Call for contributions:

Proposal for a symposium at the 11th ESHS Conference, Barcelona 4-7 September 2024. Science, Technology, Humanity and the Earth.

Symposium: The “Other” Genius: A Historical Approach to Genius, Giftedness, and Gender

The figure of «the genius» has been traditionally defined in terms of the masculine Romantic ideal – a heroic individual who battles against all odds to achieve significant artistic, political, and scientific accomplishments. Historically, however, what constituted «genius» and who was labelled as such was (and remains) a question with multiple answers that did not always align with the traditional Romantic ideal. Be it a question of gender, age, race, or even madness and disability, different categories have been mobilized over time to understand exceptional talent and define genius and similar concepts (e.g. giftedness) in the history of science and medicine. In this panel, we wish to explore alternative representations of genius throughout modernity and reflect on the multiple social, cultural, scientific, and political contexts that inform this phenomenon beyond its present ideal.

We welcome presentations from the fields of the history of psychology, medicine, psychiatry, anthropology, and pedagogy dealing with topics such as (but not limited to):

– Genius and madness

– Genius and gender in medicine and psychology

– Genius and politics

– Hermaphroditism, androgyny, and genius

– Child genius: child prodigies and gifted children

– Genius, talent, and disability

– Savant syndrome

– Literary, visual and scientific representations of genius

– Genius and emotions