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DTSTART:20250101T000000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260323T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260323T183000
DTSTAMP:20260311T072601Z
CREATED:20260311T072601Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260311T072601Z
UID:178-1774287000-1774290600@hps-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Colonization Resistance and the Gut Microbiota ca 1960-1990: Persistence of an Ecological Paradigm in Medical Microbiology - Nicolas Ramussen (UNSW)
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: In the 1950s an alarming response to technocratic medicine emerged: patients were suffering severe\, often fatal gut infections as a result of antibiotic treatment. This talk describes how in the 1960s-1970s\, research into the problem revealed that the indigenous microbial flora of the gut play a major role in protection from disease\, and thus established one of the foundations of microbiome science.  It also relates the ideas guiding these postwar investigations to much earlier microbiological thought dating to the turn of the 20th century\, and explores the relationship of this research field to the politics of the long 1960s. \n\nBio: Nic Rasmussen is Professor Emeritus of history of science at UNSW\, and presently serving as Chief Editor of Journal of the History of Biology. His research interests include the Cold War and the rise of molecular biology\, pharmaceutical development and its relationship with nonmedical drug use\, and the influence of commercial sponsorship on biomedical research.  Publications have included Picture Control:  The Electron Microscope and the Transformation of Biology in America\, 1940-1960 (Stanford 1997); On Speed: From Benzedrine to Adderall (NYU 2008); Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise (Johns Hopkins\, 2014); Fat in the Fifties: America’s First Obesity Crisis (Johns Hopkins 2019). He is currently working with philosopher Maureen O’Malley (Sydney University)  and historian Claas Kirchhelle (INSERM\, France) on an ARC-funded historical epistemology study of the microbiome concept.
URL:https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/event/colonization-resistance-and-the-gut-microbiota-ca-1960-1990-persistence-of-an-ecological-paradigm-in-medical-microbiology-nicolas-ramussen-unsw/
LOCATION:Carslaw Building Lecture Theatre 275\, Carslaw Building (F07)\, Level 2\, Room 275\, The University of Sydney\, NSW\, 2006\, Australia
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260330T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260330T183000
DTSTAMP:20260317T034039Z
CREATED:20260317T032353Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260317T034039Z
UID:181-1774891800-1774895400@hps-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Our Microbial Lives: A Manifesto Against Eradication - Victoria Lee (Ohio University)
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: There is a growing recognition in the twenty-first century of our dependence on microbes for virtually every aspect of the way we live\, including how we grow our food\, heal our bodies\, and sustain our environment. Yet\, microbes are different from other targets of conservation\, such as butterflies and elephants: We feel differently about them. This talk traces the nature of microbial charisma as it has changed between efforts toward global eradication of microbial pathogens such as smallpox in the 1970s and the foregrounding of microbes as the life support system of the planet in climate policy after the 2000s. Drawing on research from her book\, The Arts of the Microbial World: Fermentation Science in Twentieth-Century Japan (Chicago 2021)\, Victoria Lee explores how humans have engaged with charismatic microbes in brewing and food production\, industrial chemistry\, and drug discovery. She invites us to rethink the modern history of human relationships with microbes in light of calls to foster a greater sense of kinship with nonhuman organisms toward a more sustainable future. In particular\, she challenges us to consider alternatives to approaches dominated by the goal of absolute control or eradication\, in line with the gradual discovery that we live inherently microbial lives. \nBio: Victoria Lee is associate professor of history at Ohio University. Her book\, The Arts of the Microbial World (University of Chicago Press\, 2021; awarded the International Convention of Asia Scholars Book Prize for the Best Book in the Humanities\, 2023)\, examined fermentation science in twentieth-century Japan\, a society where microbes were distinctively known and used as living workers as much as pathogens\, as a direct precedent to the more recent recognition of microbial ecologies as an inseparable part of human society in Europe and America. Her current work considers how twentieth-century microbial history offers insights into twenty-first century questions in light of the growing appreciation of microbes’ role in sustaining organisms at every level of life through the microbiome\, mediating climate change (especially in agriculture)\, and contributing to innovations in green chemistry. She has held fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin and the Paris Institute for Advanced Study\, and her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books\, NPR’s All Things Considered\, and Mediapart.
