About PACHS
Promoting scholarly and public understanding of history of science, technology and medicine.
The Center
- provides visiting and resident fellowships for doctoral research using collections of member institutions;
- sponsors and coordinates events and activities relating to history of science, technology and medicine; and
- produces web-based resources for research and learning.
The Center was founded in 2006 as a consortium of Philadelphia area cultural and educational institutions, with a planning grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and four years’ operating support from the National Science Foundation.
Future plans for the Center include:
- extending fellowship opportunities to post-doctoral and senior scholars; and
- expanding programs that interpret history of science to new audiences.
Website design and programming by Nanomonkey.
News and Notes
July 1, 2008
Medical practice in the Chesapeake and Mid-Atlantic regions, 1769-1820
Melissa Grafe is a graduate student at the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. She was also among the first Dissertation Research Fellows at the Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science. During December 2007 and January 2008, she worked on her dissertation ‘To attendance and medicine’: Medical practice in the Chesapeake and Mid-Atlantic regions, 1769-1820 at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the University of Pennsylvania archives. Here is a report of her work.
May 27, 2008
2008-2009 Fellowships
The Center has awarded six fellowships for dissertation research in area archives and libraries as well as two dissertation writing fellowships. Dissertation Research Fellows will spend one or two months conducting research in the Philadelphia area, and give a talk about their work here. Dissertation Writing Fellows will spend nine months in residence at the Center and speak in the Regional Colloquium in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine.
May 19, 2008
2007-2008 Dissertation Research at PACHS
The Center’s first class of Dissertation Research Fellows are using the collections of all the consortium members to conduct research on a broad range of topics.
May 15, 2008
Regional Colloquium Series
The first season of the Philadelphia Regional Colloquium in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine brought together authors from area institutions, working on a variety of topics, with an audience comprising scholars, teachers and scientists. The series was funded by an educational grant from Merck & Co., with additional funding from members of the PACHS consortium.