Conferences
Conferences and workshop meetings have a tremendously important role in bringing researchers together, forging intellectual and social links, and helping to define the nature and direction of our activities. CHSTM staff organise several meetings each year, within the Centre and in collaboration with other bodies, ranging in scale from short day meetings to large international events.
We welcome proposals and suggestions from researchers interested in collaborating on conference development: please direct queries to the members of staff whose research interests are the most relevant.
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Our forthcoming meetings
Cold War/Blue Planet: the rise of the environmental sciences in a divided world
Wednesday 27 - Friday 29 June 2012
A three-day workshop on the growth of the earth sciences in Cold War context, bringing together perspectives from history, geography, intelligence, international relations, science and technology studies and environmental research.
Animal Models, Model Animals? Meanings and Practices in the Biomedical Sciences
Friday 21 September 2012
Proposals are invited for a One-Day Workshop examining the changing uses of animal models in biomedical research to be held at CHSTM on Friday 21 September 2012.
Recent meetings held at CHSTM have included:
Putting the science in fiction
Wednesday 25 April 2012
A one-day meeting bringing together leading entertainment professionals, novelists, arts scholars, and scientists to forge new relationships between the scientific community and the arts/entertainment community.
After 1918: history and politics of influenza in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries
24-26 August 2011
A joint meeting between the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Santé Publique (Paris/Rennes) and the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (Manchester), held at Rennes, France.
City weathers: meteorology and urban design 1950-2010
23-24 June 2011
Hosted jointly by CHSTM and the Manchester Architecture Research Centre (MARC), this ESRC-sponsored workshop dealt with the application of climatological and meteorological knowledge in city planning. Please visit the MARC website for further information.
BSHS Postgraduate Conference 2011
4-6 January 2011
The 2011 annual postgraduate conference of the British Society for the History of Science was held in Manchester; for more details see the conference page.
Politics and practices: the post-war history of women's health
22-23 October 2010
This two-day conference brought together researchers interested in the politics, policy and practice of women's health after 1945. See the conference page for the programme and further details.
Forensic cultures
11-12 June 2010
An international conference examining the remarkable prominence of forensic science and medicine in contemporary culture. It brings together leading scholars from history, sociology and socio-legal studies, media and cultural studies, and practitioners working within the diverse locations of forensic culture – from crime scenes and bio-medical laboratories to television studios. For more information, programme and registration form, please visit the Forensic cultures conference homepage.
Whither the history of nineteenth-century medicine?
21 May 2010
This workshop addressed the state of affairs in the historiography of nineteenth-century medicine. What are the key questions that historians are asking? What are the major themes being examined and what areas remain unexplored? The programme is available on the workshop website.
Drugs, standards and chronic illness
27-28 November 2009
A workshop forming part of the ESF Research Networking Programme 'Standard Drugs and Drug Standards'. The programme is available on the Drugs, standards and chronic illness conference pages.
Cultures of hygiene/Creole science: a two-day symposium
3-4 September 2009
Further details of this meeting.
British Society for the History of Science Postgraduate Conference 2009
7-9 January 2009
CHSTM again played host to this annual event, which gives graduate students an opportunity to meet, to share ideas and experiences, and to give papers in a friendly and supportive environment. More details are available from the Postgraduate Conference 2009 pages.
Climate Matters
9-10 October 2008
A two-day meeting exploring the anxieties associated with the terms climate and anthropogenic climate change. More details and a provisional programme are available on the Climate Matters conference website.
The Health and Welfare of the Manufactured Animal
19 September 2008
One-day workshop, aiming to bring together medical and veterinary historians interested in the historical animal. The workshop aimed to move beyond the analysis of representations of animals in order to investigate animal agency. For the programme and further details, please see the Manufactured Animal conference pages.
Veterinary Science and Empire
18 September 2008
One-day workshop addressing veterinary science across a range of colonial contexts. We aimed to reveal the character and variability of veterinary knowledge and practices that were transferred from the metropole, that flowed within and were exported from these colonial settings. For programme and registration form, please see the Veterinary Science and Empire pages.
Third Annual Conference on Science and the Public
21-22 June 2008
Building on CHSTM's emerging strength in science communication studies, this established conference moved to Manchester with an expanded two-day format. For full details, see the Science and the Public conference webpage.
