When: 14 April 2:00-3:30 (with a light lunch beginning at 1:00-2:00)
Where: Level 6 Forgan Smith building, Seminar Room

  • HaSS PhD and MPhil students are invited to participate in a Masterclass with Professor Stephen Gaukroger. Professor Stephen Gaukroger is Professor Emeritus of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. He has written nine books in the history of science and the history of philosophy, including an intellectual biography of Descartes, as well as translations of the works of Descartes and Arnauld. He is also coeditor with Conal Condran and Ian Hunter of The Philosopher in Early Modern Europe: The Nature of a Contested Identity (Cambridge, 2006). 
  • Professor Gaukroger’s recent research has focused on the emergence and consolidation of a scientific culture in the West in the modern era. This research has resulted in three volumes: The Emergence of a Scientific Culture: Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1210–1685 (Oxford, 2006), The Collapse of Mechanism and the Rise of Sensibility: Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1680–1760 (Oxford, 2010), and the recently published The Natural and the Human: Science and the Shaping of Modernity, 1739–1841 (Oxford, 2016). A forth volume is currently in progress. This project is, therefore, decidedly large-scale, covering several centuries and transcending several national boundaries. With this in mind, the theme of the Masterclass will be on the challenges and possibilities of researching and writing on such a large-scale in the humanities. Participants in the Masterclass will, therefore, be expected to read Jo Guldi and David Armitage’s The History Manifesto(Cambridge, 2014), a book that has made a provocative case for a renewed focus on the longue dureé in humanities research, specifically with regard to historical writing. Participants will also be provided with a short essay written by Professor Gaukroger on The History Manifesto, which is forthcoming in the history of science journal Isis. And participants are also encouraged (though this is not a requirement) to take a look at Professor Gaukroger’s project on the emergence of a scientific culture in the West, particularly the most recent volume, The Natural and the Human
  • This Masterclass is a wonderful opportunity for HaSS PhD and MPhil students to discuss cutting-edge methods and theories of humanities research with a leading intellectual historian. If you would like to attend, please email Ian Hesketh (i.hesketh@uq.edu.au) by 7 April. However, those interested are encouraged to email as soon as possible as spaces are limited to 20 and will be assigned on a first come basis. Note that while the Masterclass will begin at 2:00pm, there will be a light lunch provided for participants at 1:00pm.