Mackenzie Cooley

Mackenzie Cooley is an Associate Professor of History at Hamilton College, where she also serves as Director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies program. An intellectual historian specializing in the uses and understandings of the natural world, she explores how Renaissance Italy and the Spanish empire conceived of breeding, race, and bodily potential.

Education

• Ph.D., Stanford University
• M.A., Stanford University
• B.A., Cornell University

Research Interests

Professor Cooley’s work centers on the history of science and medicine in the early modern world, with particular attention to colonial Latin America. Her investigations span environmental history, animal studies, the history of gender and sexuality, and the intersections between genetics and historical change. By examining how living beings—human and nonhuman—were imagined, modified, and understood, she reveals the intellectual and social consequences of attempts to perfect nature.

Publication Trajectory

Across her recent articles and monographs, Cooley traces a consistent arc: from Renaissance Italian courts breeding horses to Mesoamerican medical knowledge, and from anatomical illustration to global pharmaceutical histories. Her scholarship repeatedly crosses imperial boundaries, linking Mediterranean Europe with the Americas and, more recently, with Ming China, to uncover how local environments shaped scientific thought and corporeal imagination.

Distinctions & Fellowships

• Dean’s Scholarly Achievement Award for Early Career Achievement (2023)
• John R. Hatch Excellence in Teaching Award (2021)
• Dan David Prize Winner (2025)
• Villa I Tatti Residential Fellowship, Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies (2021-22)
• Fulbright Fellowship
• NEH-CAORC Fellowship
• Mellon Foundation Fellowship

Teaching, Labs & Grants

Cooley integrates original research directly into undergraduate education through courses such as "Conquest of the Americas," "Scientific Revolution," and "Bioprospecting and Ecologies of Medicine." She directs the New World Nature history laboratory, providing students hands-on experience with rare books, manuscripts, and digital humanities tools. Funding from the NEH-CAORC, Mellon, Fulbright, and Harvard’s Villa I Tatti has underwritten archival work in Italy, Spain, and Mexico, ensuring that Hamilton students benefit from cutting-edge global research.

Professional Networks

She maintains active memberships in the Renaissance Society of America, the History of Science Society, Scientiae, the Southwest Seminar on Latin American History, the American Historical Association, and LA Global, fostering collaborative scholarly communities across disciplines and continents.