‘Biodiversity’ is something of a paradox: a contested concept philosophically, historically, and scientifically, yet one almost universally considered to be a precious natural resource worth protecting. As a shorthand for biological diversity, the concept has been part of crucial changes in the history of the life sciences, where theoretical developments have been entangled with cultural anxieties about extinction and degradation. With its many lives, researchers in the history and philosophy of science, as well as in neighbouring fields, will likely agree that ‘biodiversity’ is not an unmediated representation of nature. As with its densely value-laden cousin of ‘variety,’ biodiversity has come to pervade our discourse about the protection of nature, finding itself not only in conservation hotspots in the tropical rainforests, but also in frozen seed banks, in temperate forests, in governmental agencies, in university departments, and in activist fanzines.
Charles Pence
Keynote: David Sepkoski (University of Illinois)
(Abstract coming soon!)
Prof. Sepkoski is the Thomas M. Siebel Chair in History of Science at the University of Illinois.
Federica Bocchi (Boston University)
Joeri Witteveen (University of Copenhagen)
Michael Bennett McNulty, Max Dresow, and Lauren Wilson (University of Minnesota)
Robert Frühstückl (University of Bielefeld)
Oliver Lucier (Yale University)
Erika Lorraine Milam (Princeton University)
Linde De Vroey (University of Antwerp)
Séan Thomas Kane (Binghamton University)
Carlos Tabernero (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Xinyue Liu (University of Oxford)
Tamara Caulkins (Central Washington University)
Carlos Santana (University of Pennsylvania)
Keynote: Alkistis Elliot-Graves (University of Bielefeld)
Clémence Gadenne-Rosfelder (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales [EHESS])
Brigid Prial (University of Pennsylvania)
Matt Przemyslaw Lukacz (Harvard University)
Julia Nordblad (Uppsala University)
Shadrach Kerwillian and Gregg Mitman (Ludwig Maximilian University)
Charles Pence and Max Bautista Perpinyà
The conference will take place over two days, October 20 and 21*, 2023, in the Museum of Natural Sciences, Brussels.
The Museum of Natural Sciences is extremely centrally located in Brussels, Belgium, which is served by air via Brussels Airport (BRU) as well as fast rail connections from London (Eurostar), Paris (Thalys and TGV), Amsterdam (Thalys, Eurostar, and NS), and Aachen/Köln (DB ICE). The train station of Bruxelles-Luxembourg is a 450m walk, and the historic city center of Brussels is around 2km away. See also the museum’s page on site access for further directions.
For those who are able to stay for the morning of October 22, we are still working on arrangements for a museum tour. Watch this space! We hope to have more details over the summer.
We have arranged lodging with the Hotel du Congrès in downtown Brussels. It is in a lovely neighborhood close to the center of the city, around twenty-five minutes’ walk from the event venue, or 20 minutes on public transport. If you would like to take advantage of this rate, please contact the hotel directly, either by phone at +32 2 217 18 90, or at info@hotelducongres.be. Mention that you are with the colloquium arranged by Max Bautista, and that you would like the special rates. Rooms should be €145/night for a single room and €165/night for a double room for single use (both with breakfast included). Please send your inquiry by the 5th of September to receive this pricing.
Thanks to the following organizations: