Date: Wednesday, May 15
Location: Eastview Room, University Conference Center, Close-Hipp Building (8th floor)

Timetable

09:30 am: Arrival and registration

10:00–11:30: Session 1: Citizen Science from Campus to the Capitol (Chair: Ryan McCoy, USDA/Washington and Lee University)

  • Matt Kisner, USC Philosophy: “Environmental Ethics and Community Engagement at USC: A case study"
  • Grant Foster, USC Biology: "Citizen Science in a Changing World"

12:45–14:15: Session 2: Natural History for the Modern World (Chair: Dustin Sigsbee, USC Philosophy)

  • Herrick Brown, USC Andrew Charles Moore Herbarium: “Tools of Citizen Science in Herbarium Curation"
  • Arlene Marturano, South Carolina Garden-Based Learning Network: "Data Dialogs: Citizen Science in Entomology, Meteorology, and Beyond”

14:30–15:00: Session 3, Closing panel: The Interplay of Citizen Science and Philosophy of Science in Practice (Session Moderator: Julia Bursten, University of Kentucky)

  • All speakers and session chairs, plus
  • Rachel A. Ankeny, Wageningen University & Research

15:00–17:45: Session 4: Field trip to the USC Arboretum

  • 15:00–15:15: Orientation to iNaturalist
  • 15:15–15:30: Walk to USC Arboretum
  • 15:45–17:45: Field trip led by Hilda Flamholtz, iNaturalist.

16–18 May 2024
Ann Johnson Institute for Science Technology & Society,University of South Carolina, USA

Pre-conference workshop: 15 May 2024

The traditional SPSP one-day workshop the day before the workshop starts, was around the theme of Citizen science.

Location

The conference was held at the University Conference Center, on the 8th floor of the Close-Hipp Building.

Programme and book of abstracts

There were keynotes by Prof. Leah McClimans (professor of philosophy, and co-director of the Ann Johnson Institute for Science, Technology & Society at the University of South Carolina), Prof. Sean Valles (professor and director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, at Michigan State University), and Prof. Chiara Ambrosio (professor of HPS at the Science and Technology Studies department of UCL).

Details can be found in the following downloads:

Submissions

The OpenConf submission system was open until 2 February 2024 for presentations/symposia, and until 26 February 2024 for posters. You can read up on the details for the Call for Papers, resp. Call for Posters.

Registration

The registration fee was US$150 for graduate students, US$275 for all others. The deadline for registration was May 9th 2024.

Conference accomodation and transport

Attendees booked their own travel to Columbia.

Those flying in to the conference, were recommended to fly to Charlotte (Charlotte Douglas International Airport, CLT) and book the Charlotte-Columbia shuttle (at about US$75 each way).

The university had reserved accommodation blocks 14-18th May at Courtyard Marriot Downtown at USC (60 rooms) and Springhill Suites Columbia Downtown/The Vista (65 rooms), both at US$149/night. Courtyard Marriot is on campus, and Springhill Suites is one a mile away (with a free nighttime shuttle). People coming for the preconference workshop should have asked to have this rate extended. There were links to both for booking at the SPSP conference rate, available up to 10 April; later booking was at the higher, regular price.

As for many conferences, some people received emails (as e.g. ‘Expo Hotel Services’), offering to book transport and hotel: This is a scam plagueing most conferences — a previous example here.

29 June – 2 July 2018
University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

Keynote speakers

William Bechtel (University of California at San Diego), Sabina Leonelli (University of Exeter), Maarten van Dyck (University of Ghent), Alison Wylie (University of British Columbia).

Registration site

SPSP 2018 is now closed for registrations.

The registration cost, including conference dinner, was €175 (€150 for PhD students) through the "early registration" deadline of 8 May. Authors of papers that have been accepted for the main program must register by that date to hold their place on the program. Poster presenters may register later, but after 8 May the cost rose by €25.

Programme

The final programme and book of abstracts are available; (while it lasts) more details are found on the conference website.

SPSP 2017–18 Organizing Committee

  • Chiara Ambrosio, University College London
  • Rachel A. Ankeny, University of Adelaide
  • Justin Biddle, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Till Grüne-Yanoff, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm
  • Sabina Leonelli, University of Exeter
  • Matthew Lund, Rowan University
  • Joseph Rouse, Wesleyan University

17–19 June 2016
Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ

Call for papers (Closed)

Abstract submission deadline: 11 January 2016
Notification of acceptance: 1 March 2016

Main contact: Joe Rouse, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Conference schedule and information

The conference booklet with information and schedule is here, alternatively just the schedule and campus map is here or as OpenConf schedule output here.

Pre-conference workshop

There was also a graduate student workshop “Empirical Methods for Philosophy of Science in Practice” on the day before the conference start.

Post-conference workshop: Race and Inclusion in Science and in Science Policy

On Sunday, June 19 (9–11AM), there was also a smaller workshop co-sponsored with The Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (SRPoiSE).

Speakers:

  • Robin O. Andreasen & Heather Doty (University of Delaware): Measuring Inequality: Race and Gender in Science
  • Ron Mallon (Washington University in St. Louis): Discrimination and Accumulation
  • Sean A. Valles (Michigan State University): We’re Mismeasuring Diversity in STEM and Biomedicine: It’s Time to Choose More Equitable Race and Ethnicity Variables

east lansing aerial photo

This conference, originally scheduled for 7–10 July 2020, was first postponed (to 7–9 July 2021) due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but was finally cancelled. To get refunded by most institutes and/or insurers, members could download a statement to confirm the cancellation.

Michigan State University, East Lansing (MI), USA

The 8th Biennial Conference of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP) was to be hosted at Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, Michigan, in collaboration with the Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (SRPoiSE). There was a joint plenary for the two conferences planned, and both societies encouraged members to engage with both conferences.

Book of Abstracts

After the Call for Papers, all abstracts were reviewed and those accepted can be found in the book of abstracts here.

SPSP 2020 2021 2020 Local Organizing Committee

  • Kevin Elliott (co-chair)
  • Catherine Kendig (co-chair)
  • Sean Valles (co-chair)
  • Robyn Bluhm
  • Heather Douglas
  • Ellie Louson
  • Greg Lusk
  • Michael O’Rourke
  • Robert Pennock
  • Isaac Record
  • Arthur Ward

We welcome you to our robust and diverse center for philosophy of science in practice. The Department of Philosophy is known for its engaged approach to the discipline and its growing community of philosophers of science, and the philosophers at MSU work within a vibrant community of more than 60 science studies scholars, more than 20 of whom are employed by Lyman Briggs College, an MSU residential college focused on the study of science.

Conference website

The conference website https://www.spsp2020.org was poised to take care of all practical matters like travel, accomodation, info about the venue and last-minute updates, but now serves as a potential resource for the SPSP community. You can go over there to have a virtual tour of the MSU campus, have a look at how they pursue philosophy of science in practice, find out more about what socially engaged philosophy of science is like at MSU.

Travel, Accomodation, Venue and Updates

This information is now moot, after cancellation.