“Waters and Welfare: Rivers, Infrastructure, and the Territorial Imagination in Grand Ducal Tuscany, 1549-1609”
Dr. Murphy’s dissertation examines the practical and intellectual work done by the Tuscan government to deal with the environmental, economic, and political challenges posed by flooding, using this as a new and exciting lens from which to examine early modern Florentine political economy and political culture. She analyzes how Tuscan leaders tried to organize and arrange space as a function of their political ambitions, and weaves together environmental history, history of architecture, history of technology, and political, social, and economic concerns.