Teaching science in the Colonial Era: knowledge weaponization and cultural integration from Europe to the Jesuit missions

ongoing

The TESCCO project aims at offering a comparative study on the methods for teaching science implemented by the Jesuits at the end of the 17th century during their missions in China and North America, to show that the harmonization between religious motives and motives connected to cultural dissemination found in their activities couldn’t have been possible without a serious and wider philosophical reassessment of the role of science and its teaching throughout Europe. This study will cast a new light on the domination strategies adopted during the Colonial Era, connecting consistently for the first time the scientific developments of the early modern period with the many attempts of subjugation and cultural appropriation made at that time on behalf of a (supposed) superior and exclusive knowledge. The interdisciplinarity of this project, which combines the history of science and science teaching, history of philosophy, and sociology is further complemented by a theoretical part that aims at rising awareness of the overlooked connection between the foundation of science and how it is taught to others. By promoting a healthy distinction between raw scientific data and the historical context in which it has been collected, the TESCCO project has the ambition of becoming relevant nowadays as a starting point for a discussion on the role of science as a by-product of the European culture and on how this assumption is seen in the exchanges with other cultures. This project, hosted by Ca' Foscari University of Venice and by the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University, will be crucial to expanding my knowledge and my expertise as a researcher, thanks to the collaboration with my supervisors and the exchange with other researchers involved in ground-breaking projects on early modern science. It will also be a fundamental step in the development of my career, helping me obtain a permanent position at Ca' Foscari University or another European institution.