory through gendered
binaries. For example, Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (1981) establishes the terms
for the rest of her book on sexual dimorphism in animal behavior through
a speculative account of the origin of anisogamy — the difference in egg
and sperm size. She does not notice that this story can only be
relevant to sexual dimorphism if eggs are thought of as female and
sperms as male. (Very few of my biology students notice this; many of
them are perplexed when I point out that both eggs and sperm contribute
to both males and females.)
iv) Pointing to theory in all kinds of fields that employs binary
metaphors, rooted in — or at least guyed down by — personal experiences
of a two-gender world. However, as Anne Fausto-Sterling among others
has illuminated, this two-gender world is maintained at some cost.
Children born with ambiguous genitalia have been treated surgically and
psychologically so they better conform to one gender type or the other.
In the United States they are beginning to emerge from their silence,
challenging us to accept, if not embrace, ambiguity and diversity in
gender.
These sources and others have brought new subjects, questions, evidence,
and frameworks into biology and into interpretive studies of biology.
This plenary seeks to alert or remind ISHPSSBers of new opportunities.
Conversely, ISHPSSB has been a supportive context for scholars
interested in transgressing established boundaries. One obvious
component of that support is that ISHPSSB attracts those scholars from
its constituent fields who are most interested in crossing boundaries.
Another component is the small size of the meetings, their informal
setting, and the absence of the business side of the major professional
societies. Living and eating in dormitories one finds out more about
people and their work than is presented in the papers delivered.
Therein lies a theme that has become important in my teaching and
research: People know more than they acknowledge. New connections are
facilitated where, in the right environment, that is brought to light.
“Knowing more” has both an inward and an outward direction, a personal
and a social sense. In 1989, I organized a plenary in which younger
scholars — not so young now — presented, more or less
autobiographically, how they came to do interdisciplinary work and what
sources they drew from when they hit obstacles and faced new
challenges. Many members of the audience were moved by hearing the
personal dimension of scholarship acknowledgment in public.
I intended this plenary to be complementary, moving in the outward,
social direction — Where can our work go if we pay more attention to the
underacknowledged agents in our worlds? By “worlds” here I refer both
to the situations studied in the life sciences and to the situations in
which ISHPSSB-like interpreters of these sciences do their work. These
worlds would become less homogeneous, more variable, and more unequal.
Dominant and marginal; core and periphery would be spelled out and
challenged. We would become more aware of the effects of work done to
homogenize and regularize those worlds, and of the effects of resistance
to homogenization and regularization — the strategies of the dominant
are often shaped in response to the agents whose difference and
histories become unacknowledged.
I wish we had had Hebe Vessuri to talk about how the social history of
biology changes if one tries to make sense of the disciplinary endeavors
in the “periphery,” for example, in Latin American countries. However,
neither three, nor two talks could cover all the dimensions of un- and
under-acknowledged agency. I hope, however, that the spirit of this
plenary will have stimulated ISHPSSBers to continue to explore subjects,
questions, and frameworks from areas whose relevance they previously had
not acknowledged.
Literature Cited
Hrdy, S. B. (1981). “An Initial Inequality,” in The Woman That Never
Evolved. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 20-23.
Taylor, P. J., P. N. Edwards, and S. E. Halfon (1997). “Changing Life
in the New World Dis/order,” in P. J. Taylor, S. E. Halfon and P. N.
Edwards (Eds.), Changing Life: Genomes, Ecologies, Bodies,
Commodities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1-13.
Vayda, A. P. (1997). Managing Forests and Improving the Livelihoods of
Forest-Dependent People. Jakarta: Center for International Forestry
Research.
Wolf, E. (1982). Europe and People without History. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Zerner, C. (1994). “Through a green lens: The construction of customary
environmental law and community in Indonesia’s Maluku Islands.” Law and
Society Review. 28: 1079-1122.
Notes on the 1997 Meeting
The Society held its general business meeting on July 18, 1997, during
the Seattle meeting. In brief: The Treasurer reported a May, 31 1997
balance of society funds of $19,954.86. Attempts will be made to raise
more funds for student travel awards for future meetings. Concerns and
reorganization of society procedures were discussed. Two of the three
proposed by-laws changes were adopted. The first Marjorie Grene Prize
was awarded. The results of the 1997 election were announced. Reports
were received from the 1997 meeting Program Chair and Local Arrangements
Chair. The 1999 meeting is scheduled to be held in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Thanks were offered to Peter Taylor (President for the 1997 Meeting),
Bob Richardson (Program Chair), and Keith Benson (Local Arrangements
Chair). Please refer to the minutes below for details.
