Events
Final Conference Projecting Knowledge: The Magic Lantern in Science Communication
Around 1900 the optical lantern had been adopted by scholars as a teaching aid in various academic disciplines as well as in outreach activities (as public illustrated lectures). Starting in 2018, Projecting Knowledge has studied academic uses and practices of knowledge dissemination with the lantern.
During this two-day conference we would like to discuss and put our findings in perspective. We do this in five panels, consisting of the project’s team members and invited speakers who will address central questions we have encountered in our research, followed by plenary discussion. We wrap up with a closing statement. The panels’ topics are: How can we study the audiences of illustrated lectures? What pedagogical strategies were used? How do images convey knowledge? How do different spaces inform the process of knowledge dissemination? How do the material sources impact research?
Our goal during these two days is to have a thorough conversation with all participants to foster our understanding of the complex issues at hand by looking at them from various viewpoints. This will benefit, we hope, not only our project, but also contribute to the broader field of the history of knowledge by stimulating reflection on the role of media in shaping practices of science communication.
Thursday, 13 October 2022
10.00-10.40 Registration
10.40-11.00 Welcome, by Prof. Dr. Els Rose, Director of the Institute for Cultural Research (ICON) – Media and Performance Studies
11.00-12.30 Panel I Audiences | Chair: Frank Kessler
Knowing your audience
Dr. Klaas de Zwaan, Faculty of Humanities, Art and Culture, History, Antiquity, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Imag(in)ing Publics through Urban Geography and Print Sources
Dr. Annelies Andries, Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) – Musicology, Utrecht University
12.30-14.00 Lunch
14.00-15.30 Panel II Pedagogy | Chair: Klaas de Zwaan
The Dutch university, 1880-1940
Prof. Dr. Bert Theunissen, Freudenthal Instituut – History and Philosophy of Science, Utrecht University
The anatomist’s toolbox: teaching anatomy to medical students, 1890-1940
Dr. Laurens de Rooy, Curator Museum Vrolik, Academic Medical Hospital Amsterdam
Knowledge transmission through projected images in Dutch universities, 1880-1940
Jamilla Notebaard, Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) – Media and Performance Studies, Utrecht University
15.30-16.00 Break
16.00-17.30 Panel III Images | Chair: Jamilla Notebaard
Projected Photographs as Evidence: Testimony and Efficiency
Dr. Scott Curtis, Associate Professor of Radio/Television/Film at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and of Communication at Northwestern University in Qatar
Defamiliarizing the Magic Lantern Show:
Wonder, Speculation, and the Explorers Club
Prof. Dr. Alison Griffiths, Distinguished Professor of film and media at Baruch College and the CUNY Graduate Center, New York
Pictures of Knowledge
Prof. Dr. Frank Kessler, Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) – Media and Performance Studies, Utrecht University
Friday, 14 October 2022
11.00-12.30 Panel IV Spaces | Chair: Nico de Klerk
The planetarium dome
Dr. Martin Bush, University of Melbourne / Descartes Center, Utrecht University
Public lectures at Teylers Museum
Trienke van der Spek, Chief Curator of Scientific Collections, Teylers Museum, Haarlem
Spaces of public illustrated lectures in the Netherlands after 1900
Dulce da Rocha Gonçalves, Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) – Media and Performance Studies, Utrecht University
12.30-14.00 Lunch
14.00-15.30 Panel V Sources | Chair: Dulce da Rocha Gonçalves
Time Capsules: Lantern slides in their media-archaeological surroundings at the Seminar of Art History, University of Hamburg
Dr. Anke Napp, Director of Historical Image Archives, Seminar of Art History, University of Hamburg
Open-Source Archives: Mitigating and Harnessing Archival Incompleteness for Education and Research
Dr. Vincent Longo, Department of Film, Television, and Media, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Imperfect camouflage: reporting public illustrated lectures in Dutch newspapers, 1890-1940
Dr. Nico de Klerk, Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON) – Media and Performance Studies, Utrecht University
15.30-16.15 Break
16.15-17.15 Closing statement
by Prof. Dr. Paul Ziche, Research Institute for Philosophy and Religion Studies – Utrecht University
17.15 Drinks
Conference program brochure can be found here.
[Pictures by Sabine Lenk]
A personal account of the conference written by speaker Dr. Anke Napp can be found here.
Vincent Longo’s contribution was also included in a newsletter from the University of Michigan.