jhokjournal.bsky.social

Lund University is promoting new engagement opportunities for history of knowledge scholars. Want to know more? See on their webpage:

🍃 Spring Seminar Series: newhistoryofknowledge.com/2026/02/03/s...

🌞 Doctoral Summer School in the History of Knowledge: newhistoryofknowledge.com/advisory-boa...

📚CALL FOR PROPOSALS: The Journal for the History of Knowledge is now receiving proposals for the Special Issue 2028. The submission deadline is 1 May 2026. All information is available on our website: journalhistoryknowledge.org/announcement...

Why We Should Take Errors Seriously in the Age of AI Alexander Campolo explores how the concept of error has changed throughout history, right up to the current age of artifical intelligence.

"Whenever you use ChatGPT, every text or image that it produces has emerged from a process of gradually correcting errors in predicting sequences of words. In a very real sense, error...is redefining language itself."

✍️ Our latest blog post from @alexcampolo.bsky.social

You can read @alexcampolo.bsky.social's full JHoK article which inspired the blog post here 👇

Why We Should Take Errors Seriously in the Age of AI Alexander Campolo explores how the concept of error has changed throughout history, right up to the current age of artifical intelligence.

✍️ New on the JHoK blog:

@alexcampolo.bsky.social on why we should take errors seriously in the age of AI

From Chance Encounters to Fresh Insights: Serendipity at Work in Historical Research Christine Keiner on how a chance find in Panama inspired her latest research on the unrealised “Panatomic Canal”.

And finally: Christine Keiner writes about how a chance find in Panama inspired her research on the so-called "Panatomic Canal" 👇

8/8

Echoes of Anti-Black Projects Across Time Meagan Wierda on how the sudden closure of archives during the COVID-19 pandemic led her to a revealing nineteenth-century pamphlet.

Also: Meagan Wierda tells us how the COVID-19 pandemic led her to a revealing nineteenth-century pamphlet 👇

7/8

The Devil is in the Details: Fantastic Schemes and the Quiet Champions of Urban Infrastructure Keith Pluymers on the quiet heroes working to keep Philadelphia’s streets free of floods and filth in the eighteenth century.

Next: Keith Pluymers writes about the quiet heroes who helped keep Philadelphia’s streets free of floods and filth in the eighteenth century 👇

6/8

What Makes a Project Good or Bad? Lessons from Early Eighteenth-Century Germany Anyone who has ever written an academic project proposal will recognise the demands in this early 18th-century German work, writes Kelly J. Whitmer.

Then: @whitmerkelly.bsky.social reflects on the ubiquitous category of the "project" in today's world, and what we can learn from attitudes in 18th-century Germany 👇

5/8

The Economy versus the People in Eighteenth-Century England When did discussions of “the economy” begin, and why? William Cavert takes us to 18th-century England to explore the “improvement” literature of the time.

Also: @williamcavert.bsky.social discusses "improvement" literature and the economy versus the people in 18th-century England 👇

4/8

The Paper Power of Projects: Great Designs and Making America “Great” Again Like the vintage paperweight that sits on her desk, historiographical “Great Designs” are entombed in the amber of a particular moment, writes Vera Keller.

Next: Vera Keller writes about Great Designs, the paper power of projects and the vintage paperweight on her desk 👇

3/8

Hatching Schemes in The School of Projects The guest editors of 2025’s special issue on projects in the history of knowledge explore what an early 19th-century print tells us about the enduring features of projecting.

First up: guest editors Vera Keller, @tedmccormick.bsky.social & @whitmerkelly.bsky.social reflect on their chosen cover image for the special issue 👇

2/8

The JHoK 2025 special issue "Knowledge and Power: Projecting the Modern World" is now out in full!

The issue is accompanied by the seven blog posts, where authors reflect on their articles and share a behind-the-scenes look at the research process.

📖 Happy reading!

