The Romantic Literature Student Society of the Jagiellonian University under the patronage of the Enlightenment and Romantic Literature Department of JU is pleased to extend the invitation to take part in the Romantics in Relation to Science and Technology Undergraduate and Graduate Student Conference. The conference will take place in Krakow on the 26th and 27th of March, 2026 (foreign speakers will have the opportunity to present online).

Widespread associations with Romanticism unambiguously link the period with an anti-scientific position. In light of recent research, however, the relationship between the Romantics, science and technology appears to be a more complicated matter. Despite the numerous academic publications that have appeared on the market the issue of the scientific and technical discourses of the period still retains many blind spots. In the context of our conference we wish to invite reflection on the following topics:

-        Romantic views on technological progress: optimism or defeatism?

-        modern inventions as a theme and motif in Romantic art

-        science as a subject for philosophical reflection in the time period

-        Romantic conceptions of nature and the development of the natural sciences

-        Romanticism and the beginnings of modern medicine

-        The Romantics as precursors of psychology

-        Magnetism and mesmerism

-        Images of scientists, scholars and inventors in Romantic literature

-        The reception of scientific thought (Newton, Galilei, Galileusz, Lamarck, Franklin, Volta, Faraday, von Liebig and others) among the Romantics

-        Romantic echoes in the scientific and parascientific discourses of later epochs (i. e. spiritism, psychoanalysis, evolution)

The above list obviously does not exhaust all possible subject matters. Paper proposals including the name, surname and affiliation of the speaker should be sent before the 25th of January 2026 along with a brief abstract (around 200 words) through the form: https://forms.gle/2GJJSKumCe5EY117A. We will inform you of the acceptance or rejection of your proposal before the 9th of February. There is no conference fee.

All questions pertaining to the conference should be directed to the e-mail address: knromantyzmu@uj.edu.pl.