URKEW Seminar Series

Religious and Philosophical Understandings of Nature, Science and the Role of Technology in the East and the West (c. 1368 – 1850)

Please note: times for individual workshops may vary

10 January

Religious and philosophical understandings of nature, science and the role of technology in the East and the West: An introduction

• Time and location: 10.30 – 16.00  Room CLM.D109
• Robert Iliffe (Sussex)
• 'Science, religion and secularisation in early modern Europe'

• Scott Mandelbrote (Cambridge)
• 'Science and Religion in comparative perspective. How specific is the Christian experience and its historiography?'

24 January

Hinduism and its Understanding of Nature

• Speaker: Gavin Flood (Oxford)
• 'Hindu Attitudes to Nature in Historical Perspective'
• Time and location: 11.00 – 13.00 Room G108

07 February

Christianity's Understanding of Science and Technology

• William Shea (Padova)
• Was Christianity a Cause of the Scientific Revolution in Europe?
• Time and location: 11.00 – 13.00, Room G108

• Andrea Robiglio (Leuven)
• Christianity: Science and the cosmopolitan man
• Time and location: 14.30 – 16.30 AGWR

24 February

Islamic Philosophy and Learning: From the Mediterranean to India

• Nader el-Bizri (Lincoln): 
• Perspectives on Nature in Classical Traditions of Science, Philosophy and Theology in Islamic Civilization
• Time and location: 10.30 – 12.30 Room V203

• Fabrizio Speziale (Sorbonne)
• Useful Scientific Learning in Persianate India (16th-19th century)
• Time and location: 14.30 – 16.30 Room OLD.3.28

Note: this Workshop takes place on Thursday (not on Monday)

07 March 

Confucianism and the understanding of nature in East Asia: a comparison between early modern China and Japan

• Peter Ditmanson (Oxford)
• Neo-Confucianism and the Evolution of "Concrete Learning" (實學)in Late Imperial China
• 11.00 – 13.00 Room G108

• James McMullen (Oxford)
• Neo Confucianism in Early Tokugawa Japan
• Time and location: 14.30 – 16.30 ,  AGWR

21 March 

Buddhism and the understanding of nature in East Asia: a comparison between early modern China and Japan

10.00 – 16.45 meeting in Room V203, Tower 2

• Speakers: Antonello Palumbo (SOAS):  
• Buddhist networks in the making of early modern China
• Time and location: 10.00 – 10.45, V203

• Dr Lucia Dolce (SOAS)
• Buddhism Cosmology of nature in Japan
• Time and location: 11.00 – 13.00 Room G108
  
  
• Tim Barrett (SOAS)
• The Buddhist world view in China - levels of knowledge, conceptions of world geography
• Time and location: 14.30 – 16.30 AGWR

On the theme "The Evolution of Scientific Technical and Useful Knowledge from Sung China (960-1279) to the Industrial Revolution (1756-1846)

• All meetings are held weekly between noon and 2.00 pm on Wednesdays.
• Weeks 1-6 in Room NAB115 (New Academic Building)

PLEASE NOTE THE ROOM CHANGE FOR WEEKS 7-10

• Weeks 7-10 in Room D703 (Clement House)

This seminar has been convened by the team engaged in collaborative research funded by the European Research Council into regimes for the production of useful and reliable knowledge in the east and the west before the first industrial revolution.  A historiographical preface and bibliography is available on request from Loraine Long, Administrator, LSE, l.long@lse.ac.uk  for participants who wish to read more on particular topics. 

Outlines of the presentations should be posted on the URKEW website.

Programme

A.  Introduction 

Wednesday 13 January 

• Patrick O'Brien (URKEW, LSE)
• Connexions between the discovery and accumulation of useful and reliable knowledge and technological innovation in the East and West.
• Respondent: Ian Inkster (Nottingham Trent)  

B. Before the Scientific Revolution

Wednesday 20 January

•  Simona Valeriani (URKEW, LSE)
• Natural philosophy and technical knowledge in Medieval Europe
• Respondent: Ian Blanchard (Edinburgh)

Wednesday 27 January

• Ting Xu (URKEW, LSE)
•  Efflorescence in Tang-Sung China
•  Respondent: Harriet Zurndorfer (Leiden)

Wednesday 03 February

• Anjana Singh (URKEW, LSE)
• The contributions of Medieval India
• Respondent: Sujit Sivasundaram (LSE)

Wednesday 10 February

•  Sonja Brentjes (Seville)
• Science and Technology in the Early Age Islamic Empire
• Respondent: Xerxes Malki (URKEW, LSE)

C.  The Origins of the Scientific Revolution and its Global Significance

Wednesday 17 February

• Francesco Boldizonni (Bocconi) The Origins and Significance of the Scientific Revolution 1543-1727
• Respondent: Floris Cohen (Utrecht)

Wednesday 24 February

• Ting Xu (URKEW, LSE)
• The reception and diffusion of Western Science into the Qing Empire
•  Respondent: Mark Elvin (Oxford and ANU)

Wednesday 03 March

• Mina Ishizu (URKEW, LSE)
• The adaptations of Tokugawa and Meiji Japan
• Respondent: Christopher Howe (SOAS)

Wednesday 10 March

• Xerxes Malki (URKEW, LSE)
• The reactions of Islam
•  Respondent: Gervaise Clarence Smith (SOAS)

Wednesday 17 March

• Anjana Singh (URKEW, LSE)
• The experience of colonized India
• Respondent: David Washbrook, Trinity College, Cambridge

On the theme "Higher Education systems in the East and the West 1368-1846"

 The following speakers and respondents have been invited to address and participate in an open seminar in Room G215 (Portugal Street) between noon and 2.00 pm on the following dates (all Wednesdays):

 This seminar has been convened by the team engaged in collaborative research funded by the European Research Council into regimes for the production of useful and reliable knowledge in the East and the West before the first Industrial Revolution. A historiographical preface and bibliography is available on request from Loraine Long, Administrator, LSE, l.long@lse.ac.uk for participants who wish to read more on particular topics. 

Outlines of the presentations should be posted on the URKEW website.

Wednesday 19 May

• Professor James McMullen (Oxford). Japan.
• Respondents: Professor Janet Hunter (LSE); Dr Mina Ishizu (LSE) 

Wednesday 02 June

• Professor Margrit Pernau (Berlin). India.
• Respondents: Professor Christopher Bayly (Cambridge); Professor David Washbrook (Oxford); Dr Tirthanker Roy (LSE)

 Wednesday 16 June

• Professor David McMullen (Cambridge). China.
• Respondents: Professor Tim Barrett (SOAS); Dr Ting Xu (LSE) 

Wednesday 23 June

• Professor Rob (Iliffe). Europe.
• Dr William Ashworth (Liverpool). Europe. 
• Respondents: Professor Laurence Brockliss (Oxford); Dr Francesco Boldizonni (Bocconi)

Wednesday 30 June (cancelled)

• Professor Emilie Savage-Smith (Oxford). Islamdom.
• Respondents: Dr Nelida Fuccaro (SOAS); Dr Doris Abu Seif (SOAS)

Professor Emilie Savage-Smith is unfortunately unable to attend the above. We regret the cancellation of this seminar.