Minutes from the 1997 General Meeting
July 18, 1997
University of Washington, Seattle
The meeting was called to order at 5:35 p.m. by President Peter Taylor.
Announcements: (1) Graduate students will gather after the meeting to
elect the student representative to the Executive Council. (2) The
Executive Council will meet after the general meeting. (3) Horace
Judson, Department of History, George Washington University announced
the availability of two 2-year post-doctoral positions in the Center for
the History of Recent Science, for the 1997-98 academic year.
Interested parties were asked to contact him. (4) The Darwin CD ROM
will be demonstrated tomorrow and free CD’s are available at this time.
(5) Darwin Papers may have a position available.
Minutes: It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the 1995 General
Meeting as written and circulated earlier be accepted without change.
The motion passed without dissent.
Treasurer’s Report for 1 June 1995 - 31 May 31 1997: Ron Rainger,
treasurer, reported that overall the organization is in a sound
financial condition. At the end of the last reporting period, 31 May
1995, the closing total funds balance was $21,513.16. As of 31 May
1997, the closing total funds balance was $19,954.86. Expenses
exceeded income by approximately $1500, due primarily to a significant
reduction in income from member dues. Primary disbursements were for
printing, copying and mailing the newsletter; bank fees for member dues
paid by Visa or Mastercard; and student travel awards for the 1995
meeting. The primary source of income was member dues. Minimal
contributions were received from members for the student travel fund.
Contributions to support newsletter expenses were essentially nil. The
significant reductions in 1995-1997 income from all sources as compared
with 1993-1995 income is a concern. It was moved and seconded that the
treasurer’s report be accepted as submitted. The motion passed without
dissent.
The treasurer recommended that dues remain unchanged for the next two
years and that the society set aside $10,000 to assist with student
travel to the 1999 meeting if funds are not available from other
sources. Further, he recommended that the society apply to NSF for
student travel funds for the 1999 and future meetings. Discussion
followed. By a unanimous show of hands, members present agreed that
they would pay $10 more a year if the additional funds were to be spent
to support student travel to society meetings. It was moved and
seconded that the council be asked to (1) pursue increasing dues by $10
per year for student travel, (2) set a goal of $10,000 or more for
student travel awards, and (3) vigorously pursue a drive for additional
member contributions and other sources for student travel funds. The
motion passed without dissent.
Twenty-three students applied for student travel awards for attendance
at the Seattle meeting. The member contributions of $870 plus $1800
from the society general funds were awarded to student applicants. A
committee composed of Christiane Groeben, Helen Longino, Ron Rainger,
and Paul Griffiths was appointed to seek ways to increase funds
available for student travel awards for the 1999 meeting.
The first Marjorie Grene Prize was awarded to Judy Johns Schloegel. Her
winning paper was titled “Sex and the Ciliate: Private Life and Social
Behavior in Nineteenth- and Twentieth Century Microscopic Culture.” The
prize is intended to advance the careers of young scholars. The award
consists of a certificate and $200 towards expenses incurred in
attending the meeting and not reimbursed from other sources. The
selection committee was composed of Marjorie Grene, Ron Rainger, and Jim
Griesemer.
Current Society Organization: The major challenges before the society
are that it is currently operating without a central organizing office
and that difficulties can occur when the society depends upon members to
carry out all society matters. As an example, in 1995 the society had
604 members who had paid their dues; currently the society has 204
members with dues paid. Richard Burian will chair a committee which
will look at society administrative services and the possibility of
transferring some of the administrative tasks to a professional
organization. Initial action has been taken. The duties assigned to
the secretary proved to be too extensive for one person to handle.
Therefore, some duties were reassigned. The treasurer will handle the
membership list. Chris Young will serve as newsletter editor and
listserv moderator. In addition, Valerie Hardcastle will continue to
handle the society web site.
John Jungck recommended that ISHPSSB affiliate with the Coalition for
Education in the Life Sciences, appoint a liaison to the coalition, and
establish a committee on education. It was moved and seconded that the
recommendations were supported by the membership and should be pursued
by the Board. The motion passed without dissent.
