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.
March 2023
- 16:00 to 17:30
- Seminar
Science and Supersession
- Max Planck Research Group (Premodern Sciences)
- Elly Truitt
AddressMax-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Contact and Registration
The sessions will take place monthly on Fridays at 16:00–17:30 in an online or hybrid format. For more details, please contact us at science_conversation@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
About This Series
The monthly seminar "Early Science in Conversation" invites experts from different fields and with varied perspectives to examine the ways in which science defines itself and what the history of science is as a discipline. We will especially encourage collective reasoning about conceptions of science and the methodologies with which we inquire about our sources. Among other things, we will reflect on what have been regarded as premodern scientific and proto-scientific practices, their methods, and their techniques. This interdisciplinary encounter seeks to deepen the history of science’s awareness of its own agenda and to open up new pathways. The conversational format, along with lectures and discussions of work in progress, aims to build fruitful connections across the intellectual spectrum of the MPIWG.
- 12:00 to 13:00
- Workshop
Digital Humanities Brown Bag Lunch
- 13:30 to 15:00
- Colloquium
Doorkeepers: A Case Study in the Ability and Authority of Lowly Intermediaries in Ming China (1368–1644)
Organizer(s)AddressBoltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265 & OnlineContact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members. We additionally have room for ten guests and welcome those who wish to join us from other Departments and Research Groups. Please register in advance by emailing EVENT_DEPT3@MPIWG-BERLIN.MPG.DE with subject heading "RSVP Dept III Colloquium" and the date of the colloquium you wish to attend.About This Series
The Department III Colloquia are regular meetings for the department members to discuss our work in progress, to comment, and to help each other in our writing process. The format is a discussion of a pre-circulated paper, led by an introductory comment by an external discussant.
- 15:00 to 17:00
- Presentation
The Pyramid of Knowledge: Tracing the Roots of the Intellectual Background of the Florentine "Accademia Del Cimento"
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 219Contact and Registration
For questions please contact Matteo Valleriani (valleriani@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de)
April 2023
- 11:00 to 12:30
- Lecture
Containing Schistosomes: On Questing for Containment among Overspilling Bodies, Latrines and Lakes in Rural Uganda
Organizer(s)AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
To register, and to obtain the readings and zoom link, please write to either Tamar Novick or Maria Pirogovskaya
About This Series
The spring “Waste & Body” invited talk series explores the crossroads of the history and anthropology of waste and the body. It is organised as part of “The Waste of the Body” project in Department III at the MPIWG, and brings scholars from different domains of expertise to present their work that challenges our understanding of waste and the limits of the more-than-human body.
- 15:00 to 16:30
- Talk
Some Questions about the new DSM-5-TR diagnosis of Prolonged Grief Disorder
Organizer(s)AddressMax Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomZoom/Online Meeting PlatformContact and Registration
The seminar series is open to all. To receive the zoom link, please email Birgitta von Mallinckrodt (OFFICEKEUCK@MPIWG-BERLIN.MPG.DE).
- 16:30 to 18:00
- Reading Group
Reading Group: Animal Fibers as Sources of Inquiry
Organizer(s)AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 141Contact and Registration
All are welcome! To indicate your interest in joining this reading group and to receive a copy of the readings, please contact Isabela Dornelas at ideoliveiradornelas@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
- 12:00 to 13:00
- Lecture
Structures of Research in the Max Planck Society 1948–2002
Organizer(s)AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 219Contact and Registration
If you would like to attend the lectures in person or receive the zoom link, please register at: dept1-events@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
About This Series
This event is part of the Colloquium Series Department I—2023.
- 13:30 to 15:00
- Colloquium
Experimental Infrastructures of Entomological Care in Colonial Taiwan: Sericultural Acclimatization
Organizer(s)AddressBoltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265 & OnlineContact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members. We additionally have room for ten guests and welcome those who wish to join us from other Departments and Research Groups.
Please register in advance by emailing EVENT_DEPT3@MPIWG-BERLIN.MPG.DE with subject heading "RSVP Dept III Colloquium" and the date of the colloquium you wish to attend.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquia are regular meetings for the department members to discuss our work in progress, to comment, and to help each other in our writing process. The format is a discussion of a pre-circulated paper, led by an introductory comment by an external discussant.
