Otago School of Social Sciences honorary Associate Prof Hugh Slotten was one of two international scholars awarded a 2026 Gordon Cain Conference Fellowship with the Science History Institute in Philadelphia.
As part of the fellowship, he and York University distinguished research professor Bernard Lightman will plan and organise the 2026 Gordon Cain Conference, to be held in Philadelphia, on August 6-7.
The theme they have set for this year’s conference is ‘‘The Global History of Modern Science: 1400–1914’’.
Assoc Prof Slotten said the starting date of 1400 reflected the beginning of the era of modern science and the end date of 1914 was significant as the start of War War 1.
‘‘Through this conference, we will seek to address the major issues involved in understanding how modern science has been created through a process of global cultural exchange, as opposed to a prevailing Eurocentric-based viewpoint.
‘‘The creation and sites of key scientific theories, and the communication and translation of scientific ideas, will also be important topics.’’
The conference is expected to attract academic science scholars from around the globe.
It is also expected to result in a major book on the global history of science that will serve as an important reference source on the topic.
Participants from around the world are writing the chapters, which will be presented at the conference.
Avoiding the older Eurocentric story often told in the past, the papers given will explore the rapidly growing field of the global history of science and address the major issues involved in understanding how modern science has been created through a process of global cultural exchange.
Topics such as imperialism, colonialism, racism, indigenous knowledge, the role of religion, the creation and sites of key scientific theories, and the communication and translation of scientific ideas will be included.
It was expected that each chapters would offer a synthesis and rigorous overview of an empire, a key scientific theory, or an important site where science was created.
Alongside some of the world’s top scholars, University of Otago history researcher Prof John Stenhouse has been invited to deliver the conference’s keynote public lecture.
His research explores interconnections between science, religion, politics, race and gender in the modern world.
Assoc Prof Slotten has had an illustrious career in both the United States and New Zealand, where he has held the Charles A. Lindbergh Chair in Aerospace History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.
Last year, he was the organising committee chairman of the 27th International Congress of History of Science and Technology, which was held in Dunedin.
He was also the lead editor of The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 8, Modern Science in National, Transnational, and Global Context (2020), and is in the process of editing a collection titled Globalizing the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology).
