The Department of History of Science & Technology at Johns Hopkins University invites proposals that explore new themes and perspectives on environmental problems, both past and present. The aim is to publish a volume of essays that will suggest ways of linking environmental history, history of public health, history of science and technology, and science and technology studies (including political science, sociology and anthropology of science). They hope to develop a comparative perspective involving both East-West and North-South comparisons, and invite papers dealing with any region of the world. Topics might include, for example: environmental policy, government, and the law; the debates over "natural" (unavoidable) disasters vs. human-caused (avoidable) disasters (as illustrated by Hurricane Katrina or the recent earthquake in Japan); links between urban ecology and public health; eco-cities and urban reconstruction for sustainable living. Broad overviews of needs and opportunities will be combined with more focused research papers, and they solicit proposals of both kinds. Younger scholars working on new topics are encouraged to submit a proposal.
Paper proposals of 250 words should be sent by January 15, 2012 to Prof. Buhm Soon Park (parkb@kaist.edu) and Prof. Sharon Kingsland (sharon@jhu.edu). Drafts of papers will be due on September 15, 2012, and authors are invited to a workshop at Johns Hopkins University on the weekend of October 20-22, 2012, for group discussion of papers. Final drafts will be due on February 1, 2013. The workshop is sponsored by the Department of History of Science and Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Travel and accommodation expenses of participants will be fully covered. An honorarium of $500 on final submission of papers is offered.