Programs
Graduate Working Groups
Early Science Working Group
Coordinators: Deirdre Moore and Paolo Savoia
Faulty Sponsors: Shigehisa Kuriyama and Ahmed Ragab
The Early Science Working Group (ESWG) brings graduate students, post-doctoral fellows,
and faculty together to discuss current work in the fields of ancient, medieval and early modem science and medicine.
Our primary goal is to provide a forum for student and faculty scholars to present and receive comments on their current
research. Presenters at the working group share drafts of articles, dissertation chapters, and research from books
in-progress or independent projects. Students and faculty have taken the opportunity to practice conference papers
at the working group. Members of the group offer valuable feedback on the presentation and content of these talks.
Presenters at this year's working group include graduate students in the History and History of Science departments,
a postdoctoral fellow in the History of Science department, and visiting scholars and faculty. Participants in the
include students and faculty from the History and History of Science departments, department staff, and students and
faculty from nearby universities.
The Early Science Working Group is particularly focused on promoting graduate student work, encouraging networking
and the exchange of ideas between graduate students, and assisting graduate students at all levels of advancement.
Graduate students present research papers and portions of prospectuses or dissertations. Students nearing the
completion of their degrees practice job talks at the working group. More experienced students in the group, as well
as faculty, are also a valuable professional resource for first, second, and third year graduate students. At the
end of the spring semester, we will be organizing and hosting an informal conference and networking event for graduate
students working on the early sciences at universities across the Northeast. The event will allow our widely dispersed
scholarly community a chance to meet and familiarize themselves with each others work outside the more high-pressured,
more faculty-centered atmosphere of the national History of Science Society conference. We look forward to working
with graduate student peers at other schools to institutionalize the hosting of such an event by different regional
universities each year.
We meet on a biweekly schedule, with approximately 12 meetings over the course of the year. Half of these meetings
are set aside for graduate student presentations. We would also hope to host a conference on science and secrecy in
early modem Europe. Speakers will include departmental faculty and students, as well as faculty from other institutions.
