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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Institut d'Història de la Ciència

Institut

The creation of the Institut crowns a long trajectory of research and teaching in the History of Science in the UAB: from the creation, in 1983, of the Seminari d'Història de les Ciències, its transformation into the Centre d'Història de la Ciència (CEHIC) in 1995, to its current conversion into a research institute in its own right. The IHC combines the knowledge, expertise and scope of the years of activity of the CEHIC, and of its research groups and staff in the field of the history of science.

The new Institut is established as the fundamental core of the teaching (degree, master and postgraduate), research and communication of the History of Science with a vast international scope. The IHC has become an integrative and dynamic space, devoted to the analysis of the role of science and scientific culture in a broad sense, fully integrated in our society, the past and the present. It is a notably multidisciplinary and inclusive space, open to innovative perspectives and regularly welcoming teachers, researchers and students from different countries.  

The IHC research focuses particularly on the History of Science in the 19th and 20th centuries, from diverse perspectives: the relations between science, politics and power; the role of science audiences as active agents in the construction of knowledge; the material, spatial and urban dimensions of science; the history of medicalisation processes and of human science; and the relations between science, health and gender. The IHC also focuses on the relations of the history of science with disciplines such as philosophy, anthropology, sociology and science and technology studies (STS).