Two hands holding a smart phone photograph a placental dyeing procedure that researches freemartinism in cows.

Doctors at Leiden University hospital reenact Frank Lillie’s early placental dyeing method used as a diagnostic tool for assessing placental anastomosis. Used to study a biological phenomenon in genetically female cows born from a dizygotic twin pregnancy, called freemartinism, the dyeing technique maps the exchange of blood and hormones across the placental connection that renders the female twin intersex and unable to conceive. Film still from Flush (2023). © Lucy Beech, courtesy of the artist.

Department

Artifacts, Action, Knowledge

Department Artifacts, Action, Knowledge studies the history of knowledge and action considering the interchangeable role of artifacts as texts, objects, and spaces. Collaborative working groups focus on project-based outputs that promote discussion and debate on the production of knowledge across all domains of life. Our research structure is organized around three key facets of knowledge: material artifacts, social action, and formalized epistemic expressions.

Research

Metals, Minerals, and the Life Cycle
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Heavens in Your Hand
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Proteins and Fibers
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Reclaiming Turtles All the Way Down
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Common Knowledge and Its Sources in the Sinosphere
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The kn/own/able Project
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News & Press

Vacancies in research, administration, and technical support

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Scienmag reports on recent Max Planck–NTU Singapore Centre for Biocultural Worlding (CBCW) launch

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The future of education: Max Planck Society starts interdisciplinary research project “EduTrack”

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Events

Readings from "al-Durr al-Multaqat," a Fourteenth-Century Agriculture Text from Damascus

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Reconstructing the Ancient Chinese Sky: Constellations, Star Maps, and Celestial Records

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Maritime Craft in the Mediterranean: The Case of "miltos" in Eastern Sicily

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Publications

Multimedia & Feature Articles

Digital Resources