Dear James and all, On James's final point re: other proposals: Geert Somsen (historian of science at Maastricht) and I are putting together a symposium on modes of international collaboration in science. From our abstract: When the universality of scientific knowledge was taken for granted, the international dimensions of scientific practice often followed as a corollary. Today, historians have transformed these assumptions into research questions. In what senses has past science been universal and international? How has it come to be so, or to appear so? We now see the international character of science as an accomplishment, requiring various kinds of work, and connecting rather than transcending the localities in which knowledge is produced – internationalism is itself necessarily local. This symposium examines how the internationality of science has been achieved, what forms it has taken, how it has been idealized, and what on-the-ground practices and technologies have sustained it. We're planning on breaking this up into a half-dozen or so sub-themes, including communications and information technology, capitalism, international institutions, environment, and ideology. If we're accepted, and depending on the amount of room the program committee gives us, we may have a few extra spots for presenters. If anyone here might be interested, let me know! Thanks, Evan On Thu, Apr 21, 2016 at 4:14 PM, James Sumner <james.sumner@manchester.ac.uk

wrote:

Dear SIGCIS members

I'm writing -- inevitably, far too close to the deadline -- to gauge whether there is interest in offering a symposium submission to the 25th International Congress of History of Science and Technology in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 23-29 July 2017, <http://www.ichst2017.sbhc.org.br/>.

This is the successor to the 24th Congress held in Manchester in 2013, for which I co-chaired the Local Organising Committee and which was the single largest conference in the field to date, with over 1750 participants. The 2013 programme was strong on computing and related themes -- see <http://www.ichstm2013.co.uk/programme/guide/m/discipline.html#a3> -- and included a mathematical, algorithmic and machine-focused symposium, organised by Maarten Bullynck, Liesbeth De Mol and Marie-José Durand-Richard; a symposium on COMECON technology, put together by Helena Durnova and Slawomir Lotysz for ICOHTEC (whose annual meeting occurred as a satellite to the Congress, as will again happen in Rio); and a symposium on computing applications in various contexts which I organised along with Miguel Garcia-Sancho.

The Congress has a more global reach than most forums in the history of science and technology, and tends to be inclusive in its programming selection. There will be a separate call for stand-alone papers, but the call for symposia closes relatively soon, on Saturday 30 April. A "symposium" in Congress parlance is a 90-minute thematic session, or group of linked sessions (the largest symposia run for four sessions a day over several days!) consisting of papers and, optionally, commentaries.

The symposium call does not require individual paper titles/abstracts, or a definite list of contributors, but does require an indicative contributor list and a short general abstract. One inviolate rule is that the organisation of the symposium must be a collaborative effort between at least two contributors representing different countries.

If anyone is interested in contributing or collaborating, I'd be grateful if you would let me know directly. (I'd also be interested to hear news of any proposals for Rio which have already been settled, whether for the Congress or ICOHTEC call.)

All best James

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-- Evan Hepler-Smith Doctoral Candidate, History of Science Princeton University 339.203.1096 evanheplersmith.com