Election Results:
The following individuals were elected to office for 1997-1999:
Richard Burian (President-Elect)
Peggy Stewart (Secretary)
David Magnus (Treasurer)
Michael Dietrich (1999 Program Chair)
Directors-at-large elected for office from 1997-2001:
Walter Bock
Marilia Coutinho
Cor van der Weele
Elizabeth Lloyd, former President-Elect, will serve as President from
1997-1999. Peter Taylor will serve as Past-President. Christiane
Groeben, Paul Griffiths, and James Griesemer were elected in 1995 to
serve as Directors-at-large from 1993-1997. Students will elect their
representative directly following the general meeting.
By-Laws Revisions: Proposed changes for the by-laws were circulated to
members in the spring 1997 newsletter. Action was taken on the proposed
changes: (1) The proposed revision of ARTICLE II, 5. ANNUAL MEETING,
was not brought to a vote because the revision would be in conflict with
our understanding of incorporation requirements with the Commonwealth of
Virginia, the site of ISHPSSB incorporation. (2) ARTICLE III, 13.
Voting: the proposal to require that ballots be sent to the entire
membership of the society no more than one hundred (100) days prior to
the meeting” passed without dissent. The requirement had been for
distribution of ballots no more than seventy (70) days. (3) ARTICLE
III. EXECUTIVE AND OTHER COMMITTEES. The membership of the Nominating
Committee was clarified to require that the membership be composed of
“at least one other Director or officer of the Corporation, and other
Members of the Society.” The proposed revision was passed without
dissent.
Report of Program Committee (Bob Richardson, chair): Two hundred and
thirty people participated in the 1997 meeting. Attendance was reduced
by a concurrent European meeting of historians. Principles for
acceptance of papers include limiting individuals to presentation of no
more than one paper plus participation as a commentator. It was
suggested that the abstract submittal form be revised to include a space
to indicate audio-visual needs so that the program chair can facilitate
such requirements. A request was made that abstracts be published in
Spanish as well as in English. Supporters were invited to formulate and
submit a proposal to the council identifying means by which the meetings
could be made more accessible to non-English speaking colleagues.
Additional ideas for change and improvement of society meetings should
be forwarded to Michael Dietrich, 1999 program chair.
A vote of appreciation for program chair Bob Richardson and the session
chair was moved and seconded. The motion was passed enthusiastically
and unanimously.
Report of Local Arrangements Committee (Keith Benson, Chair): Problems
with having a meeting at a state university include the fact that faulty
have little control over room assignments and that such lack of control
led to rescheduling of room assignments from a single building to
buildings spread over campus with coffee breaks and the book exhibit in
yet a different building. The local arrangements chair need to be
advised of needs for number of meeting rooms at least one year in
advance of the meeting. Registration with credit card by e-mail proved
to be the easiest way for local arrangements to handle registration.
1999 Meeting: Oaxaca, Mexico, has been selected as the site of the 1999
meeting. Ana Barahona is responsible for preliminary local
arrangements. Housing will be in local hotels because there is no
housing at the university. While there are a few direct flights, access
for most participants will be with a connecting flight through Mexico
City. A main concern is that the meeting site be wheel chair
accessible. Members responsible for local arrangements will be asked to
assure such accessibility prior to a final commitment on the part of the
society to hold its 1999 meeting in Oaxaca.
2001 Meeting: The site of the 2001 meeting has not yet been selected.
Closing Comments: President Elizabeth Lloyd asked that members forward
to her ideas for the society and the 1999 meeting. She is particularly
interested in suggestions for ways to increase opportunities for
discussion at the meetings.
A vote of appreciation was given to outgoing president, Peter Taylor,
for his two years of service culminating in the very successful 1997
meetings.
Adjournment: As there was no further business, the meeting was
adjourned at 6:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Peggy Stewart, Secretary
New Student Representative
Karin Matchett (University of Minnesota) was elected by a group of
graduate students who met at the meeting in Seattle. She will serve as
a contact person for student input and concerns. She is also fluent in
Spanish, which should aid in coordinating the 1999 meeting.
The following letter was received by the editor from an ISHPSSB member.
The editor welcomes such commentary and will gladly print letters that
address issues of importance to the society.
To The Editor:
It was very nice and beautiful to attend the ninth biennial meeting of
ISHPSSB at Seattle, to see old friends, to make new friends, surrounded
by the wonderful atmosphere with great salmon! However, I found one
funny thing. One of the leaflets of publishing companies which
displayed several books appealed the message to the “Society for the
History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology” ---- they omitted the
word “international.”
