The International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) holds meetings every two years, and the next meeting will be held in Brisbane, Australia in 2009. In addition to biannual meetings, the ISHPSSB has sponsored workshops for the purpose of fostering small-scale and intimate communication among researchers. The Biology Studies in East Asia workshop, which will be held in Kobe in November 2008, is the first event hosted by ISHPSSB in Asia.
In East Asia, historical and sociological studies of biology have been the subject of research for a long time. Recently, the number of philosophers of biology conducting research in Japan has increased, and new topics such as neuroethics have become important. Historians, who have been studying the so-called "introduction" of Western biology to their countries, have begun to pay attention to the relationship and politics of East Asian countries. Given this momentum, we would like to encourage interest in the biology studies research field among scholars beyond East Asia. This international workshop surveys the current status of biological research and facilitates the discussion of future directions relevant to historical, sociological, and philosophical studies in biology.
The purposes of this workshop are to (1) build a network of scholars researching biology in East Asia and (2) foster interactions between those scholars and current ISHPSSB members. Communication between participants from each East Asian country will be mutually beneficial and will be helpful in making biological studies research more active in this region.
Most of the speakers have been selected (see Program in Detail). Each session has invited speakers from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Australia, China, and the United States. Participants are also from Australia, the United States, and Europe.
Kobe city is now carrying leading project on bitechnology and regenerative medicine. In addition to the scheduled sessions, we are preparing an excursion to RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe. The RIKEN Center is one of the most important institutes of stem cell research in Japan. The staff of RIKEN CDB will provide a short lecture on the regenerative medicine project. This trip will be valuable for those who are interested in the bio-industry and developmental biology.
| Morning 10:00-12:00 | Afternoon (1) 13:00-15:00 | Afternoon (2) 15:30-17:30 | Evening 18:00-20:00 | |
| 11-5 WEDS | Emerging Philosophy of Biology in East Asia (1) | Emerging Philosophy of Biology in East Asia (2) | Reception | |
| 11-6 THURS | Excursion Kobe Riken CDB | Systematic Biology and the Species Problem | Neuroethics: East and West | |
| 11-7 FRI | History of Eugenics in East Asia | Japanese Biology in Colonial Imperial Universities |