Giulia RISPOLI

I am an Associate Professor in the History of Science at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage at Ca' Foscari University, and a Visiting Scholar at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (MPIGEA).

My research focuses on the history and epistemology of the modern natural sciences, particularly in Russia, Europe, and North America. I have worked on a broad range of topics, including the history of systems theories—particularly Alexander Bogdanov’s Tektology as an alternative to general systems theory and cybernetics—the social study of science in the Soviet Union, the history of evolutionism, biosphere theories in Russian, European, and North American contexts, Earth System Science, environmental diplomacy during the Cold War, and the history and markers of the Anthropocene. More recently, my research interests have expanded to include geoanthropology, the study of forgotten sources of planetary thought, the Nuclear Winter theory, and the intersection of art, science, and culture.

Currently, I am working on two interrelated projects. The first, titled "Planetary Genealogies: Historicizing the Anthropocene," aims to explore the historical, epistemological, and scientific foundations of the Anthropocene—a term designating a new geological epoch defined by the global impact of human activity on the Earth. In particular, I am tracing the genealogies of two concepts: the "biosphere-geosphere," developed in Russia and Eastern Europe, and the "Earth system" model, which emerged in the West. I examine how these concepts shaped different understandings of our planet in the 20th century and influenced global political discourse regarding human impact.

The second project, funded by the SPIN program, investigates various research trends that have emerged in the study of the "nuclear Anthropocene" since the Cold War. This includes the study of nuclear signals, such as radiogenic traces now considered the "golden spike" of the Anthropocene, the disruption of Earth's biogeochemical processes as proposed by nuclear winter theory, and the scientific, technological, visual and political contexts that have shaped the development of nuclear energy and materialities. Finally, the project addresses the normalization of nuclear phenomena through aestheticization and musealization.

Before joining Ca' Foscari, I was a Research Scholar at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin.

Employment history:

Associate Professor of History of Science and Technology

Visiting scholar: Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (MPIGEA)

2022 –- 2025: Assistant Professor (RTDb), Ca' Foscari University of Venice 

2021 — 2029: Academic qualification to Associate Professor (Abilitazione scientifica Nazionale a professore di II fascia)

2022 — 2024: Visiting Scholar, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin

2020 – 2022: Research Scholar, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin

2016 — 2019: Postdoctoral fellow, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin

2015 — 2016: Chercheure Invitè (postdoc), Centre Alexander Koyré – EHESS –and Muséum Nationale d'Histoire Naturelle (MNHN), Paris

Education:

Apr 2015: PhD in History and Philosophy of Science, earned with highest honors, University of Rome La Sapienza Program in Logic, Philosophy and History of Science

Oct 2011: Master’s degree in Philosophy of Knowledge, science, politics and communication (summa cum laude), University of Rome La Sapienza.

2011: M.A. Dissertation fellowship, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Faculty of Philosophy) Funded by MIUR, Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research

2010: M.A. Dissertation fellowship, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Faculty of Arts) Funded by MIUR, Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research

Grants, Fellowships and Academic distinctions:

September 22-23, 2024: Invited as a speaker to the workshop Historical Epistemologies of Planetary Modelling, and to the round table discussion of the Inaugural lecture by Dipesh Chakrabarty of the The Centre of Excellence for Anthropocene History, Stockholm.

June 24-26, 2024: Invited as a speaker to Crossing Boundaries 2024: The Anthropocene - Addressing its challenges for humanity. A joint conference with the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (MPIGEA).

December 11–January 2, 2024: Invited you as a guest speaker and short-term visiting scholar to the Center for Anthropocene Studies (CAS), South Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

October 2022: Visiting scholar, Columbia University, New York (The Harriman Institute).

2022: Research grant, Center for the History of Physics, The American Institute of Physics.

2022–2024: Awarded  „Rita Levi Montalcini Prize“: Research title: Planetary Genealogies. Historicizing the Anthropocene (52.000€).

2022– pres: Awarded Research Grant funded the Program „Supporting Principal Investigators (SPIN)“, Nuclear Anthropocene (48.000 €).

