In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the High Arctic and Africa’s ‘interior’ emerged as major poles of Western geoscientifi c inquiry, offering untapped resources and routes to prestige and authority. Despite their diverse ecosystems and Indigenous populations, similarities can be found in how European scholars studied, documented, and discussed these regions, both in the field and at their working desks. Once labelled as ‘white spots’ on maps, these areas were framed as ‘epistemic frontiers’—perceived as outside Western scientific knowledge, exoticised, and used to mirror Europe’s ideas of a ‘civilized’ world. This geographical imagination not only captivated public interest but also fostered international cooperation while advancing nation- and empire-building agendas. Furthermore, these areas were seen as ‘testing grounds’ for phenomena best observable under extreme conditions, enabling researchers to tackle global scientifi c questions. This conference will explore the production and dissemination of geoscientific knowledge around the Arctic and Africa from a comparative perspective. It will examine how scholarly authority and politics of inclusion and exclusion contributed to frame these areas as uncharted scientifi c domains. Discussions will focus on how authority was established through publication practices, institutional affiliations, and fi eldwork narratives, and will consider the role of scientifi c, intermediary, and Indigenous participants working at local, national, and international levels. The conference will also assess how framing these regions as ‘epistemic frontiers’ shaped both geoscientific concepts and geopolitical agendas. Preliminary_Conference_Program_Epistemic_Frontiers