--------Message 1 of 4--------- Subject: Environmental Life Writing List From: Steven Holmes <[log in to unmask]> Dear colleagues, Greetings! I want to invite any interested persons to join a new e-mail discussion group on what is just now emerging as a new interdisciplinary field, environmental life-writing - i.e., biography, autobiography, memoir, oral history, fiction, poetry, and theoretical and empirical studies that explore and express an individual's relationship with his or her natural and built environment(s) over time. The two distinguishing marks of the field are (a) a focus on individual lives, rather than general cultural, social, or historical patterns; and (b) attention to the processes of development over a life-time, the sense that an individual's patterns of experience emerge out of a simultaneously personal and sociocultural context of past and future, relationship and selfhood, body and imagination, memory and hope - and that this multilayered process of individual development applies to environmental experience as much as to any other dimension of human life. Thus conceived, environmental life-writing may draw upon the work and insights of a wide variety of fields (including history, literature, psychology, humanistic geography, philosophy, anthropology, and religious studies) in the service of understanding a common theme, that of individual environmental development - and of creating and exploring the particular stories that embody that theme. Of course, many of those stories are found in writings by and about the major historical figures who have shaped the environment and our perceptions of it: nature writers, environmentalists, scientists, agriculturalists, hunters, artists, politicians, planners, landscape and urban architects - as well as industrialists, exploiters, and other exceedingly powerful folks. At the same time, I hope that we will also give some thought and attention to the lives of "ordinary" people (including those of us writing our own environmental autobiographies and memoirs), to children (both historical and contemporary), and to reflection on the more general patterns of experience and development that mark individual relationship with the environment. Sound interesting? To subscribe to the list (I'm thinking of it as the "ELF" list, by the way, for Environmental LiFe-writing), simply send an e-mail to the following address: [log in to unmask] This isn't an automatic server (except when I'm zoned out on coffee), so you don't need to put "subscribe" in the body of the message etc.; just make sure your intentions are clear. I'll send back an introductory message, and we'll get things rolling! If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at my personal e-mail address, [log in to unmask] (note that this is different than the address for the group). I also am compiling a networking list (i.e. a literal list of names etc.) of scholars and writers interested in specific research topics or writing projects; if you have specific areas you're working in, please feel free to contact me about inclusion in that list as well. And please pass this invitation on to anyone else you think might be interested! Steven J. Holmes Lecturer, History and Literature Department, Harvard University Barker Center 122, Cambridge, MA 02138 Home address: 170 Walter St., #1, Roslindale, MA 02131 (617) 323-9764 [log in to unmask] --------Message 2 of 4--------- Subject: New Post in HPS UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE University Assistant Lecturer FURTHER DETAILS The Position The Department of History and Philosophy of Science intends to appoint a University Assistant Lecturer in the field of history and philosophy of science and medicine. The Department has particular needs in history of medicine before 1800 and in biomedical ethics, but excellent candidates in all areas of history and philosophy of science and medicine are welcome to apply. The successful candidate will be expected to take up the position at an agreed date on or before 1st October 2000. The appointment will be for three years, with the possibility of reappointment for two years. The statutory limit of tenure of a University Assistant Lecturer is five years, but all holders of the office of University Assistant Lecturer are considered for possible appointment to the office of University Lecturer during the course of their tenure. In recent years, the substantial majority of University Assistant Lecturers have been promoted to University Lectureships. The pensionable scale of stipend for a University Assistant Lecturer is 16,655 pounds a year, rising by six annual increments to 21,815 pounds (under review). The Department The Department is the largest of its kind in the U.K., with an outstanding international reputation. It is a vigorous and expanding centre of teaching and research, as recognised by the award of the highest grade of 5*(A) in the 1996 HEFCE national Research Assessment Exercise. The Department is built around the Whipple Museum, a world-class collection of scientific instruments, the gift of R.S. Whipple to the University in 1943. The large collections of the Whipple Library, also founded on Whipple's gift of his rare scientific books, now functioning as the Departmental Library, provide the basis for the research and teaching at both undergraduate and graduate level. The Department is an independent institution under the direct supervision of the General Board, located in one building in the centre of Cambridge. There are 9 established University Teaching Officers, including two Professors, two Readers and the Curator of the Whipple Museum. It has extensive links with other Departments and Faculties in the University, with a range of subjects extending from the physical and biological sciences, via Medicine and the social sciences (Psychology, Social and Political Sciences), to the humanities (History, Classics, Philosophy). From 1972 to 1998, the WellcomeTrust funded a Wellcome Unit of the History of Medicine as a Sub-Department within the Department, whose members engaged both in research and teaching. With several teaching officers and senior research fellows active in the field the Department remains a very strong centre of teaching and research in history of medicine. Last year the Department secured a new teaching position in the history of modern medicine and biomedical sciences and it hopes that this second new post will help foster further work in the area and thus retain continuity with this long and distinguished tradition. The undergraduate teaching is offered as part of the Natural Sciences Tripos in the second and third years (the third year course is a full-time specialist course, with students coming from a number of other Faculties