Justin Robert Niermeier-Dohoney
University of Chicago
History Department
Morris Fishbein Center for the
History of Science and Medicine
Social Sciences Building, Room 205
1126 E. 59th Street Chicago, IL 60637
jdohoney@uchicago.edu
Education
University of Chicago
Ph.D. in History of Science (expected September 2018)
Admitted to candidacy February 2016
Master of Arts in Social Sciences (June 2013)
Dissertation: “Information Vegetable, Animal, and Mineral: Immanent Vitalism and Alchemical Cornucopianism in Early Modern English and Colonial Projects, c. 1620-1700”
Committee: Adrian Johns (chair), Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, Robert J. Richards
Clemson University
Master of Arts in History (August 2011)
Thesis: “‘In So Many Ways Do the Planets Bear Witness’: The Impact of Copernicanism on Judicial Astrology at the English Court, 1543-1660”
Committee: Pamela Mack (chair), Alan Grubb, Megan Taylor-Shockley, Caroline Dunn
Indiana University, Bloomington
Bachelor of Arts in History and English Literature (May 2004)
Minors in History and Philosophy of Science and Medieval Studies
Research and Teaching Interests
History of early modern science; natural history and environmental history in the British Atlantic world; vitalist alchemy (alchemy as a “life science”); alchemical cornucopianism and the early modern political economy; early modern matter theory; astrology; astro-meteorology and early modern notions of climate; pre-Linnaean taxonomy; history and philosophy of biology; acclimatization projects; bioprospecting; utopian studies; the influence of science on early modern witchcraft; cabinets of curiosities and the history of collecting; science and religion; science and empire; esotericism, natural magic, and the history of experimentalism; history of skepticism, pantheism, deism, and atheism; science and aesthetics; science and speculative fiction; Francis Bacon; Robert Boyle; the Hartlib Circle, the Invisible College, and the Royal Society; philosophies of human nature; climate change and the Anthropocene in historical context; the environmental humanities; the discovery of “deep time;” Deep History; contemporary climate change policy; public science policy in global historical context
Comprehensive Exam Fields
History and Historiography of Early Modern Science (Adrian Johns)
Early Modern Britain, the Atlantic World, and Environmental History (Fredrik Albritton Jonsson)
History and Philosophy of Natural History (Robert J. Richards)
(Passed December 2014)
Teaching Experience
Lectureships
Indiana University, Southeast; Honors Program
2017
Utopia, Dystopia, and Apocalypse: Imagining Futures in Western Science, Religion, and Culture
2016-17
Where Is Everybody? The Extraterrestrial Life Debate in History and Science, Antiquity to SETI
University of Chicago
2018
Natural History and Empire, c. 1500-1800 (forthcoming) (Von Holst Prize Lectureship)
2015
Francis Bacon’s Science and the Uses of Nature
Teaching Assistantships
University of Chicago
2014
Science, Culture, and Society in Western Civilization, III: Modern Physical and Biological Science (James Evans)
2013
Science, Culture, and Society in Western Civilization, II: Early Modern Science (Adrian Johns)
Science, Culture, and Society in Western Civilization, I: Ancient Science (Robert J. Richards)
Clemson University
2011
The Kennedy Assassination and Watergate (Richard Saunders)
2010
The Historians’ Craft (Elizabeth Carney, Rachel Moore)
The West and the World, Part II: 1492-Present (Steven Marks)
2009
The West and the World, Part I: Prehistory-ca. 1700 (Steven Marks)
Fellowships, Assistantships, and Awards
Fellowships and Awards
University of Chicago
2017-18
T. Bentley Duncan Dissertation-Year Write-Up Fellowship
2017
Dibner Library, Smithsonian Institute, Scholar-in-Residence Fellowship (Declined)
2016-17
Morris Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine, Full-Time Graduate Fellowship
2016
Nicholson Center for British Studies Graduate Travel Fellowship
Arnaldo Momigliano Dissertation Research Travel Fellowship
Division of Social Sciences Dissertation Research Travel Fellowship
2015
David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, Education and Interpretation Fellowship
2013-16
Division of Social Sciences, History Department Full-Time Graduate Fellowship
Clemson University
2011
Ernest McPherson Lander Award in the School of Art, Architecture, and Humanities for Outstanding Graduate Work in the Department of History
2009-11
Schools of Art, Architecture, and Humanities; History Department Full-Time Graduate Fellowship
Research Assistantships
2014
Research Assistant to Dr. Alison Winter†, University of Chicago
2013
Research Assistant to Dean John Boyer, University of Chicago
Service and Related Student Activities
University of Chicago
2015-16
Certificate in University Teaching, History Department Pedagogy Workshop Series, Chicago Teaching Center
Co-coordinator of the Early Modern Workshop
2014-16
Discussant and Commentator, History of the Human Sciences Workshop
Discussant and Commentator, History and Philosophy of Science Workshop
Discussant and Commentator, Early Modern Workshop
2013
Discussant and Commentator, African Studies Workshop
Clemson University
2010-11
President of the History Graduate Student Association
2009-10
Senator, Dean’s Council of Students
Publications
Various articles for Astrology through History: Interpreting the Stars from Ancient Mesopotamia to the Present (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio/Praeger, 2018) (forthcoming), including “Agriculture and Astrology,” “Bruno, Giordano,” “Centiloquium,” “Jung, Carl,” “Paracelsus,” “Ptolemy,” and “Renaissance and Reformation Astrology.”
