Maria Teresa (M.T.) Brancaccio

Maria Brancaccio 

Projects 2008-2014

The Politics of War Trauma. Comparative history of the aftermath of World Word II in Eleven European Countries (Niod, Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam)

 - Brancaccio, MT, “From the 'Deportation pathology' to the Traumatismes psychiques de guerre: Trauma and reparation in post-war France (1940s-1990s)” and 

- Brancaccio, MT, “Where have all the traumatized people gone? Second World War and its aftermath in Italy: trauma and oblivion”. In J. Withuis e A. Mooij (eds), The Politics of War Trauma. The Aftermath of World War II in Eleven European Countries, Amsterdam: Aksant 2010.

The politics of Suicide: Historical Perspectives on Suicidology before Durkheim

Special Issue of the  Journal of Social History,”The Politics of Suicide: Historical Perspectives on Suicidology before Durkheim”. Guest editors: Maria Teresa Brancaccio, Eric J. Engstrom, David Lederer , Journal of Social History, 46 (2013).

- Brancaccio, MT,  ‘The Fatal Tendency of Civilized Society’: Enrico Morselli's Suicide, Moral Statistics, and Positivism in Italy”. Journal of Social History, 46, (2013): 700-715.

- Brancaccio, MT, Engstrom, E.J. and Lederer, D,  “The Politics of Suicide: Historical Perspectives on Suicidology before Durkheim. An Introduction”, Journal of Social History, 46, (2013): 607-619.

 Psychical Research and the emergence of  the ‘new psychology’  

- Brancaccio, MT,  Enrico Morselli's Psychology and “Spiritism”: Psychiatry, psychology and psychical research in Italy in the decades around 1900. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 48, (2014): 75–84.

 Hypnosis and Public Health in Europe around 1900. 

 ‘Hypnosis and public health in fin de siècle Italy’

Forthcoming in a Special Issue on the history of hypnotism in European countries in Notes and Records: The Royal Society journal of the history of science

Current research project:

In collaboration with Dr. David Lederer, (Queen Mary University of London)  and Dr. Alexander Kaestner (University of Dresden, Germany):

Caduti in Acqua: The Origins of Humane Societies and Lifesaving in Suicide Prevention in Europe.

Project description:

This project aims to identify the critical meaning of suicide for the development of philanthropy and a proactive view of citizenship.  It considers the introduction of early lifesaving methods and technologies employed in suicide prevention and the reception of a novel belief structure by the public. Through the exploration of humane societies, we also explore the roots of suicidology as a science and its impact in framing the act of suicide as a medical and legal concern in modern society.