90067 - Cultural History of Science (2) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The aims of the course is to refine the student’s analytical skills and demonstrate: the ability to interpret both the primary and secondary literature so as to contextualise the history of scientific thought in relation to the history of philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, social and political history and the institutional history of the time; to carry out archival and bibliographical research making use of databases, online catalogues, and bibliographical inventories; to contribute to class discussion with a series of coherent and properly justified comments about the assigned themes (via short presentations and class discussion); to produce a series of written outputs (reviews, reflexive notes, essays) with the appropriate scholarly apparatus (footnotes, bibliography, illustrations), particularly in view of their dissertation.

Course contents

Women and gender in early-modern science

For many years, the history of science has perpetuated the myth of a purely masculine endeavor, one governed by the ideals of objectivity and neutrality, and seemingly detached from political and social dynamics. Over the past five decades, this stereotypical narrative has undergone fundamental revisions, driven by an increasing body of research exploring the cultural, material, social, and political dimensions of scientific knowledge. Since the 1980s, a particularly significant critical movement has emerged around what could be termed the "gendered history of science": an approach that not only incorporates women as historical subjects but employs gender as a crucial analytical framework.

What are the implications of reexamining modern scientific history through a gender lens? What questions, challenges, and new horizons does such a perspective unveil? How does our understanding of modern science transform when we integrate female subjects into its narrative? This course aims to explore these questions by inverting the conventional approach: instead of merely appending women as footnotes to an established historical narrative, we will employ gender as a critical lens through which to reexamine and reconceptualize the history of science. Beginning with the so-called "scientific revolution" of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (a category that requires historical contextualization and critical examination), the course will primarily focus on Europe's long eighteenth century (1680-1815). This era witnessed profound political and social transformations, alongside crucial shifts in both the organization of scientific knowledge and gender relations. This perspective enables us to reexamine the canonical spaces, practices, protagonists, and chronologies of scientific history, as well as some of its fundamental historiographical concepts.

The course comprises 4 sections:

1. Historiographical introduction to historical studies on "women, gender, and science" (lectures 1-3)
2. Women, gender, and the "scientific revolution": themes, issues, and critical perspectives (lectures 4-6)
3. Women, gender, and science in the Enlightenment (lectures 7-11)
4. The "Italian case": Laura Bassi and science as a career in eighteenth-century Italy (lectures 12-15)

Readings/Bibliography

1. Source materials (to be discussed in class), to be downloaded from Virtuale

2. Marta Cavazza, Laura Bassi. Donne, genere e scienza nell'Italia del Settecento, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2020 (especially pp. 13-72, 131-162, 187-258)

3. Choose one text from:*

- Nadia Maria Filippini, Generare, partorire, nascere. Una storia dall'antichità alla provetta, Roma, Viella, 2017.

- Claudia Pancino, La natura dei bambini. Cura del corpo, malattie e medicina della prima infanzia fra Cinquecento e Settecento, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2015.

- Meredith Ray, Figlie dell'alchimia. Donne e cultura scientifica nell'Italia della prima età moderna, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2022 (ed. or. 2015).

- Paolo Savoia, Cosmesi e chirurgia. Bellezza, dolore e medicina nell'Italia moderna, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2017.

- Londa Schiebinger, The Mind Has No Sex? Women at the Origins of Modern Science, Harvard, Harvard University Press, 1991.

- Londa Schiebinger, Nature's Body. Gender in the Making of Modern Science, Rutgers University Press, 2004.

- Pina Totaro (ed.), Donne filosofia e cultura nel Seicento, Roma, CNR, 1999.

- Elizabeth Yale, Sociable Knowledge: Natural History and the Nation in Early Modern Britain, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015.

- Natalie Zemon Davis, Donne ai margini. Tre vite del XVII secolo, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1996 (ed. or. 1995).

 

4. Choose one text from:*

Francesca Antonelli, Scrivere e sperimentare: Marie-Anne Paulze-Lavoisier, segretaria della «nuova chimica» (1771-1836), Roma, Viella, 2022.