“Inversion, the Witch, and the Other: Conceptualizing Persecution in the Early Modern Witch-Hunts,” Tuckasegee Valley Historical Review, Vol. 16 (Spring 2010): 51-75.
Conference Presentations
“A Laboratory in the Field(s): Gabriel Plattes, Alchemy, and Agricultural Improvement, ca. 1638-1660,” (Al)chemical Laboratories: Imagining and Creating Scientific Work-Space, Eighth Annual Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry Postgraduate Conference, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1 December 2017 (forthcoming)
“‘Concerning the Transmutation & Improvements of Plants’: Vitalism, Alchemy, and Cornucopianism in John Beale’s Agricultural Writings,” History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 9-12 November 2017 (forthcoming).
“A Vital Matter: Benjamin Worsley, the Sal Nitrum School, and the Scientific Practices of the Hartlib Circle,” Midwest Junto for the History of Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 24-26 March 2017.
“The Stewardship of Dominion: Baconian Science, Cornucopian Ambitions, and the Scientific Practices of the Hartlib Circle, 1626-1660,” Religion and Conflict Graduate Student History Conference, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 17-19 February 2017.
“Information Vegetable, Animal, and Mineral: Immanent Vitalism and Alchemical Cornucopianism in Hartlib Circle Projects, 1630-1665,” Early Modern Workshop, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 30 November, 2015.
“Baconian Science, Cornucopian Ambitions, and Utopian Dreams: The Dominion and Stewardship Theses Reconsidered,” Religious Ideas and Scientific Thought Graduate Student History Conference, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 26 September 2015.
“The Hermaphroditical Salt: Immanent Vitalism, Alchemical Cornucopianism, and Hartlib Circle Saltpeter Projects,” History and Philosophy of Science Workshop, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 22 May 2015.
“Predicting the Unpredictable: Astrological Reform, Meteorology, and the Anglo-American Almanac, ca. 1650-1750,” Atlantic Worlds, ca. 1600-1800 Seminar Presentation, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 23 March, 2013.
“Representations of the Quasi-Mythical: Problems of Naturalism, Observation, and Credibility in Early Modern Scientific Images,” Science and Aesthetics, 18th-21st Centuries Seminar Presentation, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 22 March 2012.
“Patronage and Practicality: Copernicanism and Astrology in Sixteenth-Century England,” Chapter 3 of Master’s Thesis, Ernest McPherson Lander Award Seminar Presentation, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, 13 April 2011.
“Religious Syncretism and Social Reform in the Cosmologies of Giordano Bruno and Domenico Scandella,” Sixth Annual North Carolina State Graduate Student History Conference, Raleigh, North Carolina, 13 February 2010.
Related Work Experience
2015
Google Books Project Assistant
Regenstein Library, University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
2012-15
Tutor/Curriculum Developer/Fundraiser/Project Assistant
The Black Star Project (Educational Non-Profit, Chicago, IL)
2010-11
Office Assistant/Administrative Assistant
Clemson University History Department (Clemson, SC)
2009
Essay Grader
Measured Progress (Standardized Testing, Louisville, KY)
2007-09
Interim Teacher
Ingham Intermediate School District (Lansing, MI)
2006-07
Research Editor/Video Editor/Copy Editor
Video Monitoring Services (Media Relations/Public Relations, Louisville, KY)
Professional Organizations
History of Science Society Membership
Languages
English (native)
Advanced reading knowledge of French
Working reading knowledge of Latin