History and History of Science

History and History of Science

The History section of the "Maison française d'Oxford" is responsible for all research in Early Modern and Modern History relating to Great Britain and France, as well as to Europe and other areas of the world. Research is carried out in conjunction with the various history seminars offered by the Faculty of History of the University of Oxford and collaboration with colleagues from the faculty is encouraged. There is also an increasing number of partnerships with various institutes around Oxford and other cities in the UK on all topics, periods, and areas of history. These partnerships use all the tools and funding opportunities offered by the Maison française d’Oxford and its partners.

 

History of Science, Technology and Medicine is a specific axis of this field of research and has been central at MFO since the beginning of the 2000s. It focuses on the history of science and technology. It includes close collaboration with the Oxford Centre for History of Science, Medicine, and Technology and with Oxford Brookes University through the History of Science steering committee of the Maison Française. At the crossroads of the History of science, the history of technology and human sciences, the history of environmental and industrial diseases, and material history, this area of research aims at fostering transverse approaches to disciplines in humanities and social sciences, but also hard sciences, by encouraging links between sciences and humanities, science and societies. It also emphasises a social, cultural and material approach to knowledge through the material culture of sciences - objects, instruments, collections - and practices - printed material and ways of writing, experiments and performances, communities of scholars and exchange networks.

 

Since January 2018 a yearly programme has been set up for visiting scholars in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology, affiliated with Wolfson College over the Hilary, and now Trinity term (April to June). The programme entails study days, workshops, conferences and regular work groups from various partnerships :

- Oxford Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology (HSMT) of the University of Oxford and its weekly seminar: https://www.hsmt.ox.ac.uk/ - Oxford Seminar in the History of Alchemy and Chemistry with SHAC (Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry)

- The “Materials and Time: An Anthology” project, with the Centre Alexandre Koyré, Paris: https://materials.hypotheses.org/1.

- the Early-Modern research group in Literature and the History of Technology: Writing Technology/the Technology of writing: https://writingearly.hypotheses.org