URL:https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/event/our-microbial-lives-a-manifesto-against-eradication-victoria-lee-ohio-university/
LOCATION:Carslaw Building Lecture Theatre 275\, Carslaw Building (F07)\, Level 2\, Room 275\, The University of Sydney\, NSW\, 2006\, Australia
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260420T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260420T183000
DTSTAMP:20260415T021007Z
CREATED:20260415T020932Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260415T021007Z
UID:187-1776706200-1776709800@hps-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Pleonexia and the Public/Private Health Systems - Kathryn MacKay (University of Sydney)
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: ‘Pleonexia’ is an ancient Greek term that means taking or wanting to take more than is one’s due\, or avoiding or wanting to avoid contributing what one justly owes. It is often translated as ‘greed\,’ though it is more complex than an idea of greed like uncontrolled appetites\, gluttony\, or avarice. It is also concerned with goods beyond those that are material in nature\, and includes honour\, respect\, and other non-material goods. Importantly\, pleonexia is connected to justice and not just to appetite. It demands to know\, what are you rightly owed\, or what do you rightly owe in turn? \nIn this paper\, I use the idea of pleonexia to interrogate the common practice in Australia whereby physicians and specialists trained in the public healthcare system exit the public system immediately upon completing their training\, for an exclusively private healthcare practice. All doctors are trained in the public system\, and learn from doctors who have chosen to have all or part of their practice in the public side. However\, many doctors choose to exit the public system entirely once their training is completed\, removing their skills from the system and closing off access to both other trainees and the patients who would benefit from their practice. I argue that this is a case of pleonexia but not simply in the positive side of wanting more money or status (though these may be involved). Here\, I will focus on the other side of pleonexia involved in this case\, of not contributing what one justly owes\, and leaving the system worse off as a result. \nBio: Kathryn MacKay is a Senior Lecturer and Program Director of the Master of Bioethics at Sydney Health Ethics. She has a BA in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario (Canada)\, an MA in philosophy from McGill University (Canada)\, and a PhD in bioethics from the University of Birmingham (UK). Kathryn’s research brings a feminist theoretical lens to the field of bioethics\, and especially public health ethics. Her work involves examining issues of human flourishing at the intersection of moral theory\, feminist theory\, and political philosophy. She has recently published a book on institutional virtue for public health\, entitled Public Health Virtue Ethics: Institutions\, Structures\, and Political Virtue for the Good Society (Routledge\, 2025).
URL:https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/event/pleonexia-and-the-public-private-health-systems-kathryn-mackay-sydney-university/
LOCATION:Carslaw Building Lecture Theatre 275\, Carslaw Building (F07)\, Level 2\, Room 275\, The University of Sydney\, NSW\, 2006\, Australia
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260504T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260504T183000
DTSTAMP:20260422T071115Z
CREATED:20260422T070948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260422T071115Z
UID:192-1777915800-1777919400@hps-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:PTSD in Australia from DSM-III to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (2021-2024) - Effie Karageorges (The University of Newcastle)
DESCRIPTION:Effie Karageorgos\nAbstract: In 1980\, the American Psychiatric Association published the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III)\, which introduced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)\, a new psychiatric category applicable to both civilian and veteran trauma. PTSD differed from previous DSM classifications such as ‘gross stress reaction’ in DSM-I of 1952 and ‘transient situational disturbance’ in 1968’s DSM-II by its insistence that such trauma was not related to personality\, but rather ‘normal’ responses to a stressful event. Although this definition harked back to Freudian conceptualisations of ‘psychic trauma’\, it was bound by a set of guidelines in line with the neo-Kraepelinian approach of DSM-III. For the military veteran\, this new definition was revolutionary\, removing – officially\, at least – the suggestion common during the First and Second World Wars that traumatic symptoms were caused by faults in individual or hereditary makeup. In Australia\, the Department of Veterans Affairs began recognising PTSD as a pensionable condition from the early 1980s\, but it was not until the 1990s that Australian veterans mounted a collective approach to advocating for the recognition and pensioning of veteran trauma\, predominantly through the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia (VVAA).  