Historical geographies of mobility and knowledge
Dean Bond (Loughborough University) and Heike Jöns (Loughborough University)
This session aims to bring together scholars working on three central themes that have shaped recent work in historical geography and the history of science, namely knowledge, place and mobility. In particular, the session endeavours to further debates about the fundamental role of mobility and immobility in the production, circulation, translation and reception of scientific and scholarly knowledge. We especially welcome proposals from scholars working on the early modern era (c. 1500-1789) and the long nineteenth century (c. 1790-1914), but are open to relevant proposals related to earlier and later eras.
Themes to be addressed might include:
-Historical development of ‘the study’ and ‘the field’
-Mobility of scientific instruments and their role in knowledge production
-Forms of mobility amongst scientific practitioners (broadly understood)
-Circulation and movement of scientific knowledge in print and speech
-Role of government, academies and universities in promoting (or hindering) mobility of scholars
-Significance of mobility in long durée narratives of scientific development
-Specificities of mobility in different subject areas and research practices
-Varying needs and possibilities for mobility and knowledge production among individuals of different genders, races and other axes of social difference