Diplomatic Studies of Science: The Interplay of Science, Technology, and International Affairs after the Second World War
Monday, November 8, 2021–Tuesday, November 9, 2021
9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. CET (UTC +1)
Maison de la Chimie
28, Rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris, France
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Soviet postage stamp commemorating the Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, 1958.
Science History Institute
The 2021 Gordon Cain Conference focuses on the fascinating interplay of science, technology, and international affairs after the Second World War. By doing so, it marks the emergence of diplomatic studies of science as a field at the intersection of science and technology studies, history of science, diplomatic history, and international politics. The Science History Institute and Gordon Cain Conference fellow Maria Rentetzi invite contributions that explore the ways science and diplomacy have been coproduced throughout the second half of the 20th century to the present.
Conference Organizer
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Courtesy of Maria Rentetzi
Maria Rentetzi is the chair for science, technology and gender studies in the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Theology at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. She has been trained as a physicist and as a historian of science and technology. Her research focuses on two intertwined areas of inquiry: the investigation of the politically and historically situated character of technoscience and the critical examination of gender as a major analytic category in technoscientific endeavors. As part of her ERC Consolidator Grant project Rentetzi currently leads the development of what she calls “The Diplomatic Studies of Science.” This is a highly interdisciplinary field of research at the intersection of science and technology studies, history of science, diplomatic history, political sciences, and international affairs. Before joining FAU, she was a guest professor at the Technische Universität Berlin and a Professor for History and Sociology of Science and Technology at the National Technical University of Athens.
Call for Abstracts
To submit a paper to the 2021 Cain Conference, please send a 250-word abstract and a two-page CV to cainconference2021@sciencehistory.org. The deadline for submissions is May 31, 2021. Decisions will be made by June 30, 2021.
Travel and accommodation subsidies will be available to contributors.
Following the conference, Rentetzi will invite contributors to submit draft manuscripts of approximately 5,000 words for publication in an edited volume.
More Information
Please send all inquiries to Daniel Jon Mitchell, director of the Institute’s Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry, at dmitchell@sciencehistory.org.
About the Gordon Cain Conference
The Gordon Cain Conference is a gathering of scholars in the history of science and related fields. Each conference is organized by an eminent scholar who worked with staff to develop a theme of broad contemporary relevance. Centered on a topic chosen by the conference organizer, the conference consists of an evening public lecture, a symposium, and a collected volume. It is hosted by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry and supported by a generous gift from Gordon Cain.
- Past Conferences, 1998−2018
2018
Where to Put It All? Some Thoughts about Collections, Museums, and History
Organized by Steven Conn, Miami University
2017
Chemistry in the Americas, 1500–1800
Organized by John Christie, University of Oxford, and Carin Berkowitz, Science History Institute
My Data, My Self: A Century of Self-Tracking Health Technologies
Organized by Deanna Day, Amanda L. Mahoney, and Ramya M. Rajagopalan, Science History Institute
2016
Life in the Universe: Past and Present
Organized by David DeVorkin, National Air and Space Museum
2015
Curators, Popularizers, and Showmen: Science in Nineteenth-Century Anglo-American Exhibitions and Museums
Organized by Bernard Lightman, York University
2014
Chemical Reactions: Chemistry and Global History
Organized by Lissa Roberts, University of Twente
2013
Sensing Change: Environmental Issues in Art and Science
Organized by Dehlia Hannah, Arizona State University
2012
E pluribus unum: Bringing Biological Parts and Wholes into Philosophical Perspective
Organized by Lynn Nyhart, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Scott Lidgard, Field Museum of Natural History
2011
Chemical Weather and Chemical Climate: Body, Place, Planet in Historical Perspective
Organized by Jim Fleming, Colby College
Request the collected volume.
2010
Personalizing Medicine Here and Now: Empirical Studies of Post-Genomic Medicine
Organized by Alberto Cambrosio, McGill University
2009
Technology Transfer and Diffusion in Comparative Perspective
Organized by Bruce Seely, Michigan Technological University
2008
The Dilemma of Dual Use
Organized by Roy MacLeod, University of Sydney
2007
New Chemical Bodies
Organized by Jody A. Roberts, Science History Institute
Request the whitepaper.
2006
Towards a History and Philosophy of Expertise
Organized by Christopher Hamlin, University of Notre Dame
2005
Nano before There Was Nano: Historical Perspectives on the Constituent Communities of Nanotechnology
Organized by Cyrus C. M. Mody, Cornell University
2004
City, Industry, and Environment in Transatlantic Perspective
Organized by Donna Rilling, State University of New York at Stony Brook
2003
Risk and Safety in Medical Innovation
Organized by Arthur Daemmrich, Cornell University2002
Industry and Governance: Changing Relations among Science-Based Corporations, Government, and the Public
Organized by Arthur Daemmrich, Cornell University
2001
The Chemical Industry and the Environment
Organized by Christian W. Simon, University of Basel, Switzerland
1999
Pharmaceutical Innovation: Revolutionizing Human Health
Organized by David B. Sicilia, University of Maryland
1998
The Twentieth-Century American Chemical Industry
Organized by Stephen B. Adams, Lucent Technologies