Title: Exploring the Materiality of Women's Scientific Learning in Eighteenth-Century Britain
Department: History
Description: This honors research will explore the relationship between women's scientific learning and material culture in eighteenth century Britain. A significant amount of existing scholarship on education of this period relies on the formal and upper-class education of boys. This study will explore how women-owned objects such as books and tickets to scientific lectures may further illuminate and reframe informal (but by no means less meaningful) engagement with scientific thought. This project will also aim to include the stories of women beyond the upper echelons of society. It is also important to place these historical women of science, regardless of their unofficial educations and their varied backgrounds, in the context of the history of scientific inquiry as more women today boldly enter scientific professions. Their past stories are vital inspiration to women in STEM of the present.
Hometown: Conway, South Carolina
Advisor: Julie Richter
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