Press Release

Contact: Daniel Teraguchi
202-884-7429
E-mail:dt@aacu.org

AAC&U RELEASES PUBLICATION ON FEMINIST SCIENCE STUDIES

Washington, DC—September 27, 1999—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has published Frequently Asked Questions About Feminist Science Studies, the first publication in the project "Women and Scientific Literacy: Building Two-Way Streets." Women and Scientific Literacy continues AAC&U's long-standing commitment to explore timely issues about women in higher education through its Program on the Status and Education of Women (PSEW). This latest initiative is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Frequently Asked Questions asks, among its eleven questions: What is feminist science studies? How did it originate? Will the field's criticism of existing scientific paradigms and practices discourage women from pursuing science? What specific relevance does feminist science studies have for scholarship and teaching in the life sciences, as well as the physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics? In addition, a resource section offers information about schools in the project and a preliminary bibliography.

For three years, the Women and Scientific Literacy Project has worked with ten competitively chosen colleges and universities on this curriculum and faculty development initiative. The project participants seek to bridge the gulf between science and women's studies by supporting faculty who are incorporating new scholarship on gender and science into undergraduate science, engineering, mathematics and women's studies courses. The ten participating institutions for "Women and Scientific Literacy: Building Two-Way Streets" are:

• University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ,

• Barnard College, New York, NY,

• Bates College, Lewiston, MN,

• California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA,

• Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA,

• University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL,

• Portland State University, Portland, OR,

• University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI,

• Rowan College of New Jersey, Glassboro, NJ, and

• Saint Lawrence University, Canton, NY.

The project has sought to enhance faculty knowledge about the emerging field of feminist science studies and to use the new scholarship to create intellectual pathways among the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Project participants believe that, by incorporating feminist science studies scholarship into their courses, more women will be attracted to science fields. This publication answers questions about the field and seeks to dispel misconceptions about it. Forthcoming publications will explore new faculty development and curricular models emerging from the project.

Copies of Frequently Asked Questions are available free of charge while supplies last. An online version of the publication is available at: http://www.aacu.org/Publications/download.html#FAQ

Founded in 1915, AAC&U is the leading national association devoted to advancing and strengthening undergraduate liberal education. more than 1000 members serving more than four million students throughout higher education are represented in AAC&U's membership.

PSEW, founded in 1971, is one of only two women's offices at national higher education associations, and the only one whose mission is to improve undergraduate education. For information about the NSF project, including bibliographies, syllabi, and campus project descriptions, see http://www.aacu.org/Initiatives/scilit.html.