Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

Prof. Shifra Armon, 2017 Rothman Faculty Summer Fellow (Dept. of Spanish & Portuguese Studies)
Cacey Farnsworth, 2017-18 Rothman Doctoral Fellow (Dept. of History)
Thursday, 8 February – 4:00pm-5:00pm, Grinter Hall 471 (Center for African Studies Conference Room)
Staging Curiosity: Skepticism and Science on the Spanish Stage: 1650-1750
Prof. Shifra Armon

Spain has been accused of languishing far behind its more “enlightened” Northern European counterparts during the eighteenth century. I challenge this historiographic bias or “Black Legend” by foregrounding portrayals on the Spanish stage of curiosity, reason, and skepticism. By charting how dramatic characters interpret what they see—whether or not they seek evidentiary proof before drawing conclusions—I hope to open a back-door to the question of Spain’s contribution to Europe’s so-called “long eighteenth century.” This approach aligns my project more closely with current “histories of inquiry” (Benedict) and “histories of curiosity” (Hersch, Manguel, Castillo) than with pure history of science.

Atlantic Lisbon: From Restoration to Baroque Splendor, 1668-1755
Cacey Farnsworth

The Portuguese empire, long dependent upon India and the spice trade in the Orient, suffered serious setbacks as the Dutch and others took key portions during the period of political union with Spain (1580-1640); 1640 brought the restoration of a Portuguese monarch and a twenty-eight-year conflict. With peace declared in 1668, Portuguese royal attention increasingly shifted towards the Atlantic and imperial revival. Lisbon, as the capital, experienced a significant transformation as a result: from peace in 1668 until the devastating earthquake that destroyed the city in 1755, intensifying Atlantic influences transformed Lisbon physically, socially, and culturally.

This event is part of the 2017-18 UF Synergies: Current Scholarship in the Humanities series, which features informal talks by the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere’s Rothman Faculty Summer Fellows, Tedder Doctoral Fellows, and Rothman Doctoral Fellows. Fellows will each speak for 20 minutes about their funded work, leaving ample time for questions and discussion amongst the projects.

This event is free and open to the public.
Click for more information on becoming a Rothman Faculty Summer Fellow, a Tedder Family Doctoral Fellow.
For more information on this event, contact humanities-center@ufl.edu. You can also find this event on Facebook!
See more information on this series.