The Envirotech breakfast was attended by nearly 30 people.  It provided the opportunity hear what people are working on–projects started, books published, organizations and groups founded.

The main topic of discussion was the proposal from SHOT to give all the SIGs a slot on Sunday morning at the conference in Pittsburgh this fall.   There was general agreement that the time should not be used for either a traditional panel or a workshop specifically related to teaching. The suggestion that received the most support was to have an open-ended discussion by all participants about their research and new projects. The purpose would be to encourage “risky ideas” on the part of people considering new perspectives and possibilities. [Read more →]

We are looking for two persons with a doctoral degree or the equivalent who present research plans with a high degree of relevance for the appointments. The place of work for the appointments will be the Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies.

The appointees’ research programmes must be clearly linked to the research area of science, technology and environment studies, i.e. culture studies research on science, technology and the environment, relations between these areas and society as a whole. (www8.umu.se/humfak/forskning/vtm.html). One of the appointments is directed mainly towards science and technology (dnr 312-138-09); the other mainly towards the environment (dnr 312-139-09). [Read more →]

Horses at Work: Harnessing Power in Industrial America
Ann Norton Greene
Harvard University Press, 2008

Historians have long assumed that new industrial machines and power sources eliminated work animals from nineteenth-century America, yet a bird’s-eye view of nineteenth-century society would show millions of horses supplying the energy necessary for industrial development. Horses were ubiquitous in cities and on farms, providing power for transportation, construction, manufacturing, and agriculture. On Civil War battlefields, thousands of horses labored and died for the Union and the Confederacy hauling wagons and mechanized weaponry.

[Read more →]

This is the annual call for submissions for SHOT’s IEEE Life Member’s Prize in Electrical History.

If you or someone you know has published a deserving article in 2008 dealing with any aspect of the history of electricity, electronics, telecommunications, or any other electrically-related field — please consider nominating it for the IEEE Prize. [Read more →]

The SHOT Special Interest Group Women in Technological History [WITH] announces its travel award for 2009. The purpose of the award is to encourage participation of “new voices” at the annual meeting of the Society for the History of Technology [SHOT]. WITH invites applications from scholars presenting topics or perspectives underrepresented in SHOT as well as from individuals who can contribute to the annual meeting’s geographic and cultural diversity.

The 2009 SHOT meeting will be held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 15-19, 2009. See http://historyoftechnology.org. [Read more →]

The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), which meets in Pittsburgh this October for its 2009 annual meeting, is trying an experiment.  SHOT wants to devote some Sunday morning slots to sessions and activities organized by special interest groups (SIGs) such as Envirotech.

The SHOT program committee has reserved six rooms holding about fifty people each for this purpose.  SHOT has a total of twelve SIGs, so the 2009 program committee should have no problem filling the spaces.  The question is whether Envirotech wants to reserve a room during this slot.  If so, we need to let SHOT secretary Bernie Carlson know by Feb. 15.  At the ASEH meeting in Tallahassee, we can decide how to use the time.

What kind of session or activity? It could be a routine paper or roundtable session or something a little different, such as a poster session, teaching workshop, or even a book discussion.  It is up to us to decide.

Please reply in the comments section below if you have any interest in organizing something for that slot (or have thoughts on the matter).

All the best,
Hugh Gorman (hsgorman@mtu.edu) and Ann Greene, Envirotech co-chairs

p.s. If you have any additional items to get on the agenda for the Envirotech breakfast (Sat., Feb 28) at the 2009 ASEH conference in Tallahassee, let us know.

Lucerne, Switzerland
November 5–8, 2009

CALL FOR PAPERS
– Energy and Innovation –

The International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility (T2M) invites proposals for papers to be presented at its Seventh International Conference to be held at the Verkehrshaus der Schweiz (Swiss Museum of Transport), Lucerne, Switzerland from November 5th till the 8th, 2009. [Read more →]

The January 2009 issue of the E-Journal of Solidarity, Sustainability, and Nonviolence has been posted.  As always, it is open access.  Simply click the following link:

The Sustainable Development Paradox
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv05n01.html

A series of articles on “dimensions of sustainable development” is being published.  The January 2009 issue shows the impossibility of integrating the social, economic, and political dimensions of sustainable development unless homo economicus becomes homo solidarius.

Please post and/or forward this notice to friends and colleagues who might be interested in the complex issues of human  development,
international solidarity, and environmental sustainability. See the archive for links to previously posted issues (annotated with
content outlines):

May 2005 to December 2008

http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisust.html

The current economic and environmental crises confirm the importance of the issues we are researching.  Any feedback is deeply appreciated.

Sincerely,
Luis
_____________
Luis T. Gutierrez, Ph.D.
The Pelican Web
Editor, Solidarity, Sustainability, and Nonviolence

http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisust.html

Joy Parr reminds all envirotechies that the ASEH election ballots are now open at http://www.aseh.net/

The voting closes January 16, so all those of you who are ASEH members should head over there to vote.

Session CfP for the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2009, Manchester, UK, 26-28th August 2009

“Natural” disasters are just as social as they are natural. Their impact depends heavily on social issues such as vulnerability while the work done by society to mitigate their impact is obviously social. However, social aspects of “natural” disasters have often been neglected and they have frequently been understood as caused solely by nature or by divine intervention. The different causal narratives of disasters have given rise to different understandings of responsibilities and blame. Despite their recurrent nature these sudden extreme events are often portrayed as exceptional.

This session will explore the histories of (un)natural disasters across time and space. Paper proposal on any aspects related to any aspects of this topic are welcome. A general theme may be how knowledge and practices have worked to change the likelihood, nature and impact of disasters. How have physical and human geography interacted around disasters historically?

Papers for the session could for example discuss how natural disasters have been framed as “natural” and/or “social” and the implications of different framings. How has the knowledge or understanding of disasters as “natural”, “Acts of God” or “social” developed throughout history? Who or what was blamed?

Today the impacts of these events are managed by warning systems, emergency planning and physical defences. These systems have a long history, and are dependent on complex scientific and social networks. What is this history and how does it link to narratives of causality and blame? For example, whose responsibility have extreme events been seen to be and whose work was it to deal with the consequences of them? Who paid for defensive work? Individuals or the state? National or local government? What were views on how defensive work should be organised?

Many other topics are also possible. If you are interested in submitting a paper, please contact Anna Carlsson on anna.carlsson@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk. The deadline for submission of abstracts is February 3rd 2009. Please include the following information:
Name:
Affiliation:
Contact email:
Title of proposed paper:
Abstract (no more than 250 words):
Any technical requirements (video, data projector, sound, etc.):