Signe Mellemgaard

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Primary fields of research

My current research revolves around different aspect of the relation between humans and nature.  Presently, I am preparing a manuscript (to come out on Gads Forlag, 2023) on natural history in Denmark-Norway c. 1770-1820 with special reference to relations between views of and experiences of nature, and between the worship and the domination of Nature. I pay special attention to natural history practices with different people (scientists, collectors, fieldworkers, salon hostesses, agricultural reformers, clergy naturalists, reading peasants) and different settings (natural history collections, botanical fieldwork, the politic of schooling etc).

As of 2022, I am involved as a co-investigator on the project "Field/Work in the Archive - Herbaria as Sites of Cultural Exchange", led by Dr. M. Fleming and supported by Augustinusfonden. This project takes its starting point in the huge herbarium of Statens Naturhistoriske Museum and investigates herbaria as sites for cultural exchanges, both historically and presently. Herbaria and the individual specimens each have a history, with roots in a colonial context of economic botany, but also (re)interpreted (re)determined, transported and transformed. The project examined this complex history with a focus on the herbarium as a contact zone between diverse communities of practice.

Selected publications

1. Published

   Kroppens natur. Sundhedsoplysning og naturidealer i 250 år

   Mellemgaard, Signe, 1998, København: Museum Tusculanum.

   Research output: Book/Report › Book › Research