Female Historians at the Dawn of the Professionalization of the Discipline

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1839

Keywords:

History, gender, woman, Coruña Corpus, The Corpus of English Historical Texts, historian, professionalization, academic discipline

Abstract

Introduction: There are many women who have contributed to the professionalization of History since it began to be considered an academic discipline. The aim of this study is to make visible some of the first female English-speaking historians recognized as such. We will also examine their personal contribution. Methodology: The subcorpus of historical-scientific manuscripts CHET, from the Coruña Corpus of English Scientific Writing, has been used, with a sample of 2 historians per decade. We have 40 historians over 2 centuries (1700-1900), of which 8 are women. The documentary sources come from historical archives, libraries and various institutions. Results: There is an important representation of female historians at the dawn of the professionalization of the discipline History. The archival documentation reflects the dynamic professional activity of the historians of the time. Discussions: Mauris Many female historians contributed prolifically and significantly to the professionalization of the discipline History without this impacting its visibility today. Conclusions: The names and works of the historians who contributed to the professionalization of the discipline are preserved in libraries, institutions and historical archives. It remains for future historians to restore the place of these women in the history of History.

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Author Biography

Elena Alfaya-Lamas, Universidade da Coruña

PhD in History of Language (UDC). MA in Documentation (The University of Edinburgh) and MA in Gender (The University of Edinburgh). She has taught at UDC; The University of Edinburgh and University College Dublin. She is currently a teaching assistant on the Digital Information and Documentation Management degree in the Faculty of Humanities and Documentation at the UDC. Specialised in Gender, research methodology and Mindfulness, Compassion and Insight in the Tibetan Monasteries of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage, under the supervision of the Mindfulness Association, which she currently chairs in Spain. She has been evaluated on the basis of the MBI: TAC (Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria Tool) of the Universities of Oxford (Oxford Mindfulness Center), Exeter (CEDAR) and Bangor.

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Published

2025-02-25

How to Cite

Alfaya-Lamas, E. (2025). Female Historians at the Dawn of the Professionalization of the Discipline. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 10, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1839

Issue

Vol. 10 (2025)

Section

Humanism and Social Sciences

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Copyright (c) 2025 Elena Alfaya-Lamas

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