Erin Freedman

email: efreedman@g.harvard.edu

website: https://histsci.fas.harvard.edu/people/erin-freedman

Short Biography

Erin A Freedman is a PhD candidate in History of Science at Harvard University and a Visiting Predoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin. At MPIWG she is a member of Lisa Onaga's working group Proteins and Fibers: Scaffolding History with Molecular Signatures. Erin's dissertation explores the scientific life of animal fibers in mid-twentieth century biology as model molecular forms for interpreting life's essential properties and evolutionary history. At MPIWG, she has also been studying the emergent potential of proteomic analysis in cultural heritage conservation. She's particularly interested in how proteomic data is beginning to be leveraged to substantiate oral testimonies behind the origin and ownership of culturally contentious artifacts long suppressed by the authority of written history.