Panel discussion "personae, rather than persons?”.

History of science and disciplinary history between the history of persons, of institutions, and of practices
18.11.2019

Ort: Bibliothek des Internationalen Kollegs Morphomata, Weyertal 59 (Rückgebäude, 3. Etage), 50937 Köln

Zeit: 18.00 Uhr

Kontakt: Karena Weduwen
(karena.weduwen[at]uni-koeln.de)

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In histories of scientific constellations produced from the perspectives of history of persons, institutional history, and history of practices, ‘the person’ plays a central role, but one that is conceptionally and methodologically contested. If one reviews the relevant publications and research projects, it seems as if, despite methodological scepticism, historical individuals can hardly be replaced either as a starting point for argument or as producers of relevant source materials. The methodological status of ‘the person’ in different varieties of retrospect in history of science and disciplinary history will be discussed by Monika Dommann (Modern History, Zurich), Julian Hamann (Sociology of Science, Hanover) and Myriam Isabell Richter (Scenography of Science, Hamburg) in a podium discussion that will take place in the context of the two-day workshop “personae, rather than persons?” History of science and disciplinary history between the history of persons, of institutions, and of practices. The central point of discussion will be the extent to which the diverging approaches can be linked: What is the relation between, on the one hand, a history of science and of disciplines that is interested in ‘the genesis of ideas’ and systems of thought, but also in institutional factors and work-forms, and on the other hand the inevitably looming biographical dimension? Where does the boundary lie between a history of science and of disciplines that is oriented towards individuals in science, and an approach that tries to make historically visible “personae, rather than persons” (Lorraine Daston/H. Otto Sibum)?

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