The Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) offers a diverse program of public events, including colloquia, seminars, and workshops. Our Institute’s Colloquium is open and free to attend. Our other events often require registration or invitation—please check each individual event for details.
September 2020
- 12:00 to 13:30
- Digital Humanities Workshop
Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch
Contact and Registration
Please email Research IT Group for the Zoom link.
All are welcome to attend, regardless of prior experience of the digital humanities. Registration is required for external participants. To register, and for further information on the Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch series email Research IT Group.
About This Series
Brown Bag Lunch is a bi-weekly meeting of researchers at the MPIWG who use or want to learn more about digital research methods, broadly encompassed by the term Digital Humanities. In the Brown Bag Lunch meetings, researchers can discuss tools, share ideas and experiences (good and bad), and learn from each other. Each session explores a new topic; workshops are usually interactive, and we often invite external speakers. Please feel free to bring your lunch, and a laptop or notebook in order to participate!
- 14:00 to 15:30
- Institute's Colloquium
Covid-19 in the Rearview Mirror? Pandemics and Historical Perspective
Organizer(s)Contact and Registration
This event will take place online: the meeting link will be sent to Institute members via MPIWG-Announce the day before the event.
For further information or to request the meeting link (if you are an external participant), please contact Lisa Onaga and/or Stephanie Hood.
About This Series
The Institute’s Colloquium occurs once per month during the academic year. No prior reading or preparation is required for this event series.
- 14:00 to 15:30
- Workshop
RISE & SHINE: Tool Developers Workshop
Organizer(s)Contact and Registration
Please note that this workshop will take place on Zoom and pre-registration is required. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email.
The up-to-date workshop program is available here. For further information, please contact Sean Wang.
- 14:00 to 15:00
- Art of Judgement: A Speakers’ Series
Bodily Aspects of Measurement
Organizer(s)Contact and Registration
In case you have questions about the discussion group or a specific session feel free to contact Wilko Hardenberg.
As this event is taking place on Zoom, please register with Wilko Hardenberg who will be glad to share the Zoom link and password with you.
- 14:00 to 15:30
Data Collection, Organization, and Presentation in Ming-Qing Local Gazetteers
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members; those from other Departments and Research Groups are welcome! Due to space restrictions, we ask non-Dept. III participants to register in advance. Please send an email to event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de if you would like to attend. We have ten spaces for visitors outside of the department.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquium series runs weekly (usually Tuesdays) during the semester. The paper for pre-reading is circulated by email one week in advance.
October 2020
- 12:00 to 13:30
- Digital Humanities Workshop
Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch
Contact and Registration
Please email Research IT Group for the Zoom link.
All are welcome to attend, regardless of prior experience of the digital humanities. Registration is required for external participants. To register, and for further information on the Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch series email Research IT Group.
About This Series
Brown Bag Lunch is a bi-weekly meeting of researchers at the MPIWG who use or want to learn more about digital research methods, broadly encompassed by the term Digital Humanities. In the Brown Bag Lunch meetings, researchers can discuss tools, share ideas and experiences (good and bad), and learn from each other. Each session explores a new topic; workshops are usually interactive, and we often invite external speakers. Please feel free to bring your lunch, and a laptop or notebook in order to participate!
- 14:00 to 15:30
Becoming Visible: Insects and Infrastructures in Colonial Taiwan
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members; those from other Departments and Research Groups are welcome! Due to space restrictions, we ask non-Dept. III participants to register in advance. Please send an email to event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de if you would like to attend. We have ten spaces for visitors outside of the department.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquium series runs weekly (usually Tuesdays) during the semester. The paper for pre-reading is circulated by email one week in advance.
- 14:00 to 15:30
- Institute's Colloquium
What Does Race Have to Do with the History of Science?
Organizer(s)Contact and Registration
This event will take place online. For further information, please contact Lisa Onaga and/or Stephanie Hood.
About This Series
The Institute’s Colloquium occurs once per month during the academic year. No prior reading or preparation is required for this event series.
