The PERIPHERIES, ‘Minority Cultures on the Periphery of Science: The Jews and the Circulation of Scientific Goods‘, MSCA-PASIFIC project led by Dr. Josefina Rodríguez-Arribas, and the ERC Research Project KnowStudents, ‘From East to West, and Back Again: Student Travel and Transcultural Knowledge Production in Renaissance Europe (c. 1470-c. 1620)‘, led by Prof. Valentina Lepri, invite for an in-person workshop ‘Being a Minority in Medieval and Early-Modern Sciences’ that will take place on January 25-26, 2024, in Warsaw, Poland.

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This meeting aims to explore the emergence, significance, limitations, advantages (if any), and specific features of minorities engaged in the study and/or practice of the sciences and philosophy across history, cultures, and societies, from the 13th through the 17th century. We want to unveil and reflect on how the ‘minority’ status might have conditioned, shaped, invisibilized, or connoted the minority’s approach to scientific and philosophical topics, and to what extent the forms and results of the scientific engagement might have affected or modified the minority’s social and cultural status, living conditions, image, and identity. We are also interested in how this minority status might have affected minor or understudied fields of knowledge or peripheral aspects within specific scientific disciplines. Here, the term ‘minority’ is understood broadly (gender, language, disability, religion, heterodoxy, ethnicity, etc.), the same as science (medicine, astronomy, astrology, natural philosophy, etc.). The timeframe would extend through the 17th century, and there is no geographical limit.

The workshop will bring together scholars and students alike, welcoming their diverse methodological backgrounds and perspectives. Our goal is to create an inclusive and diverse platform that fosters meaningful discussions on the social and cultural aspects of minorities and the sciences throughout different historical periods and cultures. By engaging in this multidisciplinary exploration, we hope to gain deeper insights into the complex interplay between scientific pursuits and minority experiences in the past.

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