International experts explore intersections between the history of science and environmental history

The Institute for the History of Science (iHC) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) is organizing the seminar "Disciplinary crossroads: between the history of science and environmental history", which will be held on 11-12 at the iHC building. The event, open to a wide audience, will be a unique platform to explore the intersections between environmental history (EH) and the history of science (HS), as well as to address contemporary environmental justice challenges.

Despite the number of themes they have in common, for several decades environmental history (EH) and history of science (HS) have been established as separate disciplines with distinct research communities. At the same time, in the face of the current ecosocial crises, multifaceted readings of the complex relationships between science, society and the environment are needed. For this reason, this seminar aims to create a space to explore possible forms of relationships between the two disciplines, considering them as fluid, in order to create narratives and academic practices committed to the environment.

Organized by iHC doctoral students Carolina Granado (iHC-UAB), Hèctor Isern (iHC-UAB) and Max Bautista-Perpinyà (UCLouvain), this event will bring together leading local and international experts in the field, including Lino Camprubí, Sarah Dry, Sarah Hamilton, Marco Armiero, Gregg Mitman, Judit Gil-Farrero, Santiago Gorostiza and Agustí Nietao-Galán, who will share their knowledge and perspectives on this topic. Issues such as temporality, geographic scale, themes and methodologies will emerge as points of tension and dialogue among participants.

The seminar will begin on Thursday 11 April at 9:00 a.m. with an introductory session led by the organizers and the director of the iHC, Carlos Tabernero. Lino Camprubí, professor at the University of Seville, will discuss the new field of the history of oceanography and the late understanding of the vulnerability of oceans. Afterwards, historians from the University of Cambridge (UK) Sarah Dry and from the University of Bergen (Norway) Sarah Hamilton, will lead two separate sessions focused on environmental activism with the importance of time in climate science, and the battle of knowledge in environmental policy making., Finally, Marco Armiero, ICREA researcher at the iHC of the UAB, and Gregg Mitman, researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (USA), will offer a joint session where they will reflect on academic disobedience and border crossing in their intellectual trajectories.

On the second day of the seminar, researchers Judit Gil-Farrero (University of Zaragoza) will address issues related to the need for interdisciplinary research on environmental conflicts, while Santiago Gorostiza (iHC) will speak on the interactions between war and the environment from a historical and scientific perspective. Finally, iHC researcher and former director of the institute, Agustí Nieto-Galán, will share his experience on the fruitful alliance between science and environmental history at the UAB. The event will conclude with an open round table, where participants and the public will be able to discuss the ideas and perspectives presented during the seminar.

In an inclusive and respectful environment, all attendees will be able to work together towards a collaborative and equitable exchange of ideas on the permeable boundaries of these two disciplines, at a time when different approaches to understanding, managing and conserving the environment are essential.

Full program of the seminar (CET):

Thursday 11April 

9-10 h Max Bautista, Carolina Granado, Hèctor Isern and Carlos Tabernero, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Welcome, presentation and contextualization of the Seminar.
10-11 h Lino Camprubí, Universidad de Sevilla. “History of the oceans: Confluences between history of oceanography and history of the oceanic environment”.
11-11.30 h Coffee Break
11.30-12.30 h Sarah Dry, University of Cambridge. “Time is a resource—how should we spend it? On history, climate and activism”.
12.30-13.30 h Sarah Hamilton, University of Bergen. “Scientists, Activists, and Scientist-Activists: Control over Knowledge in Histories of Environmental Activism”.
13.30-15.30 h Lunch Break
15.30-17 h Marco Armiero (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) & Gregg Mitman (University of Wisconsin-Madison). “A passion for trespassing. Disobeying borders as an intellectual project”.

Friday 12 April 

9.30-10.30 h Judit Gil-Farrero, Universidad de Zaragoza. “Historical research on environmental issues: an interdisciplinary trail”.
10.30-11.30 h Santiago Gorostiza, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. “Beyond disciplinary trenches. War at the crossroads of environmental history and history of science”.
11.30-12 h Coffee Break
12-12.30 h Agustí Nieto-Galán, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. “A Fruitful Alliance: History of Science and Environmental History at the UAB”.
12.30 -13.30 h Closing remarks & Open round table

The seminar can be followed in person or online by videoconference through the Microsoft Teams platform by clicking on this link.

For more information about the seminar and to register, please visit the website of the Institute for the History of Science of the UAB and/or send an email to max.bautista@uclouvain.be