- 14:00 to 15:30
- Roundtable
Roundtable: Global Perspectives on China’s Scientific Rise and Reach
- Lise Meitner Research Group
- Several Speakers
- Anna Lisa Ahlers
- Sari Hanafi (American University of Beirut)
- Daniel Murphy (Harvard Kennedy School)
- Maria Elena Rodriguez (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro)
- Anastas Vangeli (School of Economics and Business, Ljubljana)
AddressMax Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomZoom/Online Meeting PlatformContact and Registration
Please register at the following link:
https://zoom.us/j/96109417018?pwd=djZ5cC9uM1dhS2pzRmVwVlhjZkZHdz09This event is part of the LMRG & BCCN Lecture Series "China—The New Science Superpower?" For further information about the series, specific sessions, or questions concerning registration, please contact office-ahlers@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
About This Series
China’s push to become a leading science power is unprecedented in its speed, scope and, arguably, success. Reactions to China’s rise in global science are dichotomous: some anticipate that science made in China may come to dominate global academia while others deem it impossible to achieve scientific leadership under an authoritarian regime. A focus on rankings and statistics alone is apparently not enough to grasp the origins, characteristics, and the possible futures of China as a science superpower.
This monthly lecture series will bring together fresh empirical insights and intriguing theoretical reflections about the development of the science system in the People’s Republic of China and its global integration. Representing a variety of social science perspectives, our guest speakers will explore the evolution of Chinese science policy, interactions of societal norms and values and academia in the PRC, factors that enable or constrain scientific innovation, the global reception of scientific output and investment from China, the securitization of international collaboration, and much more.
- 09:00 to 18:30
- Conference
Albert the Great on the Human Being: An Inter-disciplinary Colloquium
- Max Planck Research Group (Premodern Sciences)
- Several Speakers
- Fabio Dominik De Gregorio
- Dominic Dold
- Katja Krause
- Tracy Wietecha
- Isabelle Moulin
- Sebastien Milazzo
- Amos Bertolacci
- Alessandra Beccarisi
- Paul D. Hellmeier
- Thérèse Scarpelli Cory
- Paloma Hernández Rubio
- Hans-Joachim Schmidt
- Bernhard Blankenhorn
- Tobias Hoffmann
- Franklin Harkins
- Meghan Duke
Organizer(s)- Katja Krause
- Bernhard Blankenhorn
AddressAvenue de l'Europe 20, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
RoomMiséricorde 03, room 3115Contact and Registration
To register please contact Bernhard Blankenhorn (bernhard.blankenhorn@unifr.ch) or Dominic Spiekermann (dominic.spiekermann@unifr.ch).
May 2023
- 11:00 to 12:30
- Lecture
Soap Bones
Organizer(s)AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265Contact and Registration
To register, and to obtain the readings and zoom link, please write to either Tamar Novick or Maria Pirogovskaya
About This Series
The spring “Waste & Body” invited talk series explores the crossroads of the history and anthropology of waste and the body. It is organised as part of “The Waste of the Body” project in Department III at the MPIWG, and brings scholars from different domains of expertise to present their work that challenges our understanding of waste and the limits of the more-than-human body.
- 16:00 to 17:30
- Seminar
Title TBC
- Max Planck Research Group (Premodern Sciences)
- Jennifer Rampling
AddressMax-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Contact and Registration
The sessions will take place monthly on Fridays at 16:00–17:30 in an online or hybrid format. For more details, please contact us at science_conversation@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
About This Series
The monthly seminar "Early Science in Conversation" invites experts from different fields and with varied perspectives to examine the ways in which science defines itself and what the history of science is as a discipline. We will especially encourage collective reasoning about conceptions of science and the methodologies with which we inquire about our sources. Among other things, we will reflect on what have been regarded as premodern scientific and proto-scientific practices, their methods, and their techniques. This interdisciplinary encounter seeks to deepen the history of science’s awareness of its own agenda and to open up new pathways. The conversational format, along with lectures and discussions of work in progress, aims to build fruitful connections across the intellectual spectrum of the MPIWG.