I believe this was just a careless mistake with no other meaning.
Nevertheless, I actually had the same question during the conference:
“Was this really an international conference?”
Yes, ISHPSSB is international conference with a lot of participants from
not only America, also from Europe, Mid-East, and Far-East — almost all
over the world. This means, hence, a great portion of attendants are
NOT native English speakers. Nevertheless, I was afraid that only a few
speakers were aware of the fact and spent an effort to establish more
effective communication. Others just read their papers in a monotone,
even very quickly! Unfortunately, such “just-read-a-paper” talks were
so common. This was not just the opinion of myself alone: Many
attendants from non-English speaking countries had similar complaints.
Some of them also pointed out the “difficulties” to follow discussions
which sometimes were carried out more rapidly.
I am afraid that such manner is rather discouraging for us, non-English
speakers and also opposed to the aim and philosophy of presidential
plenary session. Thus, I would like to propose the following two
strategies:
1. Please use visual aids. Now we have slides, overhead projectors, and
even videos. Diagrams and figures would be so helpful, but it is not
always necessary to prepare such illustrations. Just summarize the
contents of your paper and put them down into five or seven (not too
many) lines on the transparency. That would be helpful enough to grasp
your paper. If preparing overhead transparencies or slides is still
hard for you, similar handouts may be useful.
2. Please do NOT read your paper. Yes, a “paper” should be “read,” and
if you are a student or post-doc, I know you must read more and more
papers! But this phrase does actually not seem to be correct. Instead,
a “talk” should be “presented” at a conference, especially an
international one. You may need some notes or memos for your talk, but
when you read the manuscript, you lose the flexibility and communication
with audiences. Then, the difficulties for listeners are enormously
bigger, as ten times or so.
I believe academicians in the United States have the good tradition of
communicating with the public. Just applying such know-how is enough to
create a truly “International” SHPSSB. Of course, it is also necessary
for non-English speakers like myself, to polish up their own ability
more and more. But please imagine our difficulties: we have to spend
one or two hours everyday just to master English. Even after these
efforts our ability of English would be far smaller than that of native
speakers.
English is NOT an international language. Broken English is.
Osamu Sakura
Faculty of Business Administration
Yokohama National University
Tokiwadai 79-4, Hodogaya, Yokohama 240, Japan
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Notes on the 1999 Meeting
Ana Barahona Echeverria on behalf of the Mexican “Committee” for the
1999 meeting (Carlos Lopez Beltran, Edna Maria Suarez, Sergio Martinez)
We want to reassure ISHPSSB members that, due to the economic crisis in
Mexico, meetings there will not be as expensive as USA and Europe.
Today, three-star hotel rates are US $35 per night. This should
compensate for any extra travel expenses that people have getting to
Mexico. E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Mike Dietrich, 1999 Program Chair
Before the Seattle meetings have completely faded from memory, I wanted
to ask for comments about the program and most importantly for
suggestions for the 1999 program. Some people have already sent in
suggestions and ideas for papers and panels, but I would like to hear
from more of you.
Please feel free to contact me at: [log in to unmask]
ISHPSSB Website and Listserv
Valerie Hardcastle, Web site administrator
The official ISHPSSB Website is located at:
http://www.phil.vt.edu/ISHPSSB/
Missed the meeting in Seattle? Check out the program and abstracts on
our web page! 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 (though Netscape is recommended
for the graphics). Updated on a regular basis, the site now includes
this newsletter, the 1997 program, and abstracts from the 1997 meeting
in Seattle. Ideas for additional items to include are always welcome —
please forward them to Valerie Hardcastle; E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Chris Young, Listserv moderator
We have established a moderated e-mail list, “listserv,” for the
Society. The site is maintained with the help of the University of
Minnesota’s 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: [log in to unmask]
By the way, the reason there is only one ‘S’ in our listserv name is
because we were limited to 8 characters.
Once you subscribe to the list, your name and e-mail address will be
added to the list and you will receive a verification. At that point,
you can participate in conversations on the e-mail list.
To send a message to all the people currently subscribed to the list,
just send mail to: [log in to unmask]
The newsletter will also go out to 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 other members who
have not subscribed, please encourage them to do so. Of course, an
e-mail list should not marginalize members whose internet access is
limited, by location or by choice. The Society will continue its
regular mailings.
