CCBH
  
IHR: Institute of Historical Research
 
Call for Papers: Submissions can still being accepted

Science, Its Advocates and Adversaries

17th Summer Conference of the Institute of Contemporary British History at the IHR, University of London, 7-9 July 2003
Changes in Science, Technology and Medicine have profoundly affected all aspects of British life over the past century, from the kitchen to the battlefield, at home, at work, at leisure, in town and country. The capacity to kill and the capacity to cure and to extend life have never grown faster. For much of the twentieth century these changes were generally greeted with enthusiasm and awe as unquestionable improvements and the experts responsible for them were held in respect, though there was always a strand of opposition, in particular to armaments. In the later twentieth century the previously dominant deference to scientific expertise was replaced by widespread scepticism of scientific and medical authority. The conference seeks to explore how this change came about within the wider context of discussing the production and application of scientific knowledge and its impact on British society.
Topics to be considered might include:
• Who are the scientists?
• Specific innovations and their impacts e.g. penicillin, the pill, the motor-cycle, the washing machine, the mobile phone.
• Household technology and women's lives.
• Communications
• Diseases and their eradication
• The environment
• Popular attitudes to science, scientists and scientific expertise
• R & D and the fortunes of the British economy
• Cultural Representations of science, technology and medicine
It should be stressed that we shall only accept papers which present the findings of new research. The conference will include a mixture of plenary speakers, panels and parallel seminars. Young researchers and postgraduates are particularly encouraged to apply.

We are still accepting proposals for conference papers. Please send short proposals (no more than 300 words) for individual papers or panels to Dr Harriet Jones, CCBH, Institute of Historical Research, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Email: hjones@icbh.ac.uk Electronic submission is preferred.
 

Contact the CCBH: Centre for Contemporary British History at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU Telephone: 020 7862 8740 Fax: telephone office for number E-Mail: ccbhinfo@sas.ac.uk

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