| Kommentar |
The seminar is part of the curriculum of the International Max Planck Research School “Knowledge and its Resources: Historical Reciprocities” (IMPRS) [https://imprs.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/], a collective graduate program (Doktorand*innenschule) of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin.
The seminar assumes that knowledge manifests itself not only in language, but also in the form of visual representations: maps, atlases, drawings, graphs, curves, photographs, computer simulations etc. What scientists observe must be visualized in order to be intelligible. But as well as playing a crucial role in the representation of knowledge, visual techniques are often constitutively involved in its production: numerous experiments have been based on the use of optical devices, for example. Taking the notion of “knowledge and its resources” as a starting point to reflect on the reciprocities between the making and using of visual evidence, this seminar offers a perspective on techniques of visual representation and the historical, theoretical, and cultural conditions of the production of visual evidence from early modern times to the present. It sheds light on the fruitful intersection between art history and history of science, material culture studies, museum studies, and book history, dealing with topics such as the epistemic function of seeing and showing, optical devices and human senses, the museum as place of knowledge, and relationships between scientific and artistic modes of representation. The seminar also examines the basis on which visual representations are generated, focussing, for example, on how knowledge and concepts of knowledge are linked to (artistic) traditions and conventions of visual representation. It will also take a critical look at the concept of "evidence" and ask what relevance it has for the generation of knowledge and images.
The seminar is open for MA students from FU, HU and TU. If you are interested in participating, please register directly with Karin Gludovatz karin.gludovatz@fu-berlin.de via E-mail (short, reasoned expression of interest). The in-class readings lay the foundation of the seminar which will be held in English. |
| Literatur |
Dupré, Sven. “Materials and Techniques between the Humanities and Science. Introduction to
the Forum Section,” History of the Humanities 2 (2017): 173-178.
Fend, Mechthild: Fleshing out surfaces: skin in French art and medicine, 1650-1850, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2017
Jordanova, Ludmilla: The look of the past: visual and material evidence in historical practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012
Smith, Pamela H. The Body of the Artisan. Art and Experience in the Scientific Revolution, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2004
te Heesen, Anke: The World in a Box. The Story of an Eighteenth-Century Picture Encyclopedia. Chicago: The Chicago University Press 2002 |
