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ArgumentWith the organization of this international workshop, we hope to gather historians, anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers and other researchers to come back on the ambiguous ties that might have brought missionaries and scientists together in the 19th and 20th centuries.Missions and sciences have long been considered as irreconcilable opposites in the study of missions and sciences alike &#8211; whether we speak of natural sciences or the study of man and mankind. European missionaries often were under the suspicion of reading the world and its inhabitants with &#8220;Biblical spectacles&#8221;, which necessarily led to biased, erroneous, unscientific analyses and conclusions. Yet many Christian missionaries stationed overseas nourished an unbounded interest in anthropology, ethnology, botany, or geology, both as amateurs and professionals, and therefore contributed to the development of those sciences at home. Can one be a thorough scientist and an avowed Christian? This question lies at the heart of the many tensions and collaborations that led missionaries and scientists to work together and confront their scientific materials and findings, notably at the end of the 19th century and the turn of the 20th century. Missionaries could sometimes be precious sources of data for armchair scientists, or even theoreticians of natural and human sciences, thanks mainly to their privileged position as &#8220;in-betweeners&#8221;, which allowed them to collect information, artefacts, stories and other specimens that were widely sought after by European institutions. Such collaborations could be translated into the integration of missionaries to scientific networks that welcomed them on a national and international stage (clubs and societies) and published their findings in their journals and bulletins.One of the most obvious manifestations of this growing interest in collaboration was probably the active role that some French, British or Swiz missionaries played in collecting artefacts directly from their mission field, which was of course made easier by their linguistic skills and their connections among the indigenous populations studied: among their potential converts, they could find willing contributors who would help them fill the stocks of European museums of anthropology for instance. This workshop wishes to examine those overseas collaborations, those comings and goings between Europe and overseas territories, which have not yet been thoroughly looked into by historians of missions, historians of science and historians of museums. Another aspect this workshop will echo is the interest missionaries often nourished in the cultures and environment they came from, leading them to collect both material and immaterial artefacts when they were on furlough. This practice corresponds to the emergence of the study of folklore in many European countries, which borrows its methods to the burgeoning sciences of anthropology and ethnology in the second half of the 19th century.Potential topics include, but are not limited to:Missions and natural sciencesMissions and the study of man and mankindMissions and museums (both at home and in the colonies)Missions and European folkloreCollaborations between missionaries and scientists, scientific institutions and museumsMissionaries and professional and amateur networks of scienceJoint history of missions and sciencesSubmission guidelinesFunding is available to cover travel expenses and your staying in Le Mans. Please send paper proposals (300-500 words, in French or in English) and a short biobefore September, 15, 2016,to Maud Michaud (Maud.Michaud@univ-lemans.fr), Serge Reubi (serge.reubi@gmail.com), and Vincent Vilmain (Vincent.Vilmain@univ-lemans.fr).Scientific committeeMaud Michaud, ma&#238;tre de conf&#233;rence en civilisation britannique, Universit&#233; du MaineSerge Reubi, visiting fellow, Department of History, University of CambridgeVincent Vilmain, ma&#238;tre de conf&#233;rence en histoire contemporaine, Universit&#233; du MaineArgumentaireCe projet de&#160;workshop&#160;international a pour ambition de r&#233;unir chercheurs et chercheuses en histoire, civilisation, philosophie, sociologie et anthropologie pour revenir sur les liens qui, aux XIXe&#160;et XXe&#160;si&#232;cles, ont pu se tisser entre missionnaires et scientifiques, et de mani&#232;re plus large, entre missions et sciences.Ces deux termes ont longtemps &#233;t&#233; consid&#233;r&#233;s comme antinomiques