Since this period\, advocacy by the VVAA and other organisations has promoted the biomedical model of veteran trauma in alignment with the DSM\, ensuring that veterans retain their respectability as ex-soldiers\, while insisting on life-centred treatment options reflecting a biopsychosocial model. This paper focuses on the Australian example\, where the foregrounding of military histories within national identity has led to a specific framing of the masculine soldier ‘hero’ that allows little room for men ‘weakened’ by trauma. Despite tireless advocacy by veteran organisations from the 1980s\, the recent Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide tells us that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) remains attached to this framing and is yet to embrace the necessarily multifaced approach to ensure quality of life for traumatised military personnel. \nBio: Effie Karageorgos is a historian whose work focuses on conflict\, violence\, protest\, gender and psychiatry. She is Deputy Co-Director of the UON Centre for Society\, Health and Care Research\, co-editor of Health and History journal and co-investigator on the ARC project ‘Life outside institutions: histories of mental health aftercare 1900 – 1960’ led by Catharine Coleborne. With Natalie Hendry (University of Melbourne)\, she coordinates the Social Production of Mental Health seminar series\, which has formed the basis of their recent edited book Critical Mental Health in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand: Social and Historical Perspectives (Palgrave\, 2025). Her latest book Quiet Protest: A New History of Activism in the Vietnam War is published by UNSW Press in April 2026.
URL:https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/event/ptsd-in-australia-from-dsm-iii-to-the-royal-commission-into-defence-and-veteran-suicide-2021-2024-effie-karageorges-the-university-of-newcastle/
LOCATION:Carslaw Building Lecture Theatre 275\, Carslaw Building (F07)\, Level 2\, Room 275\, The University of Sydney\, NSW\, 2006\, Australia
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260601T130000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260611T170000
DTSTAMP:20260522T023445Z
CREATED:20260522T023445Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260522T023445Z
UID:206-1780318800-1781197200@hps-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:HPS Research Day @ The Sybil Centre
DESCRIPTION:The School of History and Philosophy of Science Researh Day\nJune 1st\, Monday afternoon\, at the Sybil Centre (Women’s College)\,\n15 Carillon Avenue on the Newtown side of campus\n\n\n\nTime\nSpeaker\nTitle\n\n\n1.00pm\nDominic Murphy\nIntroduction and overview\n\n\n1.15pm\nJo Richards\nThe Ecological Niche Metaphor and the Rise of Western Anorexia Nervosa in Hong Kong\n\n\n1.45pm\nJax Gill\nThe ADHD Discrepancy: An Approach for Reconciling Biology and Historical Emergence in Psychiatry\n\n\n2.15pm\nStefan Gawronski\nUexküll’s Animals: The Experimental Origins of the Umwelt\n\n\n3.00pm\nRefreshment break\n\n\n\n3.30pm\nCaitrin Donovan\nOthered Minds: Intelligibility\, Niche Construction\, and the Social-Cognitive Function of Psychiatry\n\n\n4.15pm\nTsung-Jen Hung (Edward)\nThe Jamu-ization of Dog Meat and Snakes: Negotiating Purity and Moral Worlds in Java’s Therapeutic Landscape\n\n\n5.00pm\nBREAK\n\n\n\n5.30pm\nPaul Griffiths\nSex as a Process\n\n\n7.00pm\nPizza at The Rose (Cleveland St)
URL:https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/event/hps-research-day-the-sybil-centre/
LOCATION:The Sibyl Centre\, 15 Carillon Avenue\, Newtown\, NSW\, 2042\, Australia
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260601T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260601T183000
DTSTAMP:20260522T020839Z
CREATED:20260522T020839Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260522T020839Z
