Physics and Astronomy Seminar – Defining, Globalizing, and Decolonizing the History of Science: Reflections and Open Problems – Ithaca College

You are invited to our next Physics and Astronomy Colloquium taking place on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, from 12:10 - 1 PM in CNS 206/208.

Presenter: Wythe Marschall, Harvard University/New York University

Title: Defining, Globalizing, and Decolonizing the History of Science: Reflections and Open Problems

Abstract:Increasingly, many historians of science are challengingthe discipline at a fundamental level, calling for more diverse syllabi, renewed programs of research into knowledge traditions that originated outside of Europe and North America, and a reexamination of both what counts as scientific knowledge and who labors to create it. That is, when we write evidence-based accounts of efforts to systematically understand our world, whose voices should we listen to? How can we study different ways of systematically making knowledge, side by side? Most glaringly, how should we understand the legacy of Euroamerican colonialism on systems of science around the world today, ones that often continue to draw upon pre-colonial knowledge traditions? In this talk, I will sketch out the shifting terrain of the history of science in the age of the pandemic, globalized commerce, and the shared omni-crisis of climate disruption. The history of science has long served to prompt working scientists and engineers to look beyond the often narrow confines of their technical fields, questioning their social and political roles. Today, more than ever, an intellectually rigorous and culturally inclusive perspective on what it means to do science is a critical tool not only for professional historians but for everyone engaged in the work of making and sharing knowledge.

View post:

Physics and Astronomy Seminar - Defining, Globalizing, and Decolonizing the History of Science: Reflections and Open Problems - Ithaca College