dans la missiologie comme dans l&#8217;histoire des sciences dures ou des sciences humaines&#160;: suspect&#233;s de ne lire l&#8217;homme et son environnement naturel qu&#8217;avec des &#171;&#160;lunettes bibliques&#160;&#187; qui fausseraient ainsi toute tentative d&#8217;analyse rigoureuse, les missionnaires chr&#233;tiens europ&#233;ens qui s&#8217;int&#233;ress&#232;rent &#224; l&#8217;anthropologie, l&#8217;ethnologie, la botanique ou la g&#233;ologie contribu&#232;rent pourtant, en tant qu&#8217;amateurs ou professionnels, &#224; l&#8217;&#233;largissement et aux d&#233;veloppement de ces sciences de mani&#232;re consid&#233;rable. Peut-on faire bonne science si l&#8217;on affiche sa foi&#160;? C&#8217;est au c&#339;ur de cette question que se cr&#233;&#232;rent les tensions et les collaborations qui mirent face &#224; face missionnaires et scientifiques aux XIXe et XXe si&#232;cles. Informateurs parfois au service de scientifiques &#171; en fauteuil&#160;&#187;, ou v&#233;ritables th&#233;oriciens et praticiens des sciences naturelles et humaines, les missionnaires stationn&#233;s &#224; l&#8217;&#233;tranger utilis&#232;rent leur position privil&#233;gi&#233;e aupr&#232;s des &#171;&#160;indig&#232;nes&#160;&#187; pour r&#233;colter des donn&#233;es, des artefacts et autres sp&#233;cimens particuli&#232;rement pr&#233;cieux pour les institutions scientifiques m&#233;tropolitaines. Les collaborations entre scientifiques et missionnaires furent vari&#233;es et nombreuses, en t&#233;moignent leur int&#233;gration aux r&#233;seaux scientifiques nationaux et internationaux de l&#8217;&#233;poque (soci&#233;t&#233;s, clubs), ou leurs publications au sein de ces m&#234;mes r&#233;seaux (bulletin des soci&#233;t&#233;s scientifiques).L&#8217;une des manifestations de cet engagement accru est sans aucun doute la part plus qu&#8217;active que prirent certains missionnaires fran&#231;ais, britanniques ou suisses dans la collecte d&#8217;artefacts directement sur leurs terrains de mission, t&#226;che facilit&#233;e par leur connaissance des langues et dialectes locaux et leur proximit&#233; avec des indig&#232;nes qui pouvaient leur procurer facilement de quoi remplir des mus&#233;es anthropologiques ou ethnographiques en Europe. Ce workshop souhaite particuli&#232;rement s&#8217;attarder sur ces collaborations et ces allers-retours entre l&#8217;outremer et la m&#233;tropole, qui n&#8217;ont pas encore &#233;t&#233; abord&#233;s par les chercheurs en missiologie, en histoire des institutions scientifiques ou en mus&#233;ographie. Autre pan du workshop qui fait &#233;cho &#224; cet int&#233;r&#234;t pour l&#8217;autre et l&#8217;ailleurs, la participation des missionnaires &#224; la collecte d&#8217;&#233;l&#233;ments mat&#233;riels ou immat&#233;riels concernant leurs r&#233;gions d&#8217;origine&#160;: souvent purs produits de terroirs qu&#8217;ils vinrent &#224; consid&#233;rer avec un recul tout scientifique, les missionnaires profit&#232;rent parfois de leur p&#233;riode d&#8217;invalidit&#233;, de cong&#233;s ou de retrait du terrain de mission pour exercer leur &#339;il entra&#238;n&#233; sur les groupes sociaux et ethniques dont ils &#233;taient eux-m&#234;mes issus. Cette pratique correspond l&#224; aussi &#224; l&#8217;&#233;mergence, en Europe, du folklorisme, qui emprunta beaucoup aux m&#233;thodologies des jeunes sciences de l&#8217;anthropologie et de l&#8217;ethnologie.Les intervenants pourront ainsi communiquer sur les th&#232;mes suivants (liste non exhaustive)&#160;:Missions et sciences naturellesMissions et sciences de l&#8217;hommeMissions et mus&#233;es m&#233;tropolitains et coloniauxMissions et folklorismes europ&#233;ensCollaborations entre missionnaires et institutions scientifiques ou mus&#233;alesMissions et r&#233;seaux scientifiques amateurs et professionnelsHistoire des missions et histoire des sciencesModalit&#233;s de soumissionLes chercheurs et chercheuses int&#233;ress&#233;-e-s peuvent envoyer leur proposition (300-500 mots, en anglais ou en fran&#231;ais) ainsi qu&#8217;une petite biographieavant le 15 septembre 2016aux personnes suivantes&#160;: Maud Michaud (Maud.Michaud@univ-lemans.fr), Serge Reubi (serge.reubi@gmail.com), et Vincent Vilmain (Vincent.Vilmain@univ-lemans.fr).Conseil scientifiqueMaud Michaud, ma&#238;tre de conf&#233;rence en civilisation britannique, Universit&#233; du MaineSerge Reubi, visiting fellow, Department of History, University of CambridgeVincent Vilmain, ma&#238;tre de conf&#233;rence en histoire contemporaine, Universit&#233; du Maine