UID:198-1780335000-1780338600@hps-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Sex as a Process - Paul E. Griffiths - University of Sydney and Macquarie University
DESCRIPTION:Abstract: Biological sex is defined by anisogamy: males produce small gametes\, females large gametes. This definition has been criticised as a ‘sex binary’ harmful to sexual and gender minorities. Such criticism conflates gametic sex\, which is binary\, with phenotypic sex\, which is not. There are two gametic sexes\, but many kinds of sexed bodies combining sexes in different ways. \nIn a well-meaning effort to support diverse communities\, many theorists have sought to increase the number of sexes. But there is a better solution. That is to realise that sexes are phenotypes. They are not present in miniature in the fertilised egg. Just like arms\, livers or musical ability\, sexes have to grow. Sex is a process. \nBecause sexes are phenotypes\, chromosomes\, nest temperatures and other sex-determining mechanisms may cause the sex of an individual\, but they cannot constitute the sex of that individual\, any more than the gene for blue eyes can be a blue eye. \nThis developmental perspective on sex provides a framework for understanding both the evolved diversity of sexed bodies across species and the open-ended\, idiosyncratic diversity of sexed bodies within a single species. \nBio: Emeritus Professor Paul Griffiths was formerly Challis Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He has been both a Laureate Fellow (2018) and a Federation Fellow (2007) of the Australian Research Council. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities\, the American Association for the Advancement of Science\, and the Royal Society of NSW\, and was awarded the RSNSW Medal for History and Philosophy of Science in 2019.  He was twice appointed to the Australian Health Ethics Committee\, a Principal Committee of NHMRC (2006-9\, 2009-12). \nIn 2022 Paul received the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Leadership Award and was named in a Stanford University study as amongst the top 2% of influential academics worldwide. He retired at the beginning of 2024 and in addition to his Emeritus position at University of Sydney he is a Senior Research Fellow in the School  of Humanities at Macquarie University\, where he continues to hold research grants. \n 
URL:https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/event/sex-as-a-process-paul-e-griffiths-university-of-sydney-and-macquarie-university/
LOCATION:The Sibyl Centre\, 15 Carillon Avenue\, Newtown\, NSW\, 2042\, Australia
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DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260803T173000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260803T183000
DTSTAMP:20260729T055001Z
CREATED:20260729T054236Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260729T055001Z
UID:220-1785778200-1785781800@hps-events.sydney.edu.au
SUMMARY:Proprioception and Knowledge of the External World in the Long 18th Century - Antonia LoLordo - University of Virginia
DESCRIPTION:Abstract:  Mary Shepherd says that motion (or the power of motion) is a sixth sense (or sixth sense organ).  I argue that she is talking about proprioception.  Shepherd thus holds that proprioception plays a crucial role in acquiring knowledge of the external world\, as well as in acquiring the concepts involved.  I further argue that proprioception plays a role in knowledge of the external world for many of her predecessors as well—for example\, the Berkeley of the New Theory\, Condillac\, Hume\, and Reid—although unlike Shepherd\, they do not distinguish proprioception from the sense of touch. \nBio:  Antonia LoLordo is George C. and Clare F. Downing Memorial Professor at the University of Virginia.  Her work includes Pierre Gassendi and the Birth of Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge)\, Locke’s Moral Man (Oxford)\, an edition of Mary Shepherd’s Essays on the Perception of an External Universe (Oxford)\, and Mary Shepherd (Cambridge)\, as well as articles on Cugoano\, Descartes\, Edwards\, Gassendi\, Hume\, Locke\, Malebranche\, and Shepherd.  She is currently working on a book on proprioception and knowledge of the external world in the 18th century.
URL:https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/event/proprioception-and-knowledge-of-the-external-world-in-the-long-18th-century/
LOCATION:Madsen Room 331\, Madsen Building F09\, The University of Sydney\, NSW\, 2006\, Australia
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