History of Sciences and Ideas
History of Sciences and Ideas at the University of Oulu is the only one of its kind in Finland. The staff consists of two professors and three university lecturers. There are also three post-doctoral researchers affiliated with the unit. In 2019 there are about ten doctoral students in the discipline and ca. ten students attain their MA-degrees annually.
History of Sciences and Ideas has two interrelated perspectives on history. History of ideas or intellectual history focuses on beliefs, hopes and fears of past peoples – on the ways in which people have thought about society, nature and human nature. Intellectual historians also study ideologies, concepts and all kinds of “isms” or belief systems, such as liberalism, socialism and nationalism. Here in Oulu, researchers study the Enlightenment and its legacy, utopianism and a wide spectrum of political ideas from conservatism to anarchism.
History of science explores changes in the understanding of science and how scientific practices have evolved over time. Historians of science also exam how scientific data has been collected and analysed, what sort of knowledge has been considered “scientific” and how science interlinks with politics, culture and ideologies. In our unit, research topics include history of medicine, psychology and psychiatry as well as evolutionary theories, physical sciences and the scientific "revolution" of the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Postal address:
History of Science and Ideas,
P.O. Box 1000
FIN-90014 University of Oulu