Communicating Medicine: Objects and Objectives
7 March 2008
This one day workshop brought together those involved and invested in communicating
modern medicine, its social context and impact, to diverse publics through
displays of images and objects. A detailed report is now available from the Communicating Medicine conference webpage.
Nature behind glass:
historical and theoretical perspectives on natural science collections
6-8 September 2007
A CHSTM-supported symposium to be held at the Manchester Museum. For full details, see the Nature behind Glass webpage.
British Society for the History of Science Annual Conference 2007
28 June - 1 July 2007
A major meeting featuring around 100 papers and discussion sessions from across the history of science, technology and medicine, largely organised by CHSTM staff. See the BSHS website for full details of this conference.
Re-Imagining paediatrics: writing the history of paediatrics
18 May 2007
Jointly held with the British Society for the History of Child Health and Paediatrics, this workshop brought together the different constituencies studying the history of children's health: sociologists, historians and practising paediatricians. View the conference programme (pdf)
Sites and styles: Exploring the Comparative History of Cancer
22-24 March 2007
For the programme and further details, please visit the Constructing Cancers project website.
Theorica et practica: medical texts and practice in the earlier middle ages
10 March 2007
A one-day meeting organised by Clare Pilsworth. Further information, including the programme, is available on the webpage for this meeting.
Developments in mental health since 1945: international and local perspectives
23 February 2007
A one-day workshop bringing together medical historians and mental health practitioners with interests in the recent history of psychiatry and the mental health services.
Conference programme (pdf)
Computers in use: historical and social
perspectives
22-23 July 2006
This meeting featured invited speakers whose work addresses computers, their representation and their users (expert and non-expert) across a variety of periods and contexts. For the programme and further details, please visit the Computers in Use page.
History of clinical iatrogenesis: before and after Ivan Illich
19 May 2006
A one-day workshop on the history of some of the more problematic aspects of modern medicine. For the programme and further details, please visit the History of Clinical Iatrogenesis conference homepage.
Perspectives and problems: innovation in the NHS
16 March 2006
A half day workshop, organised by the Institute of Health Sciences (IHS), the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM) and the ESRC Centre for Research on Innovation and Competition (CRIC) as a contribution to the ESRC Social Science Week 2006. For further details, please visit the conference website.
Centre and periphery in the history of science, technology and medicine
11 March 2006
A one-day workshop-style meeting aimed at graduate student researchers concerned with the role of centres of innovation or construction of knowledge and their associated periphery areas. For the programme and further details please visit the Centre and Periphery conference homepage.
Challenging the altitudes
5 December 2005
A one-day conference in the history of altitude medicine. Organiser: Jorge Lossio. Find out about the programme on the Challenging the Altitudes conference homepage.
Patients and pathways: cancer therapies in historical and sociological perspective
6-8 October 2005
An international workshop exploring the history of cancer therapies in the 20th century. Find out more about the conference and the cancer history research project on the Patients and Pathways website.
Big issues, big pictures and the history of science, technology and medicine
24-25 June 2005
How might HSTM engage with some of the big issues of the contemporary world? The big issues chosen were, the meanings of science, the politics of technoscience, the need for global histories of HSTM, and the possibilities of HSTM for policy makers and publics. A workshop report by John Pickstone can be downloaded (as pdf file).
Enabling the past: new perspectives in the history of disability
17-19 June 2005
A meeting to explore diverse approaches to disability in historical contexts, consider new perspectives and offer directions for further research. Organised jointly with the Centre for the Cultural History of War. Organisers: Julie Anderson and Anna Carden-Coyne.
Mediating biomedicine: engaging, resisting, negotiating
10-11 September 2004
Workshop-style conference which explored the dynamic relationships between educators and audiences, experts and laypeople, professionals and patients. Organiser : Elizabeth Toon.
BSHS Postgraduate Conference
6-8 January 2004
The British Society for the History of Science's annual event, allowing graduate students from around the world to meet and discuss their work, came to Manchester in 2004 and was organised entirely by PhD students at CHSTM. Full details are available from the BSHS website.
Devices and designs: medical technologies in historical perspective
11-13 July 2003
A major conference on medical technology and medical innovation in history and society, sponsored by the Society for the Social History of Medicine (SSHM), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Wellcome Trust. Some of the papers are available in a volume edited by Carsten Timmermann and Julie Anderson, published by Palgrave Macmillan in November 2006.