The next University of Aberdeen, Centre for History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHPSTM) will take place next Wednesday 29 March 2023, 11am, via Teams. As always, all are welcome.
‘In the office… in the field… and at College’: The Geographies of Engineering Training in Nineteenth Century Scotland
Rachel Dishington (University of Nottingham)
Wednesday, 29 March 2023, 11 am (GMT)
The Stevenson family were renowned lighthouse and harbour engineers working in Scotland from the 1780s until the 1950s. Focusing on family members who joined the firm in the 1830s and in the 1860s, this seminar explores the geographies of nineteenth century engineering training. I consider what Stevenson engineers were required to learn, and where they learned it. What spaces were meaningful in the process of becoming an engineer and why? What can these spaces tell us about knowledge, practice and authority in engineering? By following the Stevensons from university classrooms to drawing offices, construction sites to learned societies, and into the domestic spaces of the family home, the seminar situates processes of expertise development and identity formation within specific formal and informal learning environments, exploring the significance of space, and particularly the transition between spaces, in the development of nineteenth century engineering.
CHPSTM Seminars consist of a 25-minute presentation with 30 minutes or so for discussion afterwards. Please register (for free) via Eventbrite at the address below and you’ll receive the Teams link and a reminder ahead of the seminar:
You are welcome to share the above eventbrite link – any questions, or problems registering, please do get in touch: e.packham@abdn.ac.uk
HSTM Network Ireland 