History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM) Network Ireland’s next online seminar will take place on 3 May, 3-4 pm.
Abstract
‘When the Covid-19 pandemic began to emerge in early 2020, people began seeking answers to its possible trajectory and societal impact, as well as trying to define its biological identity and find treatments and vaccinations. A global network of humanities scholars who had specialised in researching the 1918-19 influenza pandemic and other historic epidemics found themselves being called on to engage with media and governmental or specialist organisations, drawing on their research to inform the current crisis. This paper tells some of their stories, including Ida’s own.’
Title: Gentleman Burglars and Sorceresses: Late Victorian Crime Fiction and the Rise of the Criminal Mastermind.
This interdisciplinary event, held at Queen’s University Belfast (16th June), seeks to bring together nineteenth-century scholars from across the island of Ireland. This will be an inclusive and welcoming day with the goal of allowing networking and the sharing of resources, methodologies and critical ideas among our growing community of nineteenth-century scholars. We welcome scholars at all levels, including postgraduate and early-career researchers. The event will include an early career workshop, a reading group and a keynote by Professor Nick Daly. The day will conclude with a wine reception and dinner.
This year’s theme can be interpreted broadly. We are calling for 7-10 minute work-in-progress papers on any aspect of nineteenth-century studies from researchers across a broad range of specialisms, including literature and modern languages, history (including the history of art and science), politics, geography, theatre studies, and those who work at the interface of different disciplines. We look forward to a broad-ranging discussion in which we might situate our research in temporal, local, national, global, disciplinary/ interdisciplinary terms, in the context of genre, and in relation to the politics of class, ethnicity and gender. You are also welcome to register without delivering a paper.
. Please send a paper title with your university affiliation and 150-word abstract to Dr Justin Livingstone (j.livingstone@qub.ac.uk) by 12th of May 2023, with INNS in the email heading. This event is supported by the School of Arts, English and Languages. We look forward to welcoming you to Queen’s in June.
Author James Poskett, Associate Professor in the History of Science and Technology at the University of Warwick, will discuss his new book of ‘Horizons: A Global History of Science’ (Penguin, 2022).
In conversation with Diarmid Finnegan, Reader in Human Geography at Queen’s University Belfast.
Nowlan Digitisation Scheme. This scheme, which was set up thanks to a bequest from the late Prof. Kevin Nowlan aims to expand the range of digitised historical sources available through open and free access to researchers, for private study or education purposes and is open until 12th April.
The Decade of Centenaries Bursary scheme. This scheme aims to encourage new local research and local history studies (local, national and regional) as a means of recognising the significant contribution of local historians in furthering fields of study relating to the struggle for independence and the civil war period within their communities and is open until 5th April.
The Irish Committee of Historical Sciences will host a symposium at the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland at Helen Roe Theatre, Society House, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 at 2pm on Saturday 25th February 2023. The symposium will look at Historians and National Archives. Our speakers at the symposium will be Dr. Ciarán Wallace of Trinity College Dublin, Zoë Reid, Keeper of Collection Care and Public Services, National Archives of Ireland, and Stephen Scarth, Head of Public Services at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The meeting will be chaired by Professor Steven Ellis of NUI Galway and Chair of the ICHS.
This year marks the centenary of the foundation of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, as well as the 45th anniversary of the opening of the doors of the National Archives of Ireland, following the amalgamation of the Public Records Office of Ireland and the State Papers Office under the National Archives Act of 1986. Both repositories inherited their National Archives function from the PROI founded in 1867. From the beginning, what was available for consultation, who had access to public records and their interpretation in the contested arena of Irish history proved controversial. Historians have played a role in forming policy and public opinion, being critics of government policy towards archives, as well as advocating for access and resources for repositories.
With the recent Decade of Centenaries the issue of digital inclusion has come to the fore, with a number of projects such as the large scale digitization of records at the Military Archives of Ireland, or the Beyond 2022 project. This symposium will examine how historians, conservators and archivists can come together to advocate for access, resources and digital inclusion into the future.
All are welcome to attend.
For more information contact our secretary, Kieran Hoare, at kieran.hoare@nuigalway.ie
Dr Elizabethanne Boran, Edward Worth Library ‘Science in Trinity College Dublin in the seventeenth century’
Online, 1 March, 15.00-16.00hrs
All welcome
Abstract: This paper examines the teaching of science at Trinity College, Dublin in the seventeenth century. It focuses on three periods: from the foundation of the University of Dublin in 1592 to the 1641 rebellion; Cromwellian innovations of the 1650s; and the impact of the new science in the later seventeenth century. By reconstructing the college’s early library collections, in conjunction with staff and student notebooks, it explores the factors affecting the teaching of the scientific curriculum up to 1641, focusing in particular on the dominance of Ramism. The impact members of the reformist circle of Samuel Hartlib (1600- 82), such as Miles Symner (d. 1686), in attempting, in the 1650s, to implement a Baconian-inspired agenda devoted to experimental and applied learning, is likewise investigated. Finally, by using the Loan Books for the college library in the 1680s and 1690s, and the papers of the Dublin Philosophical Society from the 1680s onwards, the paper illustrates the availability and access to works of the new science, and outlines the dominant themes and favoured authors of books borrowed by members of Trinity College Dublin’s. The paper ends with an analysis of official attitudes to the relationship between science and religion in the last decade of the seventeenth century.
Irish Association of Professional Historians, Friday, 24 February 2023
Shut Up and Write Workshop
Are you struggling to write ‘that’ Chapter, Article or Abstract? Do you struggle to put your ideas on paper or, even worse, are you struggling to get into the groove of writing? Join us for ’Shut Up and Write’, an IAPH writing workshop for PhD students who need help kickstarting or maintaining their writing habit. ’SUAW’ is as simple as it sounds. We meet for several hours, put all distractions aside and write for 45 minutes uninterrupted. Nothing is needed except your laptop or, if you’re old school, a pen & paper. This is a practical workshop designed to a) provide a collaborative space to write b) address any pressing issues PhD students have when it comes to writing and/or publishing their work. Held in Ulster University’s new Belfast campus (just a stone throw away from the famous St. George’s market), this four hour event is split between a writing workshop and a writing Q&A forum.
The tentative timetable is: 11am: Meet and Greet/Set Writing Intentions 11.15am – 12pm: First Writing Bloc 12.15pm – 12.30pm: Tea Break (provided free of charge) 12.30 – 1.15pm: Second Writing Bloc 1.15pm-2pm: Lunch (provided free of charge) 2pm-3pm: Q&A on writing (how to publish, how to write PhD chapters, how to edit etc.)
This is a great opportunity for IAPH members to improve their writing, network with fellow PhD students and to gain an insight into the academic process.
Costs & Registration This event is free for all IAPH members but registration is essential. Please register in advance by emailing info@irishhistorians.ie with the subject heading Workshop Registration. There is a €5 charge for non-IAPH members to cover catering.
Host Bio: Dr. Conor Heffernan is a Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport at Ulster University. Conor finished his PhD in History at University College Dublin in 2019. In that time he has published over 50 academic articles and chapters, two single authored books and one co-edited book. Outside of academia Conor holds a regular writing position with Barbend.com
