Ageliki Lefkaditou

Image of Ageliki Lefkaditou
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Visiting address Kirkeveien 166 Fredrik Holsts hus 0450 Oslo
Postal address Postboks 1130 Blindern 0318 Oslo

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

 

Tags: History and Philosophy of Science, Medical History, Race and Eugenics, Nation and Nationalism, Greece, Norway, Museums and Museology, History of Anthropology, Philosophy of Ecology

Publications

  • Burton, Elise & Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2022). Race in Circulation: Blood Banks and Forced Mobilities in the Eastern Mediterranean. Bulletin of The History of Medicine. ISSN 0007-5140. 96(3), p. 375–402. doi: 10.1353/bhm.2022.0033.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2022). Blood Affairs: Racial Blood Group Research and Nation Building in Greece, 1920s–1940s. Perspectives on Science. ISSN 1063-6145. 30(1), p. 48–76. doi: 10.1162/posc_a_00402.
  • Stuedahl, Dagny; Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Ellefsen, Gro Synnøve & Skåtun, Torhild (2021). Design anthropological approaches in collaborative museum curation. Design Studies. ISSN 0142-694X. 75, p. 1–23. doi: 10.1016/j.destud.2021.101021. Full text in Research Archive
  • Stuedahl, Dagny; Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Messenbrink, Tobias (2020). Participation and dialogue: curatorial reflexivity in participatory processes. In Galani, Areti; Mason, Rhiannon & Arrigoni, Gabi (Ed.), European Heritage, Dialogue and Digital Practices. Routledge. ISSN 9780367148065.
  • Treimo, Henrik & Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2020). Curating Blind Spot with Art and Medicine. In Allsopp, Ric & Kipphoff, Karen Erika Earle (Ed.), Blind Spot: Staring Down the Void. Performance Research Books. ISSN 978-1-906499-08-2.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2019). Yet Another Greek Tragedy? Physical Anthropology and the Construction of National Identity in the Late Nineteenth Century. In McMahon, Richard (Eds.), National Races: Transnational Power Struggles in Science and Politics, 1840–1945. University of Nebraska Press. ISSN 978-1-4962-0582-7.
  • Lefkaditou, Angeliki (2018). "This Wonderful People": Darwin, the Victorians, and the Greeks. Journal of Modern Greek Studies. ISSN 0738-1727. 36(1), p. 97–124. doi: 10.1353/mgs.2018.0003.
  • Lefkaditou, Angeliki (2017). Observations on Race and Racism in Greece. Journal of Anthropological Sciences. ISSN 1827-4765. 95, p. 329–338. doi: 10.4436/JASS.95013. Full text in Research Archive
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Korfiatis, Konstantinos & Hovardas, Anastasios (2014). Contextualizing the Teaching and Learning of Ecology: Historical and Philosophical Considerations. In Matthews, Michael R. (Eds.), Handbook of Historical and Philosophical Research in Science Education. Springer. ISSN 978-94-007-7654-8.
  • Lemoni, Rea; Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Stamou, Anastasia G.; Schizas, Dimitrios & Stamou, Georgios P. (2013). Views of Nature and the Human-Nature Relations: An Analysis of the Visual Syntax of Pictures about the Environment in Greek Primary School Textbooks Diachronic Considerations. Research in Science Education. ISSN 0157-244X. doi: 10.1007/s11165-011-9250-5.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2012). Is Ecology a Holistic Science, after all? In Stamou, Georgios P. (Eds.), Populations, Biocommunities, and Ecosystems: A Review of Controversies in Ecological Thinking. Bentham Science Publishers. ISSN 978-1-60805-426-8.
  • Stamou, Anastasia G.; Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Schizas, Dimitrios & Stamou, Georgios P. (2009). The Discourse of Environmental Information: Representations of Nature and Forms of Rhetoric in the Information Center of a Greek Reserve. Science communication. ISSN 1075-5470. doi: 10.1177/1075547009335347.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2006). Holism and Reductionism in Ecology: A Trivial Dichotomy and Levins’ Non-trivial Account. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences. ISSN 0391-9714.

