Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ON THE SPOT (On the Spot: Materializing Knowledge, Gender, and Scientific Identities in Eighteenth-century Naturalists' Travel Journals)
Período documentado: 2023-01-01 hasta 2024-12-31
This two-years project proposed the first material, social, and gender history of eighteenth-century naturalists’ travel journals. The project is particularly timely now that mobility is at the heart of social, cultural, intellectual, gender history and the history of science, and that travel narratives have been recognized as important sources for historical analysis. However, so far only a few studies have been devoted to the travel journal, that very object in which naturalists used to record their observations while traveling. ON THE SPOT aimed at filling this gap, by focusing on the various and still ill-explored archival materials assembled by two famous married collaborators, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) and Marie-Anne Paulze-Lavoisier (1758-1836) while traveling in the French provinces in the second half of the eighteenth century. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the project will unfold the variety of social, intellectual, and cultural values and emotions operating in the production and use of the travel journal. The project’s broader aim was to provide a theotherical and methodological framework that will allow to understand naturalists’ travel practices as collective and gendered endeavors.
The action has been undertaken at the University of Valencia under the supervision of Prof. Mónica Bolufer. It comprised a transversal training in gender history and the acquisition of transferable skills, as well as a targeted program of dissemination and communication activities. Prof. Bolufer’s ERC-funded research project “Circulating Gender in the Global Enlightenment: Ideas, Networks, Agencies (CIRGEN)”, which focused on transnational approaches to gender, identities, and cultural mediations in Enlightenment societies and cultures, was highly complementary to the researcher's experience as an historian of eighteenth-century science, making UVEG the perfect locus for the ON THE SPOT project.
The action had four key scientific objectives: 1) To explore how 18th-century naturalists understood and experienced writing in the field; 2) To understand the role travel journals played in naturalists' working routines; 3) To examine field writing as a collective and gendered activity involving multiple actors, from companions to informants; and 4) To establish new dialogue between the history of science, social and cultural history of travel, and gender history. 4) These objectives combined in the general aim of providing a new methodological framework for approaching naturalists' travel journals through the lens of gender, social history, and the history of emotions.
More broadly, the research aimed at contributing to a more inclusive history of science by recovering women's contributions to knowledge production and showing the role of gender in the history of science, while also enhancing European cultural heritage policies by revealing overlooked perspectives in scientific achievement narratives and archives.
The action has been undertaken at the University of Valencia under the supervision of Prof. Mónica Bolufer. It comprised a transversal training in gender history and the acquisition of transferable skills, as well as a targeted program of dissemination and communication activities. Prof. Bolufer’s ERC-funded research project “Circulating Gender in the Global Enlightenment: Ideas, Networks, Agencies (CIRGEN)”, which focused on transnational approaches to gender, identities, and cultural mediations in Enlightenment societies and cultures, was highly complementary to the researcher's experience as an historian of eighteenth-century science, making UVEG the perfect locus for the ON THE SPOT project.
The action had four key scientific objectives: 1) To explore how 18th-century naturalists understood and experienced writing in the field; 2) To understand the role travel journals played in naturalists' working routines; 3) To examine field writing as a collective and gendered activity involving multiple actors, from companions to informants; and 4) To establish new dialogue between the history of science, social and cultural history of travel, and gender history. 4) These objectives combined in the general aim of providing a new methodological framework for approaching naturalists' travel journals through the lens of gender, social history, and the history of emotions.
More broadly, the research aimed at contributing to a more inclusive history of science by recovering women's contributions to knowledge production and showing the role of gender in the history of science, while also enhancing European cultural heritage policies by revealing overlooked perspectives in scientific achievement narratives and archives.
Work performed and main achievements
Work was conducted through 5 Work Packages (WP).
"WP1: Project management and supervision" comprised weekly meetings with supervisors, regular contact with UVEG's International R&D Innovation Unit, development of a Career Development Plan (CDP) and a Data Management Plan (DMP). This ensured successful administration and implementation of the project.
"WP2: Training" included intensive Spanish language courses to proficiency level at UVEG's Language Center; familiarization with Catalan (through seminars and readings); teach-how-to-teach courses at UVEG's Teacher Training Service; teaching experiences (through classes and meetings with high school and university students); participation in seminars on gender history; grant-writing; and the writing of a new broader research and teaching project for the application to a permanent position in July 2024 (application successful, new position held in January 2025).
"WP3: Data collecting and historiographical survey" involved extensive archival and collection-based research France and other countries. Key sources were consulted at the Archives de l'Académie des Sciences, Archives Nationales in Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, among others. Over 250 unpublished letters exchanged by Marie-Anne Lavoisier between 1771 and 1836 were identified and partially transcribed. Additional bibliographical research was conducted in French, Italian, and Spanish libraries, including the Biblioteca de Humanidades (UVEG), the López Piñero History of Science Library, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, and the Biblioteca de Catalunya.
"WP4: Data analysis and dissemination" comprised in-depth study of collected sources and sharing of research results among peers through academic channels. Research findings were shared with the academic community through multiple channels. The project presented at 15+ conferences and seminars across 5 countries, organized 4 significant academic events, and participated in 7 educational outreach activities targeting diverse audiences from high school students to early-career researchers. Key publications included journal articles and preparation for a special issue based on the ON THE SPOT conference.
"WP5: Communication activities" focused on sharing the project's results with wider audiences including PhD and Master students, secondary school teachers, and the general public. The researcher participated in MedNight outreach events and presented "Behind the Myth of the 'Founding Father'" at the 1st International Congress of Women's Legacy (UNED, Valencia) devoted to revising teaching materials on women and gender history. The action also included the submission of a book chapter on women and gender in science for a new edition of a highly popular history of science manual in Italy.
