Elati 2009
1st HEPHAESTUS RESEARCH SEMINAR
Hephaestus Research Seminar and 6th Workshop
on Critical Approaches to Science and Education
Elati, 14-17 July, 2009
The 1st Hephaestus Research Seminar organised by the History, Philosophy and Didactics of Science and Technology team was held in Elati from July 14th to July 17th. It was twinned with the 6th Workshop on Critical Approaches to Science and Education, organized by the Laboratory of Science Education, Epistemology and Educational Technology (ASEL) of the University of Athens and the Institute of Neohellenic Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, with the participation of the Journal Critical science and education and hosted by the Municipality of Aithikon (Elati, Greece).
Senior researchers of acknowledged experience, invited from the Research Institutions hosting post-doctoral HPDST researchers, as well as other experienced scholars, took part in research Seminar, aiming to bring state of the art research methodology and expertise to bear in the tapping of the team’s potential. The invited foreign researchers were Prof. Sabine Rommevaux, Director of research of CNRS in France and Alexandre Kostov, Senior research associate of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. They presented their respective research field. Prof. Rommevaux presented the subject of the transmission of Euclid's Elements to the Latin West, a seminal topic of Medieval history of science. Prof. Kostov presented the theme of the training and identities of Bulgarian engineers during the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, which is of importance for HPDST team as it opens the field of a comparative research on the modernisation of the Balkan States.
The seminar hosted several notable speakers as key lecturers on a variety of topics of History, Philosophy and Didactics of Science (see the Programme Hellenic Philosophy, History and Environmental Science Teaching Under Scrutiny site, https://www.hpdst.gr). The plenary session featured Professor Aristeidis Baltas expounding upon Marxism, Science and Philosophy.
Among other speakers Professor D. Chassapis gave a talk on didactical and theological features of Paulo Freire theories, G. Katsiamboura upon the notions of faith and cognition as conceptualized in the Byzantine textbooks, E. Koleza on the social aspect of Statistics, A. Nounou οn gauge potentials, holonomies and time, etc
Papers of junior researchers were discussed during the seminar and commented by invited speakers. The participants were ranging from students pursuing their Master’s degree to established experts in the fields of didactics, philosophy and history of science
The Seminar was deemed a success by all participants, building on the legacy of its predecessors. Selected papers based on the talks given will appear in the peer reviewed journal Critical Science and Education.