Plastic Environments

Description

The International Congress of History of Science and Technology, held every four years, is the world’s premier meeting for history of science and technology. The 27th Congress will be held as a hybrid in-person and online event at the University of Otago’s Dunedin campus in June-July 2025. Delegates registered for virtual participation will be able to both present and attend online. The Congress will bring together a diverse group of the world’s leading scholars and students in the fields of history of science, technology, and medicine as well as related disciplines. It will be the first time the Congress has been held in Australasia and only the second time in the Southern Hemisphere. Known for its evolutionarily distinctive flora and fauna, dynamic geology, pioneering industries, and medical innovations, New Zealand has much to offer the conference delegates. The country’s contribution to the history of science and technology began when Māori, the first settlers, used the sky and oceanographic knowledge as navigational indicators to voyage across vast distances in the Pacific Ocean. We are planning for upwards of 1000 delegates (most of them in-person) to participate in an exciting programme, themed Peoples, Places, Exchanges, and Circulation. One of the most important trends in the field of the history of science, technology, and medicine has been a move towards more integrated, expansive, and connected histories that seek to include the participation of the entire world. Our Congress theme strives to further this development and to link different disciplines and perspectives. We also want to provide an opportunity for Indigenous voices, particularly those of Māori, to be heard. The Congress theme emphasizes the importance of situating local knowledge and practices in specific contexts as well as local or regional history of science, technology, and medicine in a global context. What difference does a global perspective make for local, national, and regional studies in the history of science, technology, and medicine? How are local and global contexts related? How do local histories change if they are analyzed using a different scale of analysis, for example a regional or global framework? The theme, however, also stresses the importance of circulation or back-and-forth movement across borders involving encounters and exchanges. We seek contributions that explore movement or flow between regions, cultures, or societies, specifically the circulation, exchange, and transit of knowledge, techniques, texts, peoples, and material objects. How has this interaction resulted in new configurations in the history of science, technology, and medicine? Nevertheless, circulation does not mean that flows are always smooth. Exchange and circulation involve local actors, who, in some cases have played an important role as go-betweens or mediators between different knowledge systems, but also as mediators between producers and consumers around the world. We particularly welcome contributions that explore the historical role of Indigenous peoples in the history of science, technology, and medicine. Overall, our theme stresses inclusive histories exploring peoples, places, exchanges, and circulation in the history of science, technology, and medicine from around the world.

Lecturers