Organizer: Tomoko Y. Steen, Library of Congress, USA Discussants: Liping Bu, Independent Scholar, USA; Laura L. Wong, National Library of Medicine, USA; Mary Ann Collins, National Library of Medicine, USA; Ming Sun Poon, Library of Congress, USA The pioneering knowledge of Chinese traditional science, technology and medicine spread throughout the Asia region and world-wide over several millennia. The field of Chinese STM itself is evolving and is inspiring lively research. While in-depth historical studies on Chinese STM continue in importance, social scientists have grasped current Chinese STM developments that are pushing forth at a “bullet train rate.” Serious studies on the history of Chinese STM can be traced to the 1920s when Joseph Needham and Owen Lattimore, for example, introduced such subjects to the West. Interest and research among Chinese studies experts, both within and outside of China, was re-invigorated and has been thriving ever since.
The workshop will lay out current trends in Chinese STM Studies while providing practical research strategies. It covers traditional archival studies; introduces new concepts such as “visual turn”; discusses cross disciplinary approaches and publishing trends; and provides tips on using textual and image databases. Humanities and social science researchers will learn to make fuller use of historical as well as recent Chinese STM resources at large libraries such as the National Library of Medicine and the Library of Congress. This is the second Workshop that the East Asian STM Working Group has organized for AAS. It aims to strengthen research methods for academics that cover Chinese STM and to spark interest among young academics. By understanding these research trends, archivists can make these unique collections more visible and easy to use.
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