Questions? Contact the listserv moderator, Chris Young, directly at:
[log in to unmask]
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Jobs in the Field
Note: This section is not intended to provide an exhaustive listing of
jobs, but when a position announcement is brought to the attention of
the editor that closely matches the expertise of members of the society,
it will be listed here.
Social Studies of Science
University of California, Davis, California
Tenure-track assistant professor, beginning Fall 1998. Duties include
research, graduate and undergraduate supervision, committee service, and
a teaching load of four quarter courses per year. Appointment in the
Department of Anthropology, Economics, or Sociology. Research,
teaching, and service divided equally between one of these core
departments and the History & Philosophy of Science Program. HPS offers
an undergraduate minor, coordinates HPS graduate training with
Departments of History and Philosophy and with science studies students
in other departments, and has proposed a new undergraduate major in
Science, Technology, and Medicine Studies. The appointee must have Ph.
D. and provide evidence of strength in research and teaching. Minority
and women candidates are especially encouraged to apply. EO/AAE.
Application deadline: December 1, 1997. Send CV, three letters of
reference and a sample of written work to Professor James Griesemer,
Chair, Search Committee, History & Philosophy of Science Program,
University of California, Davis, CA 95616-8673, USA. Telephone: (916)
752-1068. FAX: (916) 752-8964. Internet: http://hpslab.ucdavis.edu
E-mail: [log in to unmask] Lesley Byrns (Office Manager)
Telephone and TDD services: (916) 752-1291. FAX: (916) 752-3156.
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
The College of Letters and Science at UC Davis is committed to building
a more diverse faculty and student body as it responds to the changing
population and educational needs of California and the nation. As a
consequence, we are especially interested in attracting persons from
groups currently underrepresented on the campus. Our commitment demands
that, irrespective of age and/or sexual preference, we will pay special
attention to applications from women, persons of color, and persons with
disabilities.
Research Post
London School of Economics
The Centre for the Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS) at
the London School of Economics is to set up a three-year project to
research the evolution of the emotions with particular reference to
psychopathology. The Centre is currently looking for a qualified senior
researcher to direct the project. The project will involve: (1)
Summarising and evaluating the latest theories relating to the evolution
of the emotions, with a particular emphasis on the relevance of such
theories to the understanding of mental disorders. (2) Formulating
empirical tests of these theories, which it is hoped will be carried out
by an appropriate organisation when the first phase of the project is
completed. The CPNSS will be concerned exclusively with the analytical
and conceptual part of the project, up to and including the phase of
experimental design.
Administrative details
(1) The Research Officer will be employed for three years, and will
receive a salary of £39,706 gross in the first year (£30,394 basic,
plus London allowance, national insurance and superannuation), rising to
£44,976 gross in the third year.
(2) The Research Officer will have the help of a research assistant and
full secretarial backup.
(3) The Research Officer will be based at the CPNSS, which is also the
home of the Darwin @ LSE programme. This exciting interdisciplinary
programme organises regular seminars on all aspects of evolutionary
theory, given by internationally recognised experts, and attracts a
stream of visiting scholars.
Questions about this post should be addressed to Dylan Evans at the
address/numbers below. Those who are interested in applying for the
post may send a full CV. Dylan Evans, Centre for the Philosophy of
Natural and Social Science, London School of Economics, Houghton Street,
London WC2A 2AE. Telephone: (+44) 171-955-6853. Fax: (+44)
-171-955-6869. E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
The Marsden Fund has supported a two year postdoctoral fellowship to
work on a joint project with Kim Sterelny on “What is biodiversity?”
This is a project in philosophy of biology, not environmental ethics.
So philosophers with a strong background in philosophy of biology are
invited to apply, though candidates with a background in biology will
also be considered, so long as they can demonstrate appropriate
philosophical competence. The salary will be in the range of $42,238 -
$53,055 p.a., New Zealand dollars. But it is most likely that the offer
will be towards the lower end of that range. Some support for moving
expenses to Wellington may be available. For details of the project,
those interested should contact Kim Sterelny by e-mail at
[log in to unmask] Formal applications should be sent to Debbie
Luyinda, Department of Philosophy, Victoria University of Wellington, PO
Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand. The application should include both
the applicant’s CV and a writing sample, and applicants should ask three
referees to send references to the same address. The closing date for
applications is January 5, 1998, and the fellowship is to begin in
March, 1998.
