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Avatar for Joana Formosinho

Joana Formosinho

joana.formosinho@sund.ku.dk |

Does the primacy of hero narratives in western cultures influence knowledge-building in biology? How have metaphors like ‘natural selection’ and ‘the selfish gene’ shaped the way we understand processes of evolution—and our own history?

When human health is found to be a multispecies phenomenon, does the term ecology acquire medical significance? How does the idea of environment as something ‘out there’ travel into healthcare practices?

These are some of the questions I ask in my research. Working at the intersection of science and technology studies (STS) and history and philosophy of science (HPS), I investigate the role of narrative, language and worldview in the production of knowledge within biology. My PhD thesis examines the impact of gut microbiota research on biological conceptualisations of the human body; with an orientation to healthcare intervention.

Metabolism of biological knowledge across spheres is at the core of my work. I combine historically situated conceptual analysis with on-the-ground interviews to address questions such as: how can a holobiont body be articulated within public health?

 

BACKGROUND
I have a BSc in Zoology (University of London) and an MSc in Holistic Science (University of Plymouth). Before moving to Copenhagen in 2019, I taught at Schumacher College in the UK. Outside academia, I’ve worked as a consultant researcher and science writer for NGOs and business. I’m a member of the student advisory committee for the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB). Languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Telephone: +45 50153190


Life on- and offline

On July 15th, I had the pleasure of presenting a talk entitled INHABITING THE CONCEPT OF HOLOBIONT: THINKING THROUGH VISUAL IMAGERY at the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology’s first online conference.

august 30, 2021


Inhabiting the concept of holobiont: thinking through visual imagery

On June 23th 2021, I (Joana Formosinho) had the pleasure of giving a talk at Aarhus University’s Center for Environmental Humanities. The talk was based on my research of how the rise to prominence of microbes within biology and biomedicine, as agents in human health, as co-evolving partners in the making of bodies, is disrupting established notions of biological individuality.

juli 27, 2021


crystals-fabrics-and-fields

Materiality Beyond Machines: Reading Early Haraway

In this paper, I engage with Donna Haraway’s PhD-thesis turned book, “Crystals Fabrics and Fields: Metaphors that shape embryos (2004)”, first submitted in 1976. I presented the paper at the British Society for Literature and Science Winter Symposium 2020, as part of the ‘Materialities’ panel.

december 2, 2020


Nodes

Singers, songs and the more-than-individual holobiont

When you take an evolutionary view of Earth, an astonishing reversal takes place. Suddenly, things that you think of as real—this cat over here, my cat, whose fur I can stroke—become the abstraction, an approximation of flowing, metamorphic processes, processes that are in some sense far more real than the entity I am stroking.

august 17, 2020


Microbes in biomedical mental health discourse

Microbes in biomedical mental health discourse: Protagonists, heroes and carrier bags.
I’m presenting the paper at the British Society for Literature and Science (BSLS) Annual Conference 2020 in Sheffield, UK.

marts 12, 2020

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