Dec 2019 — Dec 2025: Research scholar (emplyment contract), The New University of Lisbon Centro Interuniversitário de História das Ciências e da

Tecnologia (Declined)

Oct 2018 — Dec 2018: Visiting lecturer, Indiana University, Bloomington (US) Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences & Department of History, and Philosophy of Science and Medicine

Dec 2017 — Jan 2018: Visiting lecturer, Tel Aviv University, The Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas

Jul 2017: Associate fellow, University of Manchester, Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine

2016 — 2018: "Cultore della materia", University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Philosophy

2014: Visiting associate, The University of York (UK), Centre for Complex Systems Analysis

2015: Early career Research grant, University of Rome La Sapienza

2014: Conference grant, Aalto University, Helsinki

2013: Early career Research grant, University of Rome La Sapienza

Sep 2012 — Mar 2013: EMA 2 MULTIC fellowship, The National University of Science and Technology «MISiS», Moscow, Funded by TU Dresden

2012 — 2014: PhD scholarship, University of Rome La Sapienza

Academic Activities:

Oct 2021: Co-organizer: Systems Thinking for Water Politics. Anthropocene Campus Venice, 2021, Water Politics in the Age of the Anthropocene

2019: Co-organizer of the Max Planck Institute Seminar Series: Science, Technology and Diplomacy during the Cold War and Beyond

2017 — 2019: Member of the Editorial Team of Azimuth, International Journal of Philosophy. ISSN: 2282-4863

2016: Co-organizer of the Max Planck Institute Seminar Series: Science Fiction for Historians of Science

2017– Member of the editorial team of the International Journal Lo sguardo. Rivista di Filosofia. ISSN: 2036-6558.

Board or committee involvement:

2024 – 2027: Advisory Board Member of the Isis project: bibliographic resources on environment and the history of science: environment and its relation to science and technology. Isis, Journal of the History of Science Society, the University of Chicago Press.

2024 – pres: Board Member of the National Doctoral Program in Sustainable Development and Climate Change, IUSS Pavia, Ca’ Foscari University, Scuola Sant ’Anna, PISA.

2023 – pres: Member of the Teaching Committee of the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, International and Economic Studies (PISE) at Ca Foscari University of Venice and Delegate for Orientation.

2022 – pres: Coordinator of the Anthropocene Lab. at Ca' Foscari International College.

2020 – 2024: Member elect of the Scientific Council of the European Society for the History of Science (ESHS).

2017 – pres: Member of the DHST Commission on Science Technology and Diplomacy.

2016 — Present Member of SISS, Società Italiana di Storia della Scienza, The University of Bologna

Media Coverage:

2018 — 2019: 

“The Soviet scientist who disappeared in 1980s Madrid”, El Pais, 17 January, 2019:
https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2019/01/14/inenglish/1547469011_790445.html

“Vladimir Aleksandrov’s inconvenient climate predictions”, Il Manifesto, 31 January, 2019:
https://global.ilmanifesto.it/vladimir-aleksandrovs-inconvenient-climate-predictions/

 The Social and Economic Roots of Science in the Age of the Technosphere, Palazzo delle Esposizioni,
Roma (in the framework of the exhibition: HUMAN+, Il futuro della nostra specie).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4L_rln8-kQ

Anthropocene lectures, Conversation between McKenzie Wark and Giulia Rispoli, HKW, Berlin:
https://www.hkw.de/en/app/mediathek/audio/57072

2020:

 Lesson #4: McKenzie Wark and Giulia Rispoli, edited by Hinda Weiss and Anton Vidokle, The Institute of the Cosmos
https://www.cosmos.art/school/lesson-4/445640371

Fantascienza e Futuri non scritti. Diretta Streaming con Giulia Rispoli, Festivalletteratura, Mantova Sep. 11, Scienceground 2020. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QON2Sss9q6Q

2021: Anthropocene Research and System Thinking for the Hydrosphere, the Anthropocene Campus Venice (October 11-16, 2021, www.acv2021.org)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTvajU7Ax4k