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  • Treimo, Henrik; Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Kipphoff, Karen (2019). BLIND SPOT – en utstilling om å se og se etter [BLIND SPOT – An exhibition about looking and seeing]. Norsk Teknisk Museum. ISBN 978-82-90115-54-3. 60 p.

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  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2023). Intelligence Testing between Education and Psychiatry: Johan Lofthus and the Standardization of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale in Norway, 1920s–1930s. .
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne; Caspersen, Håkon Aamot & Vaalund, Anne (2023). Intelligence Tests In and Out of the Box: University Material Heritage between Disruption and Repair.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2023). Intelligence Testing from the US to Norway: Producing the Norwegian Standard of the Stanford – Binet scale, 1920s–1930s.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2023). Intelligence Testing as a New Tool for Crisis Resolution in School Psychiatry: Johan Lofthus and the Norwegian Standardization of the Stanford – Binet Intelligence Scale, 1923–1931.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne; Haave, Per & Caspersen, Håkon Aamot (2023). Innafor boksen? - Måling av intelligens i 100 år.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Haave, Per (2023). Intelligenstester både ødela og reddet liv. [Business/trade/industry journal]. Apollon.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2023). Mellom Amerika og Norge, skole og psykiatri: Hvordan intelligensmåling ble en del av norsk skolehistorie.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2023). Between Change and Stability: Producing the Norwegian Standard of the Stanford – Binet Intelligence Scale, 1920s–1930s.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Efstathiou, Sofia (2022). R23 - Understanding Intelligence: Across Human and Other-Than-Human Worlds.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2022). Racial Science and Possibilities for Re-Appropriation: Reflections from the Two-Fold Perspectives of History of Science and Museum Practice.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2022). Transforming Human Remains between Collections, Laboratories and Public Displays.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2022). Mygg, malaria, klima og natur – En historie fra Norge.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Vaalund, Anne (2021). On the Cutting Edge, or How Collections Become Important.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2021). Intelligence Testing in Norway: Tracing Connections between Tests and People from the early 1910s to the 1960s.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Helgestad, Asgeir (2021). Capturing Life and Loss in Multispecies Interactions: Reflections on Filming Practices.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2021). Nowhere to Return? The Case of “Maren” at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2021). Samlinger og arkiv som utgangspunkt for forskning.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2021). Heredity Mobilized: From Mendelism to Eugenics in the Name of the Greek Race.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2021). FOLK – From Racial Types to DNA Sequences.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2020). Are Genes in Fact the Secret of Life? (panel participant).
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Rajah, Thanushiga & Skåtun, Torhild (2020). Samtids- og krisedokumentasjon (panelsamtale).
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2020). Malaria, Museum Things and Climate Change.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Rajah, Thanushiga & Skåtun, Torhild (2020). Krisedokumentasjon, etikk of nødvendigheten av tid. Museumsnytt. ISSN 0027-4186.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne (2020). Linné: en sluttreplikk. Dagsavisen. ISSN 1503-2892.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne (2020). Linne, en bortforklaring. Dagsavisen. ISSN 1503-2892.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2019). Temporary Climate - Engaging with Climate Crisis at Norsk Teknisk Museum.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2019). Exploring Blind Spot: An Exhibition and Collaborative Project on Vision and Perception.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2019). Instruments of Race, Tools for Diversity.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2019). Researching and Protecting a “Race in Fluid Constancy”: Narratives of Physical Anthropology in Greece, 1915–1950.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2019). Putting Science on Display: FOLK – From Racial Types to DNA Sequences.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2019). Hellas – «den vestlige sivilisasjonens vugge»: Om opprinnelsens myter og historiens tyngende arv .
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). Marius Turda; Aaron Gillette. Latin Eugenics in Comparative Perspective.; Marius Turda, ed. The History of East-Central European Eugenics, 1900–1945: Sources and Commentaries. Isis. ISSN 0021-1753. 109(3). doi: 10.1086/699530.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). The Journey of FOLK: On the Making of a Museum Exhibition.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). Hvor forskjellige er vi egentlig? En utstilling om raser og raseforskning ved Nasjonalt Medisinsk Museum.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). Active Encounters: Narratives of Historical and Contemporary Science in Museums.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). Harvesting the Archive: Historical Explorations of early 20th century Physical Anthropology in Greece .