Special Offers for Members
Darwin Multimedia CD-ROM Available
Lightbinders and ISHPSSB are pleased to make the following exclusive
offer to teachers of Darwin, evolution, and the history to philosophy of
science.
Lightbinders has recently finished the second edition of the Darwin
Multimedia CD-ROM, (list price $49.95, ISBN: 1-889175-01-3). This
remarkable disk is an integrated compilation of the major works of
Charles Darwin. It also contains a selection of many of the
lesser-known works, which can be difficult for even to most devoted
Darwinian to obtain. Never before have these rare titles been presented
together, let alone integrated by extensive cross-reference hyperlinks.
Also included is the acclaimed Triumph of the Darwinian Method, written
by renowned Darwin expert (and ISHPSSB member) Dr. Michael T. Ghiselin,
and a video in which Sir David Attenborough narrates an appeal for the
restoration and preservation of Down House, Darwin’s residence.
A description of the disc can be seen at the Lightbinders web site
(http://lbin.com).
Through ISHPSSB, we are offering free Darwin CD-ROMs to teachers who
will evaluate it for use in their classrooms. So far, Lightbinders has
given away nearly 250 copies, but orders for classroom use remain few.
Interested teachers are asked to contact Pete Goldie, Ph. D., President,
Lightbinders, Inc., 2325 Third Street – Suite 324, San Francisco, CA
94107; Fax: (415) 621-5898. E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Member Subscription Rates
Two journals, Biology and Philosophy and Journal of the History of
Biology, are available to ISHPSSB members at reduced rates. These
journals are published by Kluwer Academic Publishers. The rates for the
current year were not available at press time.
Society members interested in these special rates should send their
subscription orders and payments to: Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Distribution Centre, PO Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Members should include with their subscription requests a statement that
they are ISHPSSB members and are requesting the member rate. The
contact person in case of problems is Annie Kuipers, Acquisition Editor,
Humanities & Social Sciences Division, Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Spuiboulevard 50, P.O. Box 17 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Fax:
+31(0)78-6392254. E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Member Directories
Members are invited to request a copy of the ISHPSSB Directory by
sending a request to David Magnus, the Society secretary. The first
copy is free. Members who would like a second copy of the directory are
asked to forward a check for $3.00 payable to the Society to cover
copying and mailing costs. The directory is updated at the beginning of
each year; members submitting requests after February 1 will receive a
copy of the latest directory.
Conferences
Second International History of Philosophy of Science Conference
Conference Dates: 12-15 March 1998
Location: Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values, University
of Notre Dame
Conference Topics: History of Philosophy of Science
Guidelines for Submissions: Submission deadline has passed. Contact:
Cassandra Pinnick, Department of Philosophy, Western Kentucky
University, Bowling Green, KY 42101
International Congress on Discovery and Creativity
Conference Sates: 14-16 May 1998
Location: University of Ghent (Belgium)
Conference Topics: Papers are welcomed on any logical or methodological
aspect of discovery and creativity, in the sciences as well as in the
arts. There will also be room for historical, sociological and
psychological studies that are methodologically relevant. Papers may
cover topics from the following (not exclusive) list: philosophical and
methodological issues in the study of discovery and creativity; logical
analyses that may contribute to our understanding of these issues;
historical, psychological, sociological explanations of specific
discoveries and creative processes; cognitive models of discovery and
creativity; AI systems for discovery tasks. Authors must submit five
printed copies and an electronic version (MS-Word or PostScript) of
their abstract (max. 1000 words) not later than 15 December 1997.
Inquiries: http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~jmeheus. ICDC p/a Dr. Joke
Meheus, Vakgroep Wijsbegeerte, Blandijnberg 2, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Fax: +00 32 9 264.41.87. E-mail: [log in to unmask]
John Ray and His Successors: The Clergyman as Biologist
Conference Dates: 18-21 March 1999
Location: Braintree, Essex, UK
Conference Topics: A joint conference of the Institute of Biology’s
History Committee, the Society for the History of Natural History, and
the John Ray Trust.
Guidelines for Submissions: Conference participants are invited to
present papers. Please send an abstract (250 words) by 1 March 1998 to
Rev. Nigel Cooper, The Rectory, 40 Church Road, Rivenhall, Witham, Essex
CM8 3PQ, UK. Telephone (+44) (0) 1376 511161. E-mail for Nigel
Cooper’s attention on [log in to unmask]