Next Course: TBC​

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Overview

In this course you will discover some of the most influential and pioneering studies made by six Italian women in the sciences, with a special focus on patterns of education, access, barriers, and opportunities for women’s work in science. We will also consider the relevance of Latin and the Classics in the trajectories of their lives. Throughout a thousand years of Italian history, we will uncover the ideas, discoveries, and insights of these exceptional women who changed the way we see the world. 

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A fundamental question will be addressed: "How different would science be today without their contributions?"

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​Over the course of six, interactive sessions you will have the opportunity to: appreciate and learn the lives of these resilient women as well as the resiliency of their scientific work; explore how they engage with the scientific tradition of the past and their times; consider the reception of their work during their lifetime and their relevance today; situate the texts within their historical and political context; use the selected extracts as prompts to think about what it means to be a woman (or someone from a minority group) in science, then and now. All primary material will be provided in English translation.

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Each week will focus on a different scientist and selected extracts from their work(s), including:

• 10 Nov: Trota of Salerno and the “mulieres Salernitanae” at the Schola Medica

• 17 Nov: The myth of Dorotea Bocchi: the first female professor in a world without women?

• 24 Nov: Laura Bassi, Bologna’s New “Minerva”

• 1 Dec: The world of Maria Gaetana Agnesi, mathematician of God

• 8 Dec: In Praise of Imperfection: the life and work of Rita Levi Montalcini

• 15 Dec: Ilaria Capua, “I, Virus Trafficker”: a story of science and bitter injustice