- 16:00 to 18:00
- Book Presentation
Visions of New Science: On the Dialogical Poetry of Dante Alighieri and Johannes Kepler
AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 219Contact and Registration
If you would like to attend the reading, please register at this email address: dept1-events@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de
Zoom Link: HTTPS://ZOOM.US/J/96929785165
The Institute will provide childcare during the event upon timely request.
With your participation you agree to the recording of photos or videos during the event for documentation purposes.
Information on the protection of your data can be found on our website at ww.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/datenschutz.- 10:30 to 12:30
- Colloquium
Whose History Are We Reading? Bringing (Local) Knowledge from Africa into the Global Discourse
Organizer(s)AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 219Contact and Registration
If you would like to attend the lectures in person or receive the zoom link, please register at: dept1-events@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
About This Series
This event is part of the Colloquium Series Department I—2023.
- 13:30 to 15:00
- Colloquium
Empire under the Night Sky: Recording Field Allocation in Chinese Local Gazetteers
- Dept. III
- Several Speakers
- Shih-Pei Chen
- Tristan G. Brown
- Chuanyi Lyu
Organizer(s)AddressBoltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 265 & OnlineContact and Registration
Attendance is mandatory for Department III members. We additionally have room for ten guests and welcome those who wish to join us from other Departments and Research Groups.
Please register in advance by emailing EVENT_DEPT3@MPIWG-BERLIN.MPG.DE with subject heading "RSVP Dept III Colloquium" and the date of the colloquium you wish to attend.
About This Series
The Department III Colloquia are regular meetings for the department members to discuss our work in progress, to comment, and to help each other in our writing process. The format is a discussion of a pre-circulated paper, led by an introductory comment by an external discussant.
- 16:30 to 18:00
- Reading Group
Reading Group: Animal Fibers as Sources of Inquiry
Organizer(s)AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 141Contact and Registration
All are welcome! To indicate your interest in joining this reading group and to receive a copy of the readings, please contact Isabela Dornelas at ideoliveiradornelas@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
- 14:00 to 15:30
- Lecture
Infinite Expanses? China’s Space Science and Technology
AddressMax Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomZoom/Online Meeting PlatformContact and Registration
Please register at the following link:
https://zoom.us/j/93125029289?pwd=K0s1M1Vsdm1pazBNeTVWRDRwQXZ4UT09This event is part of the LMRG & BCCN Lecture Series "China—The New Science Superpower?" For further information about the series, specific sessions, or questions concerning registration, please contact office-ahlers@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
About This Series
China’s push to become a leading science power is unprecedented in its speed, scope and, arguably, success. Reactions to China’s rise in global science are dichotomous: some anticipate that science made in China may come to dominate global academia while others deem it impossible to achieve scientific leadership under an authoritarian regime. A focus on rankings and statistics alone is apparently not enough to grasp the origins, characteristics, and the possible futures of China as a science superpower.
This monthly lecture series will bring together fresh empirical insights and intriguing theoretical reflections about the development of the science system in the People’s Republic of China and its global integration. Representing a variety of social science perspectives, our guest speakers will explore the evolution of Chinese science policy, interactions of societal norms and values and academia in the PRC, factors that enable or constrain scientific innovation, the global reception of scientific output and investment from China, the securitization of international collaboration, and much more.
- 12:00 to 13:00
The Development of the Max Planck Society in the Context of Contemporary German History of the FRG 1945–1990
Organizer(s)AddressMPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomRoom 219Contact and Registration
If you would like to attend the lectures in person or receive the zoom link, please register at: dept1-events@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de.
About This Series
This event is part of the Colloquium Series Department I—2023.
- 14:00 to 15:30
- Institute's Colloquium
Atomic Junction: Nuclear Power in Africa at the Crossroads
Organizer(s)AddressMax Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
RoomMain Conference Room & OnlineContact and Registration
The Institute's Colloquium series SCIENCE DIPLOMACY AND SCIENCE IN TIMES OF WAR will take place in person at the MPIWG and online, and is open to all. Academics, students, and members of the public are all welcome to attend, listen, and participate in discussion.
For online participation, please register at this email address: MPIWG_IC@MPIWG-BERLIN.MPG.DE and we will send you the updated zoom link for the colloquium.