School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemSoft and Mechanical: Communicating theory and practice of puericulture through Giovanni Antonio Galli’s Supellex obstetricia( 2023)In 1746, Bolognese obstetrician Giovanni Antonio Galli commissioned the Suppellex obstetricia, a collection comprising approximately two hundred clay and wax models representing various conditions of pregnancy and childbirth. The collection was employed to teach midwives and surgeons in training at the School of Obstetrics in the University of Bologna, the first public school of obstetrics in Italy. This thesis examines the collection from a material culture perspective, arguing that the models convey powerful religious, philosophical and cultural ideas about the female body and the role of the midwife in eighteenth-century Italy. However, the thesis also considers the models as objects 'in motion,' arguing that their meanings and affective power changed as obstetrical discourses likewise changed towards the end of the eighteenth century. The final chapter therefore posits the value of a comparative approach in analysing eighteenth-century Italian obstetrical collections. By examining drastically different depictions of 'monstrous births' across obstetrical collections, the third chapter argues for the possibility of tracing changing medical and cultural discourses of the female body by analysing the material dimension of these objects.
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ItemCollection, collation & creation: girls and their material culture Victoria, 1870-1910( 2018)The thesis broadly explores the lives of girls who resided in the colony/state of Victoria, Australia between 1870 and 1910. A largely understudied and underappreciated area of historical study, the thesis takes a broad scope. Three case studies- urban girls’ collection of dolls, rural girls’ collation of scrapbooks, and Indigenous Victorian girls’ creation of fibrecraft- illustrate that tangible material culture can serve as evidence for intangible and marginalised histories. It overarchingly contended that girls, in any historical period, can express agency and resilience, individuality and creativity, through their material culture. In interacting with their day-to-day, seemingly mundane things, girls challenged, however subtly, repressive societal ideals that attempted to circumscribe their identities and their lives.