Meghan RobertsView profile
Associate Professor
Meghan Roberts serves as Associate Professor of History and Chair of the History Department at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. Her scholarship centers on eighteenth-century France, specializing in cultural history, the history of science and medicine, and women and gender studies. Roberts has established herself as a leading scholar in Enlightenment studies through her monograph and interdisciplinary research. Her academic credentials include: PhD in History from Northwestern University (2011) MA in History from Northwestern University (2006) BA in History from the College of William and Mary (2004) Roberts' research explores how family structures, gender dynamics, and medical authority shaped Enlightenment intellectual culture. Her acclaimed book Sentimental Savants (2016) demonstrated how philosophical families served as knowledge-producing units while cultivating public virtue. Current work investigates medical practitioners' strategies for establishing authority amid media revolutions and colonial exploitation, revealing connections between scientific credibility and imperial power structures. Her publication trajectory (2012-2024) shows deepening engagement with Enlightenment France's intersections of gender, science, and colonialism. Early work examined philosophical families and women astronomers, while recent scholarship analyzes race construction, spontaneous combustion controversies, and revolutionary marriage politics. This evolution reflects growing attention to how marginalized bodies and colonial contexts challenged Enlightenment universalism. No scientific awards were documented in the source materials. While specific advising details and grant histories aren't provided, Roberts' active publication record and departmental leadership suggest robust mentorship of undergraduate researchers at Bowdoin. Her collaborative projects, like the 2017 comparative marriage study with European scholars, indicate international academic partnerships. No dedicated laboratories or large research teams are mentioned, consistent with humanities scholarship practices. Roberts' work appears primarily individual though occasionally collaborative, leveraging archival research and interdisciplinary frameworks without institutional lab infrastructure.









