«A Brief Introduction to…» History of Knowledge, with Catarina Simões
With an inclusive approach that rejects a markedly Eurocentric perspective on the history of science, the History of Knowledge focuses on ideas perceived as knowledge. As the historian Catarina Simões explains, the focus is therefore on societies, rather than on individuals and their personal beliefs. Thus, the History of Knowledge deals with informal knowledge and practices, craft techniques, beliefs and perceptions, oral traditions and popular culture. Emphasis is placed on the great diversity of knowledge systems, highlighting, for example, indigenous epistemologies and others traditionally excluded from historiography. ‘Rather than focusing solely on the scientist associated with a scientific work, there is an increasing focus on the informants, interpreters, guides, preparers and technical assistants who, in various ways, participated in the production of knowledge,’ explains Catarina Simões. The interview is conducted by Isabel Araújo Branco.
Catarina Simões, a researcher at CHAM and a modern historian. In her doctoral thesis, she studied the presence and political appropriation of non-European animals at the Portuguese court during the Renaissance, and the cultural role these animals played in Europe during the same period. Between 2017 and 2023, Catarina Simões worked at the National Museum of Natural History and Science at the University of Lisbon, where she studied colonial science collections, reflecting on the legacies of the Portuguese empire and the narratives produced about the cultural and material heritage associated with it. Her postdoctoral project focuses on the intersections between imperial history and natural history, with an approach centred on the relationships between humans and non-human animals, as well as on the processes of knowledge production and their various agents.
In the next episode, Margarita Rodriguez García discusses indigenous knowledge of nature and scientific expeditions.
The theme tune for ‘CHAM Talks, a podcast for listening to science’ uses ‘Bike Sharing To Paradise’ by Dan Bordan (copyright-free).
Coordination
Isabel Araújo Branco (CHAM)
Organization
CHAM / NOVA FCSH
