Peer review, i.e. the institutionalized evaluation of scholars and their outputs by others working in the same field, is fundamental to knowledge production and research evaluation in the present-day humanities. However, the origins and development of humanities peer review remain remarkably poorly understood, particularly in comparison to the history of peer review in the natural…

Johan Östling and David Larsson Heidenblad have published a new book, The History of Knowledge (Cambridge University Press). The book provides a pedagogical overview of the history of knowledge, including its main currents, distinguishing ideas, and key concepts. However, it is not primarily a state-of-the-art overview but rather an argumentative contribution that seeks to push the field…

Education has a long history of being closely affiliated with authorities. Political and economic elites have taken a particular interest in education as the venue where mindsets and worldviews were formed. Throughout history, different stakeholders have emerged, and power structures have shifted. Some of the key agents in these processes have been the church and…

Last week, the first major international conference devoted to the history of knowledge was organised in Porto. It brought together researchers from a variety of countries, universities and disciplines. The atmosphere was very friendly and stimulating. Overall, the conference was a manifestation of the history of knowledge as a new dynamic research field. It would…

The Journal for the History of Knowledge has a new special issue: “Entangled temporalities”. In the introduction, the editors Hansun Hsiung, Laetitia Lenel and Anna-Maria Meister discuss knowledge production as the negotiation of entangled temporalities embedded in the materials, methods, and institutions of a variety of incongruous practitioners. They write: “We begin by exploring the reasons for…

On 22–24 November, the “History of Knowledge Conference” is arranged in Porto. It is the first major international conference devoted to this expanding research field. It brings together specialists from the History of Knowledge, History of Science, Colonial Studies, Maritime History and Global History to show their ongoing research or consolidated results, having as central…

On 16 November, 13.15–15.00 (CET), will Joshua Ehrlich (Macau) present his new book The East India Company and the Politics of Knowledge (CUP). Discussants: Jessica Hanser (Copenhagen) and Lisa Hellman (Lund). This is a hybrid seminar (LUX:A332 & Zoom). Description of the book The East India Company is remembered as the world’s most powerful, not to say…

Can historical research benefit from AI? Since 2020 Nina Koefoed has been working on the Transkribus platform, using AI to train “models” that can read and transcribe handwritten Danish texts from the 18th century. In this talk, she will present the research project, questions and archival material that led her to work with Transkribus in…

The second volume of the yearbook History of Intellectual Culture (HIC) has been published. The volume comprises individual papers, a thematic section, a review essay and a conversation, all related to the history of knowledge. The volume is available open access: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783111078038/html#contents The thematic section is dedicated to modes of publication. The articles attest to the great variety…