History and Philosophy of Science at Oregon State University

D.M. Cicchiello is Oregon State University’s History of Science’s newest M.A. graduate. Cicchiello’s graduation in December 2019 was the culmination of two years of coursework and the successful completion of comprehensive exams and the defense of their research project.

At Oregon State University in the History and Philosophy of Science program, after master’s students complete their course work, they have a choice between completing a thesis or doing a research project and taking a comprehensive exam. Cicchiello opted for the research project and comprehensive exam option specifically because they wanted to prepare for Ph.D. comprehensive exams in the future.

Cicchiello’s research project, “Lili’s Legacy: Collaborative Sexology, Trauma Narratives, and Agency in Magnus Hirschfeld’s Gender Nonconforming Patients (1900-1933)” seeks to refocus the narrative voices of Hirschfeld’s patients and give them agency in a way previously unexplored. Cicchiello was partially inspired to do the work because of their own perspective as a genderqueer person, their knowledge of German, and accessibility of source material.

Cicchiello presented parts of this research at the History of Science Society in Seattle, Washington in 2018, and traveled to Germany later that year to gather more source material from the Schwules Museum, Haeberle-Hirschfeld Archiv für Sexualwissenschaft, and Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschafts. 

For their defense, head of the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion, Nicole von Germeten served as Cicchiello’s major Professor, and OSU emeritus professor Anita Guerrini and history professor Kara Ritzheimer served as the other two members of Cicchiello’s committee. Assistant Dean for the Graduate School, Jessica Beck served as Cicchiello’s Graduate Committee Representative.

Originally from New Jersey, Cicchiello received a B.A. in History and Religious Studies from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Now that Cicchiello has completed their M.A., they plan on taking a few years off before pursuing a Ph.D.. In their free time they enjoy cooking, gardening, and playing with their dog, Monty.

Now that they have some spare time, Cicchiello plans to get back into weight lifting and maybe get more involved with Speech and Debate coaching. Cicchiello also tutors through WyzAnt and Upworks, or you can find them at https://dmcicchie.com/.