1/8

You can view the full special issue "Knowledge and Power: Projecting the Modern World" here 👇

Hatching Schemes in The School of Projects The guest editors of 2025’s special issue on projects in the history of knowledge explore what an early 19th-century print tells us about the enduring features of projecting.

✍️ New on the JHoK blog:

Vera Keller, @tedmccormick.bsky.social & @whitmerkelly.bsky.social reflect on their recent special issue and what this early 19th-century print tells us about the enduring features of projecting.

📣 We are pleased to announce the selection of the 2027 Special Issue, "The Making of Colonial Knowledge and its Afterlives in Dutch Universities", with guest editors Larissa Schulte Nordholt and Ligia Giay.

📚 Have a peek at the Issue's abstract: journalhistoryknowledge.org/announcement....

Knowledge, power or economic resources: what paves the way for the "public good"? Professor William Cavert's Special Issue article investigates "how natural knowledge could be harnessed by the state and applied to productivity" in 18th century England: journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view....

You can read @williamcavert.bsky.social's full JHoK article which inspired the blog post here👇

journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...

The Economy versus the People in Eighteenth-Century England When did discussions of “the economy” begin, and why? William Cavert takes us to 18th-century England to explore the “improvement” literature of the time.

"For Grew, and for his contemporaries...that which could not be counted (joy? community? stress? virtue? love?) mattered as little as the punishments which would be required to force people to improve themselves."

Our latest blog post from @williamcavert.bsky.social 👇

You can read @williamcavert.bsky.social's full JHoK article which inspired the blog post here 👇

journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...

The Economy versus the People in Eighteenth-Century England When did discussions of “the economy” begin, and why? William Cavert takes us to 18th-century England to explore the “improvement” literature of the time.

When did discussions of “the economy” begin, and why?

In our latest blog post @williamcavert.bsky.social takes us to 18th-century England to explore the "improvement" literature of the time👇

"The Improvement Police," my article on a scheme, c. 1700, to force people to use new scientific knowledge to make their government rich, is out in a fantastic issue on Projects, edited by @tedmccormick.bsky.social, Vera Keller, and Kelly Whitmer.

journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...

I have a new paper out in @jhokjournal.bsky.social - "Loss: A notion of error in machine learning." It attempts to draw some wider historical comparisons than are perhaps usual. I would love to know what you think. journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...

You can read Vera's full JHoK article which inspired the blog post here 👇

journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...

The Paper Power of Projects: Great Designs and Making America “Great” Again Like the vintage paperweight that sits on her desk, historiographical “Great Designs” are entombed in the amber of a particular moment, writes Vera Keller.

New blog post!

"Perfectly crystalline, geometric, and apparently rational, this tiny object radiates power captured from the mighty rivers dammed throughout the Pacific Northwest and in the streams of capital pouring out of the nation’s financial center."

Vera Keller on Projects & Great Designs 👇

JHoK Blog A website publishing blog content related to academic articles in the Journal for the History of Knowledge (JHoK)

With our own dedicated JHoK blog, this certainly gave us some food for thought!

blog.journalhistoryknowledge.org

The case for preserving scholarly blogs - Impact of Social Sciences Poor preservation threatens the scholarly blogging ecosystem. What makes scholarly blogs sustainable and how can these practices be promoted?

"While established systems safeguard journal articles, books, and research data, no comparable infrastructures exist for scholarly blogs. As a result, an essential part of academic communication risks slipping out of the historical record..."

The case for preserving scholarly blogs 👇

What Makes a Project Good or Bad? Lessons from Early Eighteenth-Century Germany Anyone who has ever written an academic project proposal will recognise the demands in this early 18th-century German work, writes Kelly J. Whitmer.

"Instead of the projector, perhaps the time has now come to blame projecting itself — or at least to approach it more critically."

@whitmerkelly.bsky.social reflects on the ubiquitous category of the "project" in today's world, and what we can learn from attitudes in 18th-century Germany.

A very engaging read!

You can read Kelly's full JHoK article here:
journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view...