This LECTIO Junior Initiative investigates the production of knowledge in the early modern period and critically examines what made knowledge “academic” at the time and why certain forms of research were excluded from universities. The initiators study how processes of inclusion and exclusion shaped knowledge, and to what extent these mechanisms were influenced by factors such as gender, religion, or social status. Additionally, the workshop will discuss whether historiographical categories of “academic” knowledge need to be reconsidered.
The aim of this workshop is to familiarize LECTIO junior researchers and master’s students with the methodological tools of the history of knowledge through practical engagement with primary sources. Participants will explore how the transmission of ideas can be integrated into the history of knowledge, with attention to two core themes: religion and gender. These themes will be studied through three analytical lenses central to the history of knowledge—knowledge actors, circulation, and institutions—providing a structured approach to understanding the complex dynamics of intellectual authority and scientific traditions.
