Sydney Robinson (USA/Jamaica)

Originally from South Florida, I graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in the History of Science in 2021. My undergraduate research focused on the cultural pervasiveness of physiognomy, a pseudoscientific practice that reinforced social hierarchies in nineteenth-century American society by lending a scientific veneer to stereotyping. I continue to be broadly interested in the ways in which moral, corporeal, and imperial categorizations are created, reinforced, and interact.

After a few years working at an investment bank and a museum design firm, I return to my studies to pursue a masters degree that focuses on science’s role in American culture-building efforts in the long nineteenth century. In specific, I aim to explore the motives for the creation of natural history societies and museums within New York City, interrogating the initiatives as attempts to simultaneously distinguish American intellectual culture from those of contemporaneous European powers and to differentiate between ideal and subpar Americans. As a second-generation Jamaican, I am also interested in the social and cultural dimensions of transatlantic and Caribbean history. I am very much looking forward to engaging with the Caribbean diaspora in England during my time in Oxford.

When I’m not thinking about my academic interests, I can be found wandering through museums, playing amateur genealogist, attempting a new Instagram recipe, or working up to my headstand. I am exceedingly grateful to the Ertegun Programme for the opportunity to benefit from additional enrichment opportunities and the chance to be part of a strong interdisciplinary academic community!