- Valeria Babini, Fernanda Minuz e Annamaria Tagliavini, La donna nelle scienze dell'uomo. Immagini del femminile nella cultura scientifica italiana di fine secolo, Milano, FrancoAngeli, 1989.

- Paola Bertucci, Viaggio nel Paese delle meraviglie. Scienza e curiosità nell'Italia del Settecento, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2007.

- Federica Favino, Donne e scienza nella Roma dell'Ottocento, Roma, Viella, 2020.

- Anthony La Vopa, The Labor of the Mind. Intellect and Gender in Enlightenment Cultures, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2017.

- Massimo Mazzotti, Maria Gaetana Agnesi e il suo mondo. Una vita tra scienza e carità, Roma, Carocci, 2019 (ed. or. 2007).

- Rebecca Messbarger, La signora anatomista. Vita e opere di Anna Morandi Manzolini, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2020 (ed. or. 2010).

- Meghan Roberts, Sentimental Savants. Philosophical Families in Enlightenment France, Chicago, Chicago University Press, 2017.

- Silvia Sebastiani, I limiti del progresso. Razza e genere nell'Illuminismo scozzese, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2008 (or in revised English version: The Scottish Enlightenment. Race, Gender, and the Limits of Progress, Springer, 2013).

- Elena Serrano, Ladies of Honor and Merit. Gender, Useful Knowledge, and Politics in Enlightened Spain, Pittsburgh University Press, 2022.

*Each title on the list explores one or more themes that we will discuss in class; it is possible to adapt the exam bibliography to your interests after discussion with the professor.

*Non-attending students must also read:

- Pietro Corsi, "La storia della scienza", in Storia della civiltà europea. Il Novecento, ed. by Umberto Eco, Encyclomedia, 2014: https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/la-storia-della-scienza_(Storia-della-civiltà-europea-a-cura-di-Umberto-Eco)/ [https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/la-storia-della-scienza_(Storia-della-civilt%C3%A0-europea-a-cura-di-Umberto-Eco)/]
- Joan Scott, "Il genere: un'utile categoria di analisi storica" in Joan, Scott, Genere, politica, storia, ed. by Ida Fazio, Roma, Viella, 2013, pp. 31-66 (downloadable from Virtuale).

Erasmus students can take the exam in Italian, English, French, or Spanish. For any inquiries: please contact the professor.

Teaching methods

The course combines lectures and seminar sessions. Active participation is strongly encouraged, including through brief preparatory readings suggested throughout the course and student presentations (both optional).

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

Attending students can choose from three examination formats:

1. Oral examination: A discussion aimed at assessing the student's critical understanding and methodological skills based on the assigned readings.

2. Class presentation: A presentation on a topic and bibliography previously agreed with the professor. Students may focus on either a primary source or a scholarly work, which they will analyze and discuss in class (25-30 minutes for presentation, followed by equal time for discussion). The final examination will then consist of an oral discussion to address any aspects requiring further development from the presentation.

3. Research paper: A paper (10-15 pages, Times New Roman 12-point font, 1.5 line spacing, 2.5 cm margins) on a topic and bibliography agreed with the professor. The final examination will consist of an oral discussion of the paper.
Non-attending students may choose between options 1 and 3.

Assessment will focus on the student's ability to: navigate primary sources and course readings effectively; extract and connect relevant information; illustrate themes and problems coherently. Evaluation criteria include: knowledge of course content; ability to analyze and synthesize themes and concepts; effective communication using appropriate terminology.

Grades will be awarded as follows:
-Very Good/Outstanding (27-30): For comprehensive understanding of course topics, effective critical analysis, and excellent use of subject-specific terminology.
-Good (24-27): For solid knowledge of course material, good analytical skills, and clear communication, even if not consistently using specialized terminology.
-Pass (18-23): For basic knowledge of exam material despite some gaps and adequate but imprecise use of terminology.
-Fail: For significant gaps in knowledge, inadequate terminology, and inability to effectively use course materials.
For the research paper option, the assessment will also consider the quality of academic writing.

Teaching tools

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students.

Office hours

See the website of Francesca Antonelli