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, Gender and Science in the Early Modern Europe: History and Historiography

The history of science has long perpetuated the myth of an all-male science, guided by ideals of objectivity and neutrality and divorced from political and social dynamics. Over the past fifty years, this stereotypical image has undergone profound revisions, thanks to a growing body of research examining the cultural, material, social and political dimensions of scientific knowledge. Since the 1980s, a particularly critical approach has emerged around what we might call a "gendered history of science": a history of science that includes women as historical subjects and employs gender as a category of analysis.

But what does it mean to reread the history of modern science through the lens of gender? What questions, what challenges, what scenarios does such a perspective open? What changes in our idea of modern science when we include female subjects in the narrative?

This course proposes to explore these questions by reversing the more traditional approach: rather than adding women as a marginal note to an already written history, we will use gender as a lens through which to reread and reconceptualize the history of science. Starting from the so-called "scientific revolution" of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (a category we will need to historicize and critically examine), the course will then focus primarily on the long eighteenth century in Europe (1680-1815), a period marked by profound political and social changes and by crucial transformations in the organization of scientific knowledge as well as in relations between men and women. This perspective will allow us to revise the most canonical spaces, practices, actors and chronologies of the history of science, along with some fundamental historiographical categories.

The course is structured in 4 parts:

1. Introduction to historical studies on women, gender and early modern science (lessons 1-3)

Presentation of the course themes and objectives; main issues raised by the historiography on women, gender and science since the 1970s.

 2. Women, gender and the "scientific revolution": themes, problems, critiques (lessons 4-7)

The category of "scientific revolution" in historiography and its recent critiques; gendered readings of the category; scientific construction of sexual difference; alternative spaces, practices and knowledge of women between the sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries.

 3. Women, gender and science in the Enlightenment (lessons 8-12)

The introduction of gender in the studies on Enlightenment science; intersections between gender, science and race; spaces, practices and knowledge of women in Enlightenment sciences; domesticity and scientific sociability.

4. The "Italian case". Laura Bassi and other "civic myths" in the eighteenth century: lectures 13-15

Focus on the introduction of women and gender in Italian historiography of science, starting from studies on Laura Bassi and other eighteenth-century "women scientists")

 The course will take place in the I period. 

Readings/Bibliography

1. Primary sources and other materials discussed in class, to be downloaded from Virtuale

2. Choose one text from:*

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

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

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

 

3. Choose one text from:*

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

- Marta Cavazza, Laura Bassi. Donne, genere e scienza nell'Italia del Settecento, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2020.

- 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:

Marco Beretta, Storia materiale della scienza, Rome, Carocci, 2025 (3rd revised and expanded edition), with particular attention to ch. 16: Francesca Antonelli, "Donne, genere e scienza," pp. 313-330.

 

Teaching methods

The course combines lectures and seminar-style discussions.

Active participation is strongly encouraged, including through brief readings suggested once a week, followed by collective discussion in class. Reading these short texts is optional but recommended, as it facilitates learning of course content, development of a critical approach to sources, and active discussion during lessons. The list of readings that will be suggested throughout the course will be presented on the first day of class and will be downloadable from Virtuale.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of classes are considered as attending.

These students can choose from three assessment options:

A) Oral exam. Students will be examined orally on their critical understanding of the course texts and materials. Students may begin with a topic of their choice (10-minute presentation), followed by 2-3 questions from the instructor.

B) In-class presentation on a topic and bibliography agreed upon with the instructor. The presentation should examine and discuss a primary source or scholarly study (30 minutes presentation, 30 minutes discussion). The final exam will consist of a brief oral exam to supplement the presentation.

C) Research paper (10-15 pages, Times New Roman 12, 1.5 spacing, 2.5 cm margins) on a topic and bibliography agreed upon with the instructor. The final exam will consist of an oral discussion of the paper. Papers must be submitted at least one week before the exam date. Students may request feedback on a draft if submitted at least 15 days before the exam.

Non-attending students may choose between options A and C.

Assessment criteria include:

• Command of course content
• Ability to analyze and synthesize themes and concepts
• Critical engagement with sources and bibliography
• Appropriate use of academic language and terminology

Excellent grades will be awarded to students who demonstrate comprehensive understanding of course themes, critical thinking skills, and strong communication abilities. Good grades will reflect solid knowledge and adequate analytical skills, even if expression is less polished. Passing grades require minimum knowledge of the material despite some gaps or communication issues. Failing grades result from significant gaps in knowledge, poor communication skills, or inability to engage with course materials.

For option C (research paper), additional criteria include: clarity of argument, critical use of historiography, and writing quality (grammar, citations, bibliography).

EXAM SESSIONS:

• December
• January
• February
• May
• June
• July
• September

 

Erasmus students can take the exam in Italian, English, French, or Spanish if needed.

Teaching tools

Students with learning disorders and/or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Francesca Antonelli