CfP: The Science of Naples, 1500-1700' Workshop, University College London, 20 April 2018
The Science of Naples: Making Knowledge in Italy's Pre-eminent City, 1500-1700 (University College London, Friday 20 April 2018)
Keynote speaker: Prof. David Gentilcore (University of Leicester and Aix-Marseille Université)
Organising committee: Andrew Campbell (UCL), Lorenza Gianfrancesco (University of Chichester) and Neil Tarrant (University of York)
In the early modern period, Naples was one of the
most important capitals in Europe. As an international centre of
learning, Naples encouraged debates on natural philosophy and science
which promoted intellectual networking and the transfer
of knowledge. Operating within the university, academies, hospitals,
monasteries and private spaces, local scientists researched a variety of
topics that included medicine, surgery, anatomy (both human and
animal), the art of barbers, and pharmacology.
Scientists and intellectuals also studied the
medical implications of other disciplines. Research on medicine and
cosmology encouraged the circulation of books on physiognomy,
metoposcopy and astrological medicine, which in some cases were
placed on the list of prohibited books and had to be published outside
Naples.
Moreover, the geological structure of Campania
positioned Naples at the forefront of research in disciplines such as
paleontology, vulcanology, seismology and environmental studies. The
large number of manuscript and printed texts on these
subjects produced in the city are testament to its status as a major
nexus for the circulation of ideas. This intellectual climate attracted
scholars from all over Europe, who corresponded with Neapolitan
scientists, visited the city's museums and laboratories,
purchased books and frequented local academies.
The importance of early modern Naples is becoming
increasingly recognised in current scholarship. Accordingly, this
one-day workshop aims to discuss the city's position as a scientific
research hub that cut across disciplinary, national
and ideological boundaries. We invite proposals for twenty-minute
papers, in either English or Italian, which include, but are not limited
to, the following themes:
Cosmology
Environmental studies
Galen and Paracelsus
Local heroes (Giovan Battista della Porta, Marco Aurelio Severino, etc.)
Museums and laboratories
Science and the body
Science, religion and the Inquisition
Venues: academies, monasteries, hospitals, university and private spaces.
Vulcanology
A limited number of travel bursaries will be available for postgraduate students.
Proposals of no more than 300 words, in either
English or Italian, along with a short bio, should be sent to the
following address by
21 January 2018: scienceofnaples2018@gmail.com
For further information, see:
https://scienceofnaples.