ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Science and Spiritualism: Current Perspectives and Future Directions

Session Submission Type: Organized Session

English Abstract

Forty years after the publication of Janet Oppenheim’s foundational book, The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914, the historiography on science and spiritualism has undergone significant transformations. When Oppenheim’s book appeared in 1985, prevailing narratives often framed spiritualism as a misguided belief system that was gradually debunked by rational, empirical science. This one-sided story portrayed scientists as sceptical heroes uncovering the truth behind extraordinary belief, and alleged that the reason people accepted the reality of spiritualism was because of superstition, misperception, and credulity. It was not until the 2000s that scholars began to seriously reassess this reductive account. Since then, a more nuanced and critically engaged approach has emerged in the secondary literature, one that acknowledges the complex, entangled relationship between spiritualism and science. A key shift in recent scholarship has been to highlight, rather than marginalise, spiritualist voices and experiences. Believers in spiritualism are now treated, not as mere curiosities, but as serious historical subjects. They are examined with the same level of critical scrutiny as their sceptical counterparts. This panel presents a selection of case studies which reflect the current state of this vibrant and ever-expanding field, and illustrates some of its key themes and tensions. By building on and moving beyond Oppenheim’s legacy, this panel explores how historians of science are rethinking the categories of belief, evidence, and scientific authority in ways that challenge long-standing disciplinary boundaries.

Sub Unit

• Organized Session

Chair

• Bernard Lightman, York University

Individual Presentations

• Sensationalising Spiritualist Fraud: E. Ray Lankester’s Alleged Exposure of Henry Slade in the Victorian Press - Efram Sera-Shriar, University of Copenhagen

• Science, Spiritualism, and Victorian Art: Evelyn De Morgan’s (Meta)Physics - Emma Merkling, University of Manchester

• Scriptotherapy and Spiritualism: Narrativizing Maternal Grief in the Late Nineteenth Century - Emily Vincent, Durham University

• Spectacles and Spectres: The Experimental Spirit in Victorian Scientific Culture - Iwan Morus, Aberystwyth University

Session Organizer

• Efram Sera-Shriar, University of Copenhagen