HPS Talks Utrecht

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

Friday 2 October 2026 · 15:00–16:30 · 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.

• invitation ↗

UPAC Reading Group: Multiverses

Tuesday 6 October 2026 · 16:00–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

Reading: B. le Bihan (University of Geneva), Holistic Versus Fragmented Multiverses: Empirical Access via Causal and Grounding Signatures

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): reading group, read the paper in advance. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the upac-l mailing list.

• paper ↗
• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

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

Friday 9 October 2026 · 15:15–17:00 · 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.

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

Tuesday 13 October 2026 · 15:00–16:45 · 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

• e-mail ↗

Deflating effective field theory

Tuesday 13 October 2026 · 15:30–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

Adam Koberinski (Lund University)

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): research presentation, no preparation needed. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the upac-l mailing list. To join the speaker for dinner, e-mail cosmo-master.assistant@uu.nl the day before.

• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

Descartes Colloquium (t.b.a.)

Tuesday 20 October 2026 · 15:30–17:00 · Johanna Hudig building, room 1.27 (Alex Brenninkmeijer room), entrance Kromme Nieuwegracht 47E

Descartes Centre Colloquium on history & philosophy of science (replaces the UPAC Colloquium this week). Speakers and title t.b.a. Hybrid; e-mail dc-colloquium@uu.nl for the Teams link.

• schedule ↗

UPAC Work in Progress: Dark Energy & the Spacetime-Matter Dichotomy

Tuesday 27 October 2026 · 16:00–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

Niels Martens (Utrecht University)

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): work-in-progress session; the draft is sent out beforehand via the upac-l mailing list. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the same list.

• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

Conference: Melancholic Historicity – Lost Pasts and Past Losses

Thursday 29 – Saturday 31 October 2026 · 09:00 · Thu: Drift 13-003 · Fri: Drift 23-104 · Sat: UB Binnenstad, zaal 0.21

Organised by Katherina Kinzel and Robert Vinkesteijn (UU)

Three-day conference on a 'melancholic' approach to historicity, oriented around loss, destruction and defeat (Benjamin, Hegel, Arendt, Burckhardt, Nancy and others). Thursday: loss, mourning, melancholia and nostalgia. Friday: processing loss in culture, art and ecology. Saturday (morning only): between defeat and hope. Co-funded by the Descartes Centre. To register, e-mail r.w.vinkesteijn@uu.nl.

• programme ↗

Limiting Reduction and Modified Gravity

Tuesday 3 November 2026 · 15:30–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

Antonis Antoniou (University of Athens)

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): research presentation, no preparation needed. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the upac-l mailing list. To join the speaker for dinner, e-mail cosmo-master.assistant@uu.nl the day before.

• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

HPS Seminar: A manifesto

Tuesday 10 November 2026 · 15:00–16:45

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.

UPAC Reading Group: Cosmic simultaneity

Tuesday 10 November 2026 · 16:00–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

Reading: F. Viglione (University of Milan), Not-so-Absolute Cosmic Simultaneity

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): reading group, read the paper in advance. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the upac-l mailing list.

• paper ↗
• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

Descartes Colloquium (t.b.a.)

Tuesday 17 November 2026 · 15:30–17:00

Descartes Centre Colloquium on history & philosophy of science (replaces the UPAC Colloquium this week). Speakers, title and room t.b.a. Hybrid; e-mail dc-colloquium@uu.nl for the Teams link.

• schedule ↗

HPS Seminar: Foucault

Friday 20 November 2026 · 15:00–16:45

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.

UPAC Work in Progress: Spacetime-Matter Dichotomy

Tuesday 24 November 2026 · 16:00–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): work-in-progress session on one of the chapters of the COSMO-MASTER collected volume; the draft is sent out beforehand via the upac-l mailing list. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the same list.

• COSMO-MASTER volume ↗
• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

Bohr21 Seminar

Friday 27 November 2026 · 15:15–17:00 · 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.

Talk by Lucy James (on the multiverse)

Tuesday 1 December 2026 · 15:30–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

Lucy James (University of Bonn)

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): research presentation, no preparation needed. Title t.b.a. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the upac-l mailing list. To join the speaker for dinner, e-mail cosmo-master.assistant@uu.nl the day before.

• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

Talk by Matthijs Hoek

Friday 4 December 2026 · 15:15–17:00 · 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.

HPS Seminar: Something different, something new

Tuesday 8 December 2026 · 15:00–16:45

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.