from outside the Natural Sciences) and as part of the final year of the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos. Total undergraduate numbers are in the range 100-160. The Department also offers an M.Phil. in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine, with numbers approximating 15-20 per year. From 1998 on, the M.Phil. in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine has been expanded to include topics in the history of medicine. Ph.D. students at any one time total approximately upwards of 35. There are also a number of Research Fellows and Visiting Scholars attached to the Department, so that the total number of persons engaged in postgraduate and postdoctoral research in the Department is around 100. The Research Seminars (over 6 series at any one time), running on a weekly or fortnightly basis throughout the year, are an important part of these research activities, and ensure that the Department is a hotbed of intellectual activity throughout the academic year. History and Philosophy of Science is taught at present at both Part IB (2nd year) and Part II (3rd Year) levels. The Part II courses were reorganised in 1998-99 and extend over a broad range of topics, including Classical Traditions in the Sciences; Natural and Moral Philosophies; Science, Industry and Empire; Metaphysics, Epistemology and the Sciences; Science and Technology Studies; History and Philosophy of Mind; History of Medicine from Antiquity to the Enlightenment and Modern Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The general ethos of the Department fosters the interplay between Philosophy of Science and History of Science. History of Medicine is also a major component of all postgraduate work, including the M.Phil. in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine; the Department intends to include Philosophical Issues in Contemporary Science and Medicine, including Biomedical Ethics, as a major part of its teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Applications Applications, including a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, details of teaching experience and two samples of recent work, should be sent to the Secretary of the Appointments Committee, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RH (Tel: +44 1223 334540; Fax: +44 1223 334554; E-mail: [log in to unmask]) from who further particulars may be obtained. Informal inquiries by email are welcome and further information can be found on the Department's website at http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk Applicants are themselves requested to ask for three referees to send references to the Secretary by the closing date. Candidates who have been shortlisted will be informed in early November and will be invited to the Department on 25th and 26th November to present seminar papers and for interview. The closing date for applications is 15th September 1999. The University follows an equal opportunity policy and has a policy on arrangements for part-time work. Tamara Hug Department of History and Philosophy of Science University of Cambridge Free School Lane Cambridge CB2 3RH Ph: +44 1223 334540, Fax: 334554 http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk --------Message 3 of 4--------- Subject: SaC 8(3) Science as Culture 8(2), June 1999 Special Issue: BIOLOGISTIC METAPHORS, THEN AND NOW Sociobiology Sanitized: Evolutionary Psychology and Gene Selectionism Val Dusek Darwinian Ideological Discourse Part II: Re-Anthropologizing Nature by Naturalizing Competitive Man Julio Muñoz-Rubio 'Malthus on Man: In Animals No Moral Restraint’ Robert M. Young Transforming Genes: Metaphors of Information and Language in Modern Genetics Adam Hedgecoe Subscriptions: Issues of Science as Culture are numbered in volumes, each comprising four issues per year, starting in 1990. Personal rate for four issues: £32 or $48 in North America; Institutional rate for four issues: £92 or $138 in North America. All orders and remittances should be addressed to: Carfax Publishing Limited, PO Box 25, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3UE, UK. Tel. +44 (0) 1235 401000; Fax +44 (0) 1235 401550; E-mail [log in to unmask]; or Carfax Publishing Limited, PO Box 352, Cammeray, NSW 2062, Australia. Tel. +61 (0) 2 958 5329; Fax +61 (0) 2 958 2376; E-mail [log in to unmask]; or to Carfax Publishing Limited, 875-81 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Tel. 1 (800) 354 1420; Fax +1 (617) 354 6875. Les Levidow, CCC-Technology Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA fax +44-1908-652175 or 654825 London home tel. +44-171-482 0266 --------Message 4 of 4--------- Subject: Publisher's query: hist and phil of sci Please reply directly to Kirsten Robinson. > From: Kirsten Robertson <[log in to unmask]> > > We are a small publisher in Bristol, UK, > specialising in providing primary > source material in the history of ideas for the > academic communities. > > We are looking for ideas and proposals for our new > series: _The Philosophy > and History of Science_. This series will reprint > classic works within the > philosophy and history of science. > > _Helmholtz's Treatise on Physiological Optics_ will > be the first collection > in the series. > A reprint of the definitive 1924/5 edition of > Helmholtz's classic work on > the psychology and physics of vision, originally > published in German between > 1856 and 1866. Contains an Introduction by Nicholas > Wade, Professor of > Visual Psychology, University of Dundee. > > We will also be reprinting _The Thirteen Books of > Euclid's Elements_ > translated by Sir Thomas Little Heath (1908). > A monumental three-volume translation of the > _Elements_ by one of the > world's leading authorities on Greek mathematics. > > - Are there any other major figures within the > philosophy and history of > science whose major works would benefit from a > reprint collection? > > - Does anybody have any ideas about new multi-volume > collections on specific > themes within the subject areas? > > - We recently published with Routledge a > twelve-volume set entitled Works in > the Philosophy of Science 1830-1914, which includes > classic works such as > _Matter and Motion_ by James Clerk Maxwell and > _Principles of Science_ by > Stanley Jevons. Would a similar collection > containing classic works in the > history of science be beneficial to the modern > scholar? > > We would be very grateful for any suggestions/ideas > concerning the above > ideas. > > Further information about Thoemmes Press can be > found on our web-site: > > http://www.thoemmes.com > > I would be pleased to send a catalogue to anyone interested. > > Thank you, and I look forward to your comments. > > Kirsten Robertson > Thoemmes Press