Crisis and Capacity: Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Several months have passed since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. People have experienced the effects of the virus’ rapid global spread: the politicization of medicine, worldwide shortages of and bidding wars for protective equipment, disputes and uneven public health messaging about prevention and treatments, disproportionate distributions of health risks in populations, and mass mortality. While many issues related to the Covid-19 outbreak are dealt with by scientists and health practitioners—such as the search for treatments and cures—other concerns command the expertise of scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
During the pandemic, the History of Science ON CALL project at the MPIWG has therefore striven to amplify voices from disciplines such as history, sociology, literature, and anthropology, which provide crucial capacity and perspective for scholarly and public understanding. The project has required us to pay close attention to the developing discourse in the international academic community during the pandemic. This has exposed an opportunity to proactively facilitate a conversation in Europe—and particularly in Germany—that articulates the critical role of the humanities and social sciences in times of crisis.
The Institute’s Colloquium 2020/21 will therefore comprise a program that facilitates conversations around how humanities and social sciences scholars might deliberately or inadvertently form a long view of critical contemporary issues. The series has two key aims:
- Normalize reflexive intellectual discussions about challenging topics about inequalities such as race or gender, with a particular focus on fostering positive local impact
- Connect to other dialogues within and beyond Berlin about plural histories and sociologies of chronic and acute crises
Ultimately, the program seeks to bring to the fore various insights into local, regional, and international cooperation and academic work prompted by Covid-19.
- 11:00 to 13:30
- Workshop
The Socio-Material History of Masked Societies in East Asia: A Virtual Workshop
Organizer(s)Contact and Registration
To join this virtual workshop, please email event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de to register by 21 October 2020.
For further question, please contact Jaehwan Hyun.
- 12:00 to 13:30
- Digital Humanities Workshop
Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch
Contact and Registration
Please email Research IT Group for the Zoom link.
All are welcome to attend, regardless of prior experience of the digital humanities. Registration is required for external participants. To register, and for further information on the Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch series email Research IT Group.
About This Series
Brown Bag Lunch is a bi-weekly meeting of researchers at the MPIWG who use or want to learn more about digital research methods, broadly encompassed by the term Digital Humanities. In the Brown Bag Lunch meetings, researchers can discuss tools, share ideas and experiences (good and bad), and learn from each other. Each session explores a new topic; workshops are usually interactive, and we often invite external speakers. Please feel free to bring your lunch, and a laptop or notebook in order to participate!
- 14:00 to 15:30
Mapping China in 18th Century: Hand-drawn Maps from the "Qing Atlas Tradition" at the Museum am Rothenbaum in Hamburg
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members; those from other Departments and Research Groups are welcome! Due to space restrictions, we ask non-Dept. III participants to register in advance. Please send an email to event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de if you would like to attend. We have ten spaces for visitors outside of the department.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquium series runs weekly (usually Tuesdays) during the semester. The paper for pre-reading is circulated by email one week in advance.
- 14:00 to 15:00
- Art of Judgement: A Speakers’ Series
Topic TBC
Organizer(s)Contact and Registration
In case you have questions about the discussion group or a specific session feel free to contact Wilko Hardenberg.
As this event is taking place on Zoom, please register with Wilko Hardenberg who will be glad to share the Zoom link and password with you.
November 2020
- 14:00 to 15:30
“The Octave Pleases Everybody”: Marin Mersenne and the Universality of Harmony
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members; those from other Departments and Research Groups are welcome! Due to space restrictions, we ask non-Dept. III participants to register in advance. Please send an email to event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de if you would like to attend. We have ten spaces for visitors outside of the department.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquium series runs weekly (usually Tuesdays) during the semester. The paper for pre-reading is circulated by email one week in advance.
- 12:00 to 13:30
- Digital Humanities Workshop
Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch
Contact and Registration
Please email Research IT Group for the Zoom link.
All are welcome to attend, regardless of prior experience of the digital humanities. Registration is required for external participants. To register, and for further information on the Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch series email Research IT Group.
About This Series
Brown Bag Lunch is a bi-weekly meeting of researchers at the MPIWG who use or want to learn more about digital research methods, broadly encompassed by the term Digital Humanities. In the Brown Bag Lunch meetings, researchers can discuss tools, share ideas and experiences (good and bad), and learn from each other. Each session explores a new topic; workshops are usually interactive, and we often invite external speakers. Please feel free to bring your lunch, and a laptop or notebook in order to participate!