UPAC Reading Group: Asteroseismology

Tuesday 8 December 2026 · 16:00–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

Reading: Suarez (title t.b.a.)

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): reading group, read the paper in advance. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the upac-l mailing list.

• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

Bohr21 Seminar

Friday 11 December 2026 · 15:15–17:00 · 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.

Descartes Winter Colloquium (t.b.a.)

Tuesday 15 December 2026 · 15:30–17:00

Descartes Centre end-of-year colloquium on history & philosophy of science (replaces the UPAC Colloquium this week). Programme and room t.b.a.; in past years this was a festive session of short talks by Descartes Centre members. Hybrid; e-mail dc-colloquium@uu.nl for the Teams link.

• schedule ↗

UPAC Work in Progress (t.b.a.)

Tuesday 5 January 2027 · 16:00–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): work-in-progress session; the draft is sent out beforehand via the upac-l mailing list. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the same list.

• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

Bohr21 Seminar

Friday 8 January 2027 · 15:15–17:00 · 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.

HPS Seminar: Dilemmas of modernity

Tuesday 12 January 2027 · 15:00–16:45

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.

Talk by Lucy James (on the multiverse)

Tuesday 12 January 2027 · 15:30–17:00 · BBG 3.45, Princetonplein 5

Lucy James (University of Bristol)

UPAC Colloquium (Utrecht Philosophy of Astronomy & Cosmology): research presentation, no preparation needed. Title t.b.a. Hybrid; the Teams link goes out via the upac-l mailing list. To join the speaker for dinner, e-mail cosmo-master.assistant@uu.nl the day before.

• UPAC schedule ↗
• mailing list ↗

OZSW Workshop for Junior Researchers: Learning and Reasoning in Humans, Animals, and Machines

Thursday 14 January 2027 · 11:00–16:30 · Mindlabs room 1.27, Tilburg University

Keynote: Jan-Willem Romeijn (Groningen)

One-day workshop organised by Matteo Colombo (Tilburg) and Nina Poth (Radboud) with the OZSW, for PhD students, postdocs and ReMa students working in philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of science and related areas. Keynote plus four or five talks by junior researchers (20 min + 10 min Q&A). In person only, no streaming.

To present: send a title and 200-word abstract to ninalaura.poth@ru.nl and M.Colombo@tilburguniversity.edu by 15 November 2026 (notification by 22 November).
To attend: send a short e-mail to M.Colombo@tilburguniversity.edu. Registration opens 15 October and closes 11 December 2026.

• e-mail ↗

Talk by Diana Taschetto (UU)

Friday 15 January 2027 · 15:15–17:00 · 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.

Descartes Colloquium (t.b.a.)

Tuesday 19 January 2027 · 15:30–17:00

Descartes Centre Colloquium on history & philosophy of science (replaces the UPAC Colloquium this week). Speakers, title and room t.b.a. Hybrid; e-mail dc-colloquium@uu.nl for the Teams link.

• schedule ↗

HPS Seminar: Dilemmas of modernity (cont.)

Friday 22 January 2027 · 15:00–16:45 · 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.

Talk by Thijs Latten (TUD)

Friday 29 January 2027 · 15:15–17:00 · 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.

Bohr21 Seminar

Friday 5 February 2027 · 15:15–17:00 · 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.

HPS Seminar: Mythologies of menopause

Tuesday 9 February 2027 · 15:00–16:45

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.

Talk by Philipp Berghofer (Graz, Austria)

Friday 19 February 2027 · 15:15–17:00

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

Bohr21 Seminar

Friday 26 February 2027 · 15:15–17:00

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

HPS Seminar: Complexity and models

Tuesday 9 March 2027 · 15:00–16:45

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.

Bohr21 Seminar

Friday 12 March 2027 · 15:15–17:00

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

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

Friday 19 March 2027 · 15:00–16:45

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.

Bohr21 Seminar

Friday 2 April 2027 · 15:15–17:00

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

HPS Seminar: Histories of scholarship

Tuesday 13 April 2027 · 15:00–16:45

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.

HPS Seminar: Cross Roads

Tuesday 11 May 2027 · 15:00–16:45

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.

HPS Seminar: Boundary work

Friday 21 May 2027 · 15:00–16:45

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.

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

Tuesday 8 June 2027 · 15:00–16:45

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.

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

Wednesday 25 – Friday 27 August 2027 · 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

• call for contributions ↗