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). Exploring and Narrating the Human Biological Diversity: Multiple Translations from Labs to Museums and Schools.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). Narratives upon Narratives: Curating the History of Anthropology.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). Little Acts of Re-appropriation: On the Making of the Exhibition FOLK at the Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2018). Evolusjonsromantikken. Dagsavisen. ISSN 1503-2892.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2017). Practicing Race and Photography. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. ISSN 1369-8486. 64, p. 92–96. doi: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2017.05.002.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2017). Putting History on Display: Prospects and Challenges at the Intersection of Academic Research, Things, Space, and People .
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2017). On Equal Ground? Exploring the Who, What, and How of Fitting with a Museum.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2017). Blood, Bone, and DNA: Undoing Race at the Museum.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne & Treimo, Henrik (2017). FOLK: An Exhibit on Science, Identity, and Politics .
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2017). Museums at the Intersection of Texts, Things, Spaces and People.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2017). Putting History on Display. History of Anthropology Newsletter.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). Not So Strange Bedfellows: Genetics and Archaeology in Greece.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). Romanticizing Racial Mixing as a Response to Nazi Ideology: Mid-20th Century American Anthropology and the Greeks.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). Biological Theories of Race in Greece.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). Reinventing American Physical Anthropology in the 1940s-50s .
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). On the Refugee Crisis: Rethinking Difficult Histories and Presents in Museums.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). Mongrel Nations and Liminal People: The anthropological Researches of John Lawrence Angel in Greece in the 1940s.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). From Racial Types to Populations: The 1940s Reinvention of American Physical Anthropology.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). Confronting Race in the 21st Century.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2016). Race, Science, and Society in the 21st Century.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2015). Not so Strange Bedfellows: Archaeology, Anthropology, and the Nation.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2015). One to Fit them All? Popular Anthropological Genetic Reconstructions of the Greek Past.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2015). One to Fit them All: Biological Reconstructions of a Greek Past.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki; Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne; Fossheim, Hallvard; Hochman, Adam; Loring, P & Suárez-Díaz, Edna (2015). Bringing Race/Ethnicity to Public Fora.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2015). Who Are the Greeks? Rethinking Biology, Culture, and Ancestry in the Post-genomic Era.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne (2015). Conceptualizations of Race in Post-war Genetics and Anthropology.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2015). A Constant Anthropologist: J. Lawrence Angel and His Research in Greece, 1940s-1970s.
  • Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne & Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2015). Finnes Det Raser? Morgenbladet. ISSN 0805-3847.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne (2015). Eugenics and Physical Anthropology in Hungary and Greece. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. ISSN 1369-8486. 49, p. 70–74.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki & Kyllingstad, Jon Røyne (2015). Discussing the Biocultural Approach to Race. Science & Education. ISSN 0926-7220. 24(9), p. 1263–1269.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2014). Forging a Place for a Science: Greek Physical Anthropology and the Construction of National Identity in late 19th century.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2014). Continuity and Discontinuity: Greek Physical Anthropology, 1920s-1950s.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2014). Ann Morning: The Nature of Race: How Scientists Think and Teach about Human Difference. Science & Education. ISSN 0926-7220. doi: 10.1007/s11191-014-9697-7.
  • Lefkaditou, Ageliki (2021). Naturalizing the Nation: Physical Anthropology in Greece, 1880s–1950s. University of Leeds.

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Published Nov. 25, 2021 3:27 PM - Last modified Oct. 11, 2023 8:25 PM

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