Additional sessions, as well as those already proposed can be found in the forthcoming Newsletter. Check the Society webpages for the latest meeting information and session proposals! http://server.phil.vt.edu/ishpssb/ ----------- Organizers: Robert Olby and Larry Stern Title/Topic: Perspectives on the Study of Memory by Animal Experimentation This session is given to an analysis of selected attempts to explore the nature of memory by animal experimentation in the 1960s, and to contrast these with the recent work using knock-out gene technology. The papers will: (1) focus on the process whereby the early studies, now considered largely invalid, were initially accommodated and subsequently rejected, (2) discuss the criteria by which such episodes should be analyzed, (3) using the knock-out gene memory work, reflect on the relation of recent work to the studies of the 1960s. Should the historian of the sixties make use of the knowledge of the 90s in her/his analysis? Contributors: Robert Olby, "Hyden's Biochemistry of Memory — Respectable Science?" Mark Rilling, "How the Media Treated McConnell's Memory Transfer Experiments and the Promise of the Memory Pill, plus some Echoes in Contemporary Neuroscience," Larry Stern, "The Reception of Extraordinary Scientific Claims: Georges Ungar, Scotophobin, and the Molecular Code for Memory," and Sylvia Culp, "Genes for Memory? Surely not a Replay of the 60s?" Contact: Robert Olby, e-mail: [log in to unmask] ---------- Organizer: Peter Taylor Title/Topic: Genes, Gestation, and Life Experiences: Perspectives on the Social Environment in the Age of DNA What meanings are given to the term "environment," and how have these changed over time and in response to criticism? What is measured and what is explained? What methodologies are employed for collecting data and making inferences? What is the status of the different sciences and social sciences involved? How are these colored by past and present associations with political currents? With these questions in mind, this session aims to enrich scientific and popular discussion about the contribution of the environment to the development of behavioral and medical conditions over any individual's lifetime. Some paper proposals have been submitted for this session, but more are needed before the session's shape is clear. Proposals that don't fit the session as it emerges will be forwarded to the program organizer for inclusion in other sessions. Send paper proposals by December 20th. Contact: Peter Taylor, Program In Critical & Creative Thinking, Graduate College of Education (Wheatley 2-143-09), University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125, USA; Phone: (617) 287-7636; Fax: (617) 287-7664; http://omega.cc.umb.edu/~ptaylor; e-mail: [log in to unmask] -- Christian C. Young Associate Professor Department of History, Science, and Culture Mount Angel Seminary, St. Benedict, Oregon 97373 Office phone: (503) 845-3557 [log in to unmask] "The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself." --ABBA