Chemistry in 20th-century Universities

Call for Papers

 

New perspectives on chemistry in 20^th-century universities 

A special session of the 14th International Conference on the History of Chemistry (14 ICHC), 11 to 14 June 2025, Valencia.

Historical research on science in classrooms, and particularly in high-education institution such as universities, has undergone a major historiographical transformation in recent decades (Olesko 2014; Bertomeu Sánchez 2015; Kaiser 2005; Rudolph 2008). In contrast to former hagiographic approaches or purely celebratory discourses, we have nowadays a broad spectrum of studies that provide comparative materials, robust conceptual frameworks and diverse historiographical approaches adopted by scholars coming from history of education, history of science and other related fields. Some recent examples are several edited volumes (Simões, Diogo, and Gavroglu 2016; Berkel and Homburg 2023) and special issues of journals such as Ambix (2021) on chymistry in early modern universities or such as History of Universities (2021) on the global history of research education (Chang & Rocke 2021). The session will be based on the recently funded project (November 2024) on the history of the Faculty of Science in Valencia during the 20th century (CIAICO/2023/093).

 

These and other studies address a broad range of historiographical issues to be discussed in the session. We welcome papers on chemistry in 20^th-century universities dealing with topics such as

 

• The evolving roles of high education institutions (particularly Faculties of Science) in the 20th century: training, research, expertise, social activism, industry, governmental agencies, etc.
• The changing trends in academic careers in universities (from accreditation and habilitation systems to publish-or-perish pressures and scientific indicators).
• Inequalities in access to high education and the training and recruitment of university staff (including gender, ethnic, and social biases).
• Gender studies on female students and professors of chemistry.
• Research, teaching and learning practices (such as lectures, seminars, hands-on laboratory work, coaching, classroom note-taking, and rote learning), including synergies and tensions between teaching and research activities.
• Material and visual culture (instruments, models, diagrams, images, etc.), including the architecture of science buildings (teaching and research laboratories, lecture rooms, amphitheaters)
• Textbooks and other pedagogical resources (wall mural tables, problem-solving collections, students’ notebooks, etc.)
• Shifting evaluation practices from oral public presentations to private written examinations and problem-solving.
• The “collateral effects” of science education (including gendered representations of chemists, idealised models of the scientific method, socio-technological imaginaries, or the collective memory of chemistry).
• The shaping of curricula (influenced by national educational policies, changing academic trends, and local contexts)
• The role of governments (whether democracies or dictatorships) and private enterprises (from large corporations to local chemical industries) in shaping universities in the 20th century.
• Celebratory practices, hegemonic narratives, organizational memory (including archives) and historical research on universities: tensions and opportunities.

 

We will discuss these issues throughout case studies on 20^th universities in different geographical and social context, aiming to obtain comparative conclusions. We welcome paper proposals of case studies before 30 November 2024. Please send title, 300 words abstract and short CV (200-300 words) to bertomeu@uv.es. Looking forward to meeting you in Valencia!

 

Bibliography

 

Berkel, Klaas, and Ernst Homburg, eds. 2023. The Laboratory Revolution and the Creation of the Modern University, 1830-1940. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Bertomeu Sánchez, José Ramón. 2015. “Beyond Borders in the History of Science Education.” In Relocating the History of Science: Essays in Honor of Kostas Gavroglu, 159–73. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Kaiser, D.(ed.). 2005. Pedagogy and the Practice of Science: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Boston: MIT.

Chang, Ku-ming, and Alan Rocke, eds. 2021. “A Global History of Research Education: Disciplines, Institutions, and Nations, 1840-1950.” History of Universities 34 (1): 1–387.

Olesko, Kathryn M. 2014. “Science Education in the Historical Study of the Sciences.” In International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching, edited by M.R. Matthews. Amsterdam: Springer Verlag.

Rudolph, John L. 2008. “Historical Writing on Science Education: A View of the Landscape.” Studies in Science Education 44 (1): 63–82.

Simões, Ana, Maria Paula Diogo, and Kostas Gavroglu, eds. 2016. Sciences in the Universities of Europe (19th and 20th centuries). Boston. Dordrecht Heidelberg.