HPS Talks Utrecht

Extracurricular talks related to History and Philosophy of Science in Utrecht.

Unofficial overview compiled by a student. Always check the details with the organisers.

September 2026

Fri 25 Sep
Tomorrow

Can "One Health" be more than a slogan? Philosophical perspectives on health and the environment

Fri 25 Sep

A Set-Theoretic Resolution of Two Enduring Problems for MW QM

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Paul Tappenden (Crest, France)

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

October 2026

Fri 2 Oct

De Universiteit van de Toekomst (UU lustrum event, in Dutch)

· Alex Brenninkmeijerzaal, Johanna Hudiggebouw, Kromme Nieuwegracht 47e

Discussion afternoon for the university's 390th anniversary about the future of Utrecht University. Students, policy staff and city residents share perspectives on the university's past, present and future relationship with the city and society. Organised by the Werkgroep Utrechtse Universiteitsgeschiedenis (WUU), with Mette Bruinsma (Descartes Centre). In Dutch. Register by e-mailing wuu@uu.nl.

Fri 9 Oct

Hegel's Criticism of Newton's Physics: A Reconsideration

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Goran P., on T. Posh (2004)

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building. Michael Petry Memorial Lecture.

Tue 13 Oct

HPS Seminar: Classic microhistory, in memory of Carlo Ginzburg (1939–2026)

· BBG 007

Daan Wegener, Miquel Mollá García, Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar, Federica Russo

Reading: C. Ginzburg, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller ([1976] Routledge & Kegan Paul 1980)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Contact: F.D.A.Wegener@uu.nl

November 2026

Tue 10 Nov

HPS Seminar: A manifesto

Reading: I. Stengers, Another Science is Possible: A Manifesto for Slow Science (Polity 2018)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

Fri 20 Nov

HPS Seminar: Foucault

Reading: M. Foucault, The Birth of the Clinic: An Archeology of Medical Perception ([1963] Tavistock Publications 1973)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable. Snacks and refreshments provided.

Fri 27 Nov

Bohr21 Seminar

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Rasmus Jaskland

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

December 2026

Fri 4 Dec

Talk by Matthijs Hoek

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

Tue 8 Dec

HPS Seminar: Something different, something new

Reading: D. Frankfurter, Magic, Charisma and Violence in Late Antiquity: Essays in Religion (Edinburgh University Press 2026)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

Fri 11 Dec

Bohr21 Seminar

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Michela Massimi

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

January 2027

Fri 8 Jan

Bohr21 Seminar

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

Tue 12 Jan

HPS Seminar: Dilemmas of modernity

Reading: A.N. Whitehead, Science and the Modern World ([1925] Free Press 2010): chapters 1–6 (pp. 1–141)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

Fri 15 Jan

Talk by Diana Taschetto (UU)

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

Fri 22 Jan

HPS Seminar: Dilemmas of modernity (cont.)

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Reading: A.N. Whitehead, Science and the Modern World ([1925] Free Press 2010): chapters 7–13 (pp. 142–260)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Snacks and refreshments provided. Also listed in F.A. Muller's Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (which gives 15:15–17:00). Without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

Fri 29 Jan

Talk by Thijs Latten (TUD)

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

February 2027

Fri 5 Feb

Bohr21 Seminar

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

Tue 9 Feb

HPS Seminar: Mythologies of menopause

Reading: M. Lock, Encounters with Aging: Mythologies of Menopause in Japan and North America (University of California Press 1993)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

Fri 19 Feb

Talk by Philipp Berghofer (Graz, Austria)

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

Fri 26 Feb

Bohr21 Seminar

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

March 2027

Tue 9 Mar

HPS Seminar: Complexity and models

Federica Russo

Reading: Readings t.b.a.

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

Fri 12 Mar

Bohr21 Seminar

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

Fri 19 Mar

HPS Seminar: Human-animal relations, labwork (and fieldwork)

Reading: R.E. Kohler, Lords of the Fly: Drosophila Genetics and the Experimental Life (University of Chicago Press 1994)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable. Snacks and refreshments provided.

April 2027

Fri 2 Apr

Bohr21 Seminar

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.

Tue 13 Apr

HPS Seminar: Histories of scholarship

Reading: A. Grafton, Defenders of the Text: The Traditions of Scholarship in an Age of Science, 1450–1800 (Harvard University Press 1991)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

May 2027

Tue 11 May

HPS Seminar: Cross Roads

Reading: N.I. Bukharin, Science at the Cross Roads (Kniga 1931): selected papers (N.I. Bukharin, M. Rubinstein, B. Hessen)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

Fri 21 May

HPS Seminar: Boundary work

Reading: M. Gordin, The Pseudoscience Wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the Birth of the Modern Fringe (University of Chicago Press 2012)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable. Snacks and refreshments provided.

June 2027

Tue 8 Jun

HPS Seminar: Poetry session, in memory of Lieke Marsman (1990–2026)

Reading: L. Marsman, Op een andere planeet kunnen ze mij redden (Pluim 2025); in English: On Another Planet They Can Save Me, translated by Sophie Collins (Catapult 2026)

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

August 2027

Wed–Fri 25–27 Aug

Third International History of Knowledge Conference: Decentering the History of Knowledge

· Utrecht

Organised by the Descartes Centre (Utrecht University) and the Huygens Institute (KNAW). Call for contributions: papers, panels and alternative formats; submit by 15 December 2026. Contact: HoKconference27@uu.nl

Past events (2)
Tue 15 Sep

HPS Seminar: Conversation with Hans Radder

Hans Radder

Reading: Readings t.b.a.

HPS Seminar (coordinated by Daan Wegener and Antonio Ferreiro de Aguiar). Participants read the text in advance and send their reading notes a day before. In person only. Room: see MyTimetable.

Fri 11 Sep

Why Interpret Quantum Physics?

· BBG 0.69, Princetonplein 5

F.A. Muller, on E. MacKinnon, Open Journal of Philosophy 6 (2016) 86–102

Research Seminar Philosophy of Physics (F.A. Muller). In person only; without a UU access pass, enter the BBG via the Minnaert Building.