Call for Workshop Contributions: “Science Diplomacy: Approaches, Notions, and Objectives”
The workshop seeks to inform the current discussion revolving around science diplomacy with a deeper historical understanding of its ideas and goals. One of the objectives is to bring together practitioners of science diplomacy with academics in order to develop a better understanding of the ‘longue durée’ of science diplomacy and to gain insights into the demands and everyday life of actors involved in the field of science diplomacy.
Find the full workshop call here.
Potential topics may include, but are not limited to:
– How did science diplomacy work at different periods in modern history, for instance in the conflict-laden 1920s, in connection with National Socialism in the 1930s, in the Cold War, or in the process of decolonisation? What role did scientists play in these constellations and how did “science programs bec[o]me tools of diplomacy in their own rights” (Kunkel 2021)?
– What are current trends in science diplomacy research in history, sociology, or political science? What can be said with regard to research methodology and sources of Science Diplomacy?
– In what ways can science diplomacy as a form of soft power be employed when other traditional diplomatic exchanges fail?
– Science Diplomacy and its relations to other modes and forms of diplomacy such as public or cultural diplomacy, for example?
– What should science diplomacy achieve, what practices does it entail, and what goals can it accomplish both in the short and the long run?
– Endeavors of practitioners of science diplomacy (diplomats at embassies or in ministries; scientists working abroad etc.) to reframe their field of action.
With these topics in mind, the workshop seeks to further conceptualize science diplomacy as both a specific mode of cultural foreign policy and as an emerging academic research field. We especially encourage junior researchers who potentially deal with questions or topics/fields related to science diplomacy in their dissertation projects etc. to apply. The workshop will take place on November 22-24, 2023 in Hannover, Germany.
Thanks to the funding of the VolkswagenStiftung, we can reimburse travel costs and accommodation for up to two nights in Hannover. Proposals for papers in either German or English will be accepted. Presentations should not exceed 15 minutes.
Please send applications (a brief CV and a proposal for a topic of maximum 300 words, both in PDF format) to sciencediplomacy@hist.uni-hannover.de no later than August 15, 2023. Accepted speakers will be notified by the end of August.
