Academic interests
My research focuses on the history of science, with a special emphasis on the intersection between biological and human sciences after 1800. I have published on the history of anthropology and racial science in Greece and elsewhere, while my current research focuses on the history of intelligence testing. What inspires me the most are historical (and inescapably philosophical) questions on the nature and culture relationship, as well as on how knowledge travels (or what stands in the way of doing so). My research topics overlap with issues related to the nation and nationalism, colonial and cryptocolonial conditions, and transnational exchanges. Working as a science museum curator has contributed to developing a strong interest for material culture, museums and museology. While in my earlier research I have engaged with philosophy of ecology, especially model building and the holism/reductionism, newer discussions within the environmental humanities have grasped my attention, not least in relation to the history and present of infectious diseases, which is a research line I intend to pursue. This is also related to my work as a nature film producer alongside my academic engagements.
Background
I hold a PhD in History of Science (2021), University of Leeds, UK on Naturalizing the Nation: Physical Anthropology in Greece, 1880s–1950s, and a second PhD in Philosophy of Science (2009), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece on Ecological Dilemmas: Model Building and the Holism-Reductionism Debate. Before coming to the humanities, I received a Degree in Agricultural Sciences after a five-year programme of undergraduate studies at the School of Agriculture, University of Thessaloniki, Greece. This was followed by postgraduate courses in Environmental Biology at the School of Biology, University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Positions held
- 2021–present: Researcher (part time position), Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo
- April 2021–September 2021: Advisor, Museum of University History / Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo
- 2018–2020: Senior curator, Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, Oslo, Norway
- 2014–2018: Postdoctoral fellow (incl. one year break), Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo
- 2016–2017: Senior curator (substitute position), Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology, Oslo, Norway
- 2012–2014: Graduate Teaching Assistant, School of Philosophy, Religion and the History of Science, University of Leeds, UK
- 2010–2012: Economy and sustainability advisor to the Vice Rector for Economy and Development, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
- 2009–2010: Part-time Lecturer – Department of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Greece
- 2009: Part-time Lecturer – Department of Fisheries, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Greece
Courses taught
- Spring 2021: Bachelor course, co-teaching, BA3/IM: Utstilling (Exhibition), Oslo National Academy of Arts
- Spring and autumn 2020, spring 2018: PhD course, co-teaching, HES9320 Medical History, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo
- 2012–2014: Graduate teaching assistant at University of Leeds for the following bachelor courses:
HPSC 1050 Darwin, Germs and the Bomb, HPSC1040 Introduction to the History of Scientific Thought, PHIL1009 Introduction to Philosophy of Science, PHIL1040 I Think Therefore I Am: The Philosophy of Descartes, PHIL1005 The Mind, PHIL1001 Introduction to Philosophy, PHIL1002 Introduction to Ethics
-
2010–2012: Part-time Lecturer at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for the following bachelor courses: EC.04.16 Population Ecology, EC.ENB.5.20 Principles of Sustainability and Ecosystem Management
-
2009–2010: Part-time Lecturer at Technological Educational Institute of Epirus for the following bachelor courses: Introduction to Ecology, Fish Population Dynamics
-
2005–2009: Graduate Teaching Assistant at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for the following bachelor courses: EC.ENB.7.6 Environmental Education and Public Awareness, EC.04.16 Population Ecology, EC.ENB.5.20 Principles of Sustainability and Ecosystem Management, EC.02.11 General Ecology
Appointments
- 2021–present: Steering committee member of the organization Helsehistorisk forum, which works for preserving, disseminating and promoting the history of health and medicine in Norway
- 2021–present: Member of the collaboratory “Worlds of Meaning in Conversation” at School of Environmental Humanities, University of Oslo
- 2019–present: Member of the Nominations Committee of the International Society for the History Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology
- 2019–present: Member of the Site Selection Committee of the International Society for the History Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology
- 2019–2020: Coordinator of the National Museums’ Network for Health and Medical History
- 2018–2019: Chair of the Organizing Committee for the International Society for the History Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology, Oslo 2019
- 2015–present: Editorial board member Science & Education
- 2011–2019: Associate Book Review Editor for Science & Education
- 2015–2019 and 2011–2013: Member of the Education Committee of the International Society for the History Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology
- 2015–2017: Member of the Communication Committee of the International Society for the History Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology
- 2013–2018: British Society for the History of Science Ambassador
- 2014–2015: Member of the Local Organizing Committee of the 6th Norwegian Conference on the History of Science
- 2013–2014: Member of the Programme Committee of the British Society for the History of Science
- 2010–2012: Coordinator of the Sustainability Committee, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
- 2010–2012: Coordinator of the Publishing Committee, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
- 2006–present: Has served as reviewer for the following academic journals: Perspectives on Science, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Science & Education, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
Awards
- 2019: British Society for the History of Science Great Exhibitions Prize 2018 for the exhibition FOLK – From racial types to DNA sequences
- 2016: Joint Visiting Scholar Fellowship, Centre of the Humanities and Public Sphere and Department of Classics, University of Florida
- 2016: British Society for the History of Science, 3 Societies Meeting Travel Grant
- 2013: British Society for the History of Science Research Grant
- British Society for the History of Science, Butler-‐‑Eyles Travel Grant
- 2013: International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology Travel Grant
- 2012–14: Doctoral Fellowship, University of Leeds
- 2011–12: Visiting Scholar, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Research Group ‘Historicizing knowledge about human biological diversity in the 20th century’
- 2005–8: Doctoral Fellowship, Spyros F. Antypas Foundation, Greece