NICHOLAS A. JACOBSON PhD
PhD., History of Science and Medicine
Postdoctoral Researcher in the McKeon Center at the University of Chicago
Affiliate Researcher at Observatoire de Paris
Introduction/About
I am a historian of science, medicine, and technology (SMT) specializing in medieval science and the transfer and circulation of knowledge in the Western Mediterranean World (Western Europe and North Africa). I currently am a Postdoctoral Researcher in the McKeon Center at the University of Chicago. In collaboration with a team of scholars affiliated with the Paris Observatory (l’Observatoire de Paris), I have participated in an on-going survey and analysis of the transmission of the Alfonsine Astronomical Tables in the 14th and 15th centuries (the ALFA project).
Education
Joint Ph.D., History and History of Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2018.
M.A., History of Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2011.
B.A., History and French, Seattle Pacific University, 2007.
Teaching
2024-2025 Award for Excellence in Teaching At UW-Madison History Department
Courses
“Survey of the History of China” -A survey class investigating the emergence of the modern Chinese state from its pre-historic periods to the current moment. The groups and individuals that make up modern China constitute a diverse society of many cultures and communities that constitute a common social, economic, and intellectual web of intercommunication and trade. This course traces the origins of this web, which connects Chinese society to the regional community of East Asia as well as a global system of world commerce.
“Imagining the Medieval World” – A seminar capstone course that explores the development of representations and images of the natural world in medieval and pre-modern scientific communities from a global perspective
“Bodies, Diseases, and Healers” – A survey of different conceptions of how the body as a site of sickness has been understood from Antiquity to contemporary medicine. Includes consideration of the origins and evolution of public health, the changing social role of healers, and the emergence of the modern “standardized” body in health and illness.
“The Making of Modern Science” – A survey class of major trends and developments in the sciences from the 17th century to the early 20th century. Emphasis on those with broad cultural and social implications.
“Ancient and Medieval Science in a Global Context” – A course that examines the sciences of the ancient and medieval period from a global perspective, beginning with the Babylonians and Egyptians in the first millennium BCE and ending with the Western European voyages to the Americas and the East Indies ca. 1500.
“World Civilizations” – World history since the Agricultural Revolution in 10,000 BCE with emphasis on the global nature of historical changes.
“Global History” – A core curriculum that considers the interactions between multiple cultures in the lead up to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and then continued shared experiences to the present. Key themes are ideas, inventions, and systems of interaction.
Skills
Archival Research/Digital Humanities
My research would not have been possible without the generous support of the librarians and archivists at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the Bibliothèque Royale de Bruxelles, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, and the British Library in London. I have also been lucky to have worked with new projects to digitize manuscripts for the researchers and the public at large.
Editing/Writing/Translating
In addition to my own research, I have worked with many scholars to help copy edit, translate, and publish their academic works.
Teaching/Mentoring/Advising
As a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Edgewood College, I have taught several courses in world history and the history of science, medicine, and technology. My classes have ranged from large, multi-hundred survey courses to small research seminars. I focus on developing writing, researching, and public speaking skills with my students.
French/Latin/Arabic/Latin Paleography
Nicholasajacobson 