Digital Scholarship Seminar:

Evan Bourke (NUI Galway)

Female Involvement, Membership, and Centrality: A Social Network Analysis of the Hartlib Circle

The Hartlib circle was an intellectual correspondence network that was formed in London in 1641, centred around Samuel Hartlib, John Dury, and Jan Amos Kaminski. This group was mainly active between 1641 and 1661, and included well-known figures such as Robert Boyle, Henry Oldenburg, and Benjamin Worsley. However, the network also had female members, such as Lady Ranelagh, and Dorothy Moore – and these women will be the focus of this talk. Through an extensive analysis of the Hartlib database this talk will introduce these women’s involvement in this network, focusing on their participation in religious and scientific activities. Then, using social network analysis, this talk will interrogate the importance of these women’s involvement, questioning whether they were important to the way information flowed through this network, and whether their position in the network granted them influence over other members.

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Seminars are open to all and conclude with discussion over lunch

For further informatition, contact: Dr PÌÁdraic Moran (padraic.moran@nuigalway.ie),

or Dr Justitin Tonra (justitin.tonra@nuigalway.ie)