One of the most significant achievements was the development of a new methodological framework for analyzing naturalists' travel journals as material objects that actively shaped knowledge production. The research revealed how travel journals functioned as "hybrid objects" at the intersection of scientific practice, personal narrative and expectations, as well as social and cultural values. By adopting a gendered approach to fieldwriting, the project challenged the conventional image of the solitary male scientist-explorer, highlighting the collaborative nature of scientific observation. The concept of "archives of expectations" introduced during the ON THE SPOT conference (and further explored in the related special issue) opens new directions for future research on scientific memory and archival practices.
Work was conducted through 5 Work Packages (WP).
"WP1: Project management and supervision" comprised weekly meetings with supervisors, regular contact with UVEG's International R&D Innovation Unit, development of a Career Development Plan (CDP) and a Data Management Plan (DMP). This ensured successful administration and implementation of the project.
"WP2: Training" included intensive Spanish language courses to proficiency level at UVEG's Language Center; familiarization with Catalan (through seminars and readings); teach-how-to-teach courses at UVEG's Teacher Training Service; teaching experiences (through classes and meetings with high school and university students); participation in seminars on gender history; grant-writing; and the writing of a new broader research and teaching project for the application to a permanent position in July 2024 (application successful, new position held in January 2025).
"WP3: Data collecting and historiographical survey" involved extensive archival and collection-based research France and other countries. Key sources were consulted at the Archives de l'Académie des Sciences, Archives Nationales in Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, among others. Over 250 unpublished letters exchanged by Marie-Anne Lavoisier between 1771 and 1836 were identified and partially transcribed. Additional bibliographical research was conducted in French, Italian, and Spanish libraries, including the Biblioteca de Humanidades (UVEG), the López Piñero History of Science Library, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, and the Biblioteca de Catalunya.
"WP4: Data analysis and dissemination" comprised in-depth study of collected sources and sharing of research results among peers through academic channels. Research findings were shared with the academic community through multiple channels. The project presented at 15+ conferences and seminars across 5 countries, organized 4 significant academic events, and participated in 7 educational outreach activities targeting diverse audiences from high school students to early-career researchers. Key publications included journal articles and preparation for a special issue based on the ON THE SPOT conference.
"WP5: Communication activities" focused on sharing the project's results with wider audiences including PhD and Master students, secondary school teachers, and the general public. The researcher participated in MedNight outreach events and presented "Behind the Myth of the 'Founding Father'" at the 1st International Congress of Women's Legacy (UNED, Valencia) devoted to revising teaching materials on women and gender history. The action also included the submission of a book chapter on women and gender in science for a new edition of a highly popular history of science manual in Italy.
One of the most significant achievements was the development of a new methodological framework for analyzing naturalists' travel journals as material objects that actively shaped knowledge production. The research revealed how travel journals functioned as "hybrid objects" at the intersection of scientific practice, personal narrative and expectations, as well as social and cultural values. By adopting a gendered approach to fieldwriting, the project challenged the conventional image of the solitary male scientist-explorer, highlighting the collaborative nature of scientific observation. The concept of "archives of expectations" introduced during the ON THE SPOT conference (and further explored in the related special issue) opens new directions for future research on scientific memory and archival practices.
The project developed innovative conceptual frameworks that expanded current understanding of historical scientific practices:
- The concept of travel journals as "hybrid objects" and later refined as "archives of expectation" provided new analytical tools for examining how personal beliefs and emotions materialized into scientific documentation.
- By examining field writing as a collective and gendered activity, the research challenged conventional narratives about solitary male scientific achievement, revealing the collaborative nature of knowledge production.
- The project established a new methodology combining material analysis, gender perspectives, and social history approaches to scientific practice, creating a more comprehensive framework for understanding of the history of scientific practice.
- The research recovered and analyzed significant previously unstudied manuscripts, including 18 travel journals by the Lavoisiers and over 250 unpublished letters addressed to Mme Lavoisier (1771-1836). These manuscripts provide crucial primary sources for reexamining the role of women in scientific practice and knowledge construction.
- The research opened significant new lines of investigation around the role of women and families in constructing, preserving, and transmitting scientific archives - a largely unexplored area in science history.
- The fellowship established sustained interdisciplinary dialogue between history of science, gender history, and social history of archives, resulting in theoretical innovations that extend beyond the project's original scope.
- The concept of travel journals as "hybrid objects" and later refined as "archives of expectation" provided new analytical tools for examining how personal beliefs and emotions materialized into scientific documentation.
- By examining field writing as a collective and gendered activity, the research challenged conventional narratives about solitary male scientific achievement, revealing the collaborative nature of knowledge production.
- The project established a new methodology combining material analysis, gender perspectives, and social history approaches to scientific practice, creating a more comprehensive framework for understanding of the history of scientific practice.
- The research recovered and analyzed significant previously unstudied manuscripts, including 18 travel journals by the Lavoisiers and over 250 unpublished letters addressed to Mme Lavoisier (1771-1836). These manuscripts provide crucial primary sources for reexamining the role of women in scientific practice and knowledge construction.
- The research opened significant new lines of investigation around the role of women and families in constructing, preserving, and transmitting scientific archives - a largely unexplored area in science history.
- The fellowship established sustained interdisciplinary dialogue between history of science, gender history, and social history of archives, resulting in theoretical innovations that extend beyond the project's original scope.