CHSI Goes to Montréal

June 15, 2016
Group Photo

On Monday and Tuesday, 16-17 May 2016, graduate students from the History of Science Department travelled to Montréal, Québec as part of a three-year collaborative effort between the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (CIRST) at the Université du Québec à Montréal and the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments (CHSI) at Harvard. The program, designed to train students to combine knowledge from history, sociology, and philosophy of science with the material culture of science, brought together graduate scholars from both Harvard and CIRST to visit a number of Montréal’s excellent museum spaces. A variety of different collection management practices was explored by visiting museums that draw on living collections at the Montréal Biodôme and the Jardin botanique, material archeological findings at the Pointe-à-Callière, and archival resources at the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Examining both the public presentation as well as behind-the-scenes work in collecting, curating, and preserving archives the trip explored the ways that the study of objects can enrich and inform textual historical research.

In its second year, the collaborative workshop series began last year with visiting scholars coming to Harvard and will conclude next year with a workshop in Québec City.

For more information, visit the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche sur la science et la technologie (CIRST) website.

Biodome

Archaeology

Botanic Garden