First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-26)

Topic

Global Histories of Science

Instructors

Juan Fernando León Báez

Meeting Info

Shepard Hall B25: Mon, Wed 3:30PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

This seminar explores the history of science in the early modern period from both European and global perspectives, tracing how ideas, tools, and techniques were exchanged across continents to transform local understandings of the known world. It examines how empires, artisans, healers, and scholars participated in these exchanges and how intellectual development emerged from encounters, translations, and negotiations that crossed social and spatial boundaries. Centering on Europe's far western edge—the Iberian Peninsula—the course treats Iberia as a crossroads of the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Islamic worlds, and as a meeting ground for Christian, Muslim, and Jewish traditions. From this vantage point, students will see how "modern" science took shape not through isolated European innovation, but through continuous interactions among diverse cultures, beliefs, and practices. By tracing the circulation of scientific knowledge through networks of translators, cosmographers, colonizers, missionaries, and enslaved individuals, the seminar reveals how vernacular expertise combined local experience and global exchange to create new understandings of both humanity and the natural world. In addition to lectures and discussions, students will undertake independent research projects, developing their ability to frame meaningful questions, interpret primary and secondary sources, and contribute original perspectives to ongoing conversations about science, culture, and empire. Open to students from all majors in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, the course invites them to think critically and creatively about how scientific knowledge travels, adapts, and reshapes the world we inhabit.

Learning Objectives

Students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the history of scientific inquiry, including its multicultural roots, transnational evolution, cultural codifications, and societal debates. Students will gain a deeper understanding of the role of scientific and technological breakthroughs in past episodes of knowledge enrichment. Students will learn how to frame research questions, locate, interpret, and incorporate relevant primary and secondary sources, and compose an independent position on a chosen topic by writing a 12-15 pp. (roughly 5,000 words) research paper that contributes meaningfully to historical understanding.

Evaluation Method

30% In-class participation (presentations and peer feedback); 5% Prospectus; 10% Historiography; 10% Primary Source Analysis; 10% Introduction & Conclusion Drafts; and 35% Final Research Paper

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): Americas, European, Global
History Minor Concentration(s): Europe, Science and Technology

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.