Elena Serrano
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Ph.D.
Residence: September 1, 2012–August 31, 2014
Profile
I am currently interested in women´s involvement in the shaping of scientific culture. In particular, in the role of women in knowledge circulation -both as actors and as audiences in eighteenth-century Spain. In my PhD dissertation, Science for women in the Spanish Enlightenment (1753-1808), I analyzed women's engagement in four social spaces: the city, the country-house, the nursery-room and the library. I explore the complex relations between science, gender, economy and politics.
In my postdoctoral research, I will focus on the role of women and gender in economic agriculture, a broadly defined science that encompassed agricultural knowledge, botany, chemistry, healing practices, domestic economy, artisans skills and rural architecture. My aim is to investigate in which ways women shaped its practice, values and public image. In particular, I will explore books on economic agriculture aimed at women and the architecture of some aristocratic country houses.
I graduated in chemistry in the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and did some research in two biochemical university laboratories. I earned my doctorate in history of science in the CEHIC, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. During these years, I have benefited from fellowships by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación and the AGAUR, the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (SHAC) and the Chemical Heritage Foundation, which allowed me to became a visiting student in Cambridge University and to explore the rich collections of children books, magazines and scientific books for women in Princeton, Cambridge, Oxford and Philadelphia.Selected publications
Elena Serrano. "The Spectacle de la nature in eighteenth-century Spain: From French households to Spanish workshops. " Annals of Science 69 (2 2012)
Elena Serrano. "Essay Review. Técnica e ingeniería en Espana, Vols. II and III, edited by Manuel Silva Suárez (Zaragoza, 2005) . " Technology and Culture. (Forthcoming)
Elena Serrano. "Chemistry in the city: The ladies of the Junta de damas in Madrid (1790-1812). " Ambix (In preparation )