- 14:00 to 15:30
Making Animal Materialities in Time
- Dept. III
- Several Speakers
- Laurence Douny
- Lisa Onaga
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members; those from other Departments and Research Groups are welcome! Due to space restrictions, we ask non-Dept. III participants to register in advance. Please send an email to event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de if you would like to attend. We have ten spaces for visitors outside of the department.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquium series runs weekly (usually Tuesdays) during the semester. The paper for pre-reading is circulated by email one week in advance.
- 14:00 to 15:30
- Institute's Colloquium
Gendered Knowledges in Times of Crisis
Organizer(s)Contact and Registration
This event will take place online. For further information, please contact Lisa Onaga and/or Stephanie Hood.
About This Series
The Institute’s Colloquium occurs once per month during the academic year. No prior reading or preparation is required for this event series.
Crisis and Capacity: Perspectives in the Humanities and Social Sciences
Several months have passed since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. People have experienced the effects of the virus’ rapid global spread: the politicization of medicine, worldwide shortages of and bidding wars for protective equipment, disputes and uneven public health messaging about prevention and treatments, disproportionate distributions of health risks in populations, and mass mortality. While many issues related to the Covid-19 outbreak are dealt with by scientists and health practitioners—such as the search for treatments and cures—other concerns command the expertise of scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
During the pandemic, the History of Science ON CALL project at the MPIWG has therefore striven to amplify voices from disciplines such as history, sociology, literature, and anthropology, which provide crucial capacity and perspective for scholarly and public understanding. The project has required us to pay close attention to the developing discourse in the international academic community during the pandemic. This has exposed an opportunity to proactively facilitate a conversation in Europe—and particularly in Germany—that articulates the critical role of the humanities and social sciences in times of crisis.
The Institute’s Colloquium 2020/21 will therefore comprise a program that facilitates conversations around how humanities and social sciences scholars might deliberately or inadvertently form a long view of critical contemporary issues. The series has two key aims:
- Normalize reflexive intellectual discussions about challenging topics about inequalities such as race or gender, with a particular focus on fostering positive local impact
- Connect to other dialogues within and beyond Berlin about plural histories and sociologies of chronic and acute crises
Ultimately, the program seeks to bring to the fore various insights into local, regional, and international cooperation and academic work prompted by Covid-19.
- 12:00 to 13:30
- Digital Humanities Workshop
Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch
Contact and Registration
Please email Research IT Group for the Zoom link.
All are welcome to attend, regardless of prior experience of the digital humanities. Registration is required for external participants. To register, and for further information on the Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch series email Research IT Group.
About This Series
Brown Bag Lunch is a bi-weekly meeting of researchers at the MPIWG who use or want to learn more about digital research methods, broadly encompassed by the term Digital Humanities. In the Brown Bag Lunch meetings, researchers can discuss tools, share ideas and experiences (good and bad), and learn from each other. Each session explores a new topic; workshops are usually interactive, and we often invite external speakers. Please feel free to bring your lunch, and a laptop or notebook in order to participate!
- 14:00 to 15:30
Empire and Information: How to be Understood in the Wake of the Mongol Empire’s Fall
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members; those from other Departments and Research Groups are welcome! Due to space restrictions, we ask non-Dept. III participants to register in advance. Please send an email to event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de if you would like to attend. We have ten spaces for visitors outside of the department.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquium series runs weekly (usually Tuesdays) during the semester. The paper for pre-reading is circulated by email one week in advance.
- 14:00 to 15:00
- Art of Judgement: A Speakers’ Series
Topic TBC
Organizer(s)Contact and Registration
In case you have questions about the discussion group or a specific session feel free to contact Wilko Hardenberg.
As this event is taking place on Zoom, please register with Wilko Hardenberg who will be glad to share the Zoom link and password with you.
December 2020
- 14:00 to 15:30
Cultural translation processes in 16th century Tunisia: the case of ´Alī b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Sharafī from Sfax
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members; those from other Departments and Research Groups are welcome! Due to space restrictions, we ask non-Dept. III participants to register in advance. Please send an email to event_dept3@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de if you would like to attend. We have ten spaces for visitors outside of the department.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquium series runs weekly (usually Tuesdays) during the semester. The paper for pre-reading is circulated by email one week in advance.