Understanding Knowledge in the Low Countries

This long duree history of changing conceptions and designations of knowledge builds on existing scholarship on early modern knowledge societies and provides much-needed insight in the formation and modification of understandings of knowledge.

Understandings of knowledge are notoriously complicated in historiography. The use of concepts is fluid, multi-layered, and they have various, context-specific meanings. Moreover, interpretations and uses change over time. This makes it hard to speak of stable, well-defined practices or domains of knowing. Such conceptual unclarity is a particularly relevant problem for the history of knowledge. This group takes up the challenge by developing a multidisciplinary collection of essays discussing changing uses and understandings of knowledge in the Low Countries from roughly 1500- 1900.

NIAS Seminars are aimed to stimulate scientific cross-pollination within the NIAS academic community and discuss work-in-progress. Attendance is online and by invitation. If you are interested in attending, please contact NIAS.