How we think about and act on the usefulness of scientific research has epistemological and political implications: what knowledge consists of, how it comes about and to what ends. In this... Show moreHow we think about and act on the usefulness of scientific research has epistemological and political implications: what knowledge consists of, how it comes about and to what ends. In this dissertation, I situate the usefulness of scientific research in concrete places for knowledge exchange. The exchange of knowledge within and between environments is shaped by many spatial factors: from architectural designs, physical proximity and material infrastructures to city planning, regional development and geopolitics. And not only knowledge travels: also spatial models for research organisation circulate. Focusing on ‘utility spots’ instead of prominent scientists, dominant disciplines or powerful organisations is proposed as a fruitful way to highlight the intersection of political, societal, economic, cultural and scientific developments. In this dissertation I propose and develop the utility spot concept as spatio-historical approach to the epistemology of useful scientific research. This allows me to relate different utility concepts to the histories of science, universities, science policy, and the geopolitics of the Atlantic world in the second half of the twentieth century. Future research into previous, current and future organisation of scientific research with societal value could focus on the politics of proximity (in multiple dimensions) at various utility spots. Show less
This dissertation provides an in-depth study of the Utrecht Chronicle of the Teutonic Order, also known as the 'Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik'. It examines the circulation of (historical)... Show moreThis dissertation provides an in-depth study of the Utrecht Chronicle of the Teutonic Order, also known as the 'Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik'. It examines the circulation of (historical) knowledge within the Teutonic Order at the end of the fifteenth century. Only decades earlier, the order suffered major defeats in Prussia and its former heathen enemies had become Christians. It has been the underlying aim of this study to gain an understanding of the introduction of the order’s tradition of history writing to the Low Countries, far removed from the traditional production centres in Prussia and Livonia, as well as the effects this change of location, and accompanying change of perspective had on the content and purpose of such historical production within the order. It has become clear that the chronicle was written in Utrecht, in various phases from 1480 to 1491 and possibly the mid-1490s, by the Utrecht land commander Johan van Drongelen and his personal secretary. The material product of their collaboration is a manuscript kept in Vienna, which can now be classified as an author’s copy. Furthermore, the author(s) managed to collect a wide selection of sources – including from locations hundreds of kilometres away from the city of Utrecht. Show less
The study attempts to reconstruct aspects of the culture and knowledge transfer as involved in the import of cuneiform writing from Mesopotamia to Anatolia and Syria in the Late Bronze Age. It... Show moreThe study attempts to reconstruct aspects of the culture and knowledge transfer as involved in the import of cuneiform writing from Mesopotamia to Anatolia and Syria in the Late Bronze Age. It therefore analyzes the manuscripts called 'lexical lists' that were excavated at the Anatolian and Syrian sites of Hattusha, Ugarit, and Emar. Lexical lists are structured, often bilingual or multilingual lists of words and cuneiform signs; they were the essential tools of scribal education in that period. The analysis follows three main research foci, i.e., (1) the geographical transmission of the lists from Mesopotamia to Anatolia and Syria ('long-distance transmissional context'), (2) their local reproduction at the mentioned sites ('short-distance transmissional context'), as well as (3) their role within the actual education procedures ('functional context'). Thereby, the analysis particularly takes into consideration t he specific role that oral vs. writing-based techniques of transmission played within those processes. Show less
