Our investigation of women and science will take three main paths.
How has science studied women? Science has studied women as aberrations, as anomalies, and as deviations from a male norm. Thus, we often know a great deal more about men's health issues and treatments than about women's health issues. Now we are learning more about women's lives and bodies, because women are demanding representation. By the end of the course, you will be able to discuss some of the key scientific studies on women such as sociobiology, eugenics, and studies of women's hormones, IQ and health.
Who are the women scientists? By the end of the course, you will recognize the names and contributions of many women scientists.
How is science socially constructed? Women are beginning to ask questions about science and its methods. Science claims to be objective, but is that really the case? For example, how does the language of science determine what problems scientists study and how scientific work is funded? What influence do political issues have? Would science be different if more women enter the scientific fields? The example we will use in this course is the HGP, the human genome project. By the end of the course, you will know what the HGP is and some of the ethical and legal questions it raises.
Required readings:
Small, Meredith F. Our babies, ourselves : How biology and culture shape the way we parent.
Brooks, Paul. Rachel Carson: The writer at work.
Montgomery, Sy. Walking with the great apes : Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas.
Caplan and Caplan. Thinking critically about research on sex and gender.
Van Der Does, Louise, and Rita J. Simon. Renaissance women of science.
Marshall, Elizabeth L. The human genome project: Cracking the code within us. Recommended but not required: Gender and scientific authority.
Other readings:
Kass-Simon and Farnes. Women of science: Righting the record.
Rossiter, Margaret. Women scientists.
Bordo. Reading the slender body.
Small. Aping culture.
The observational study. Choose a wild animal to watch for 1/2 hour on each of three days. It could be a squirrel, a bird, an insect, etc. Keep a record of your observations. We will discuss the items to record, and what to watch for. Include date/time/ weather/location of each observation. Include animal movement, reaction to you (if any), any other details.
Magazine Analysis. With your group, choose a magazine to review. Find images of men and women. Divide up the topics: ads, articles, fiction, other. Include 2-4 page report and sample ads. Count ads, articles, describe other features. What products do the ads present? Analyze the images of men and women in the ads and the articles. (What are they wearing? What are they doing? What kinds of people do they seem to be: jobs, ages, social status, appearance?) What is the magazine's circulation? Who reads it? What messages does it convey about men and women?
Scrapbook. Keep a scrapbook of recent articles in newspapers and magazines about women and science. Must have at least 4 articles. Three may come from the internet. For each article, list date, source, title, author (if known). Summarize the main points of each article in 1-5 sentences. Write your comments about each article in 5-10 sentences.
Annotated Bibliography. Compile an annotated bibliography of books and articles related to your final project. Must include at least 6 sources. Author, title, date, place of publication, 1-5 sentence summary of each source, your discussion of the article or book. What do you find are its strong points, its weaknesses? How useful is it for your project? (5-15 sentences)
Final Project. This may be done in a group of up to 3 students. It will include:
· submit your bibliography again;
· report of 3-7 pages. The report will include: statement of the problem or question you investigated. What you learned about the problem or question. Implications for women and/or science;
· the draft you showed the peer mentor with the comments;
· a non-print component related to your project. This could be a chart, a picture, a power point presentation, a video or audio tape, a skit, a game, a quiz for the class.
Schedule:
I. Images of women scientists in popular films: what are the images? What stereotypes of men and women do these movies present? What messages do they convey? What beliefs about men and women do we hold? Week 1: Introduction to course. Video of women scientists in American popular films.
II. Women primatologists: the women in this field revolutionized the study of primates. How did they do so? Week 2: Jane Goodall in Montgomery. Video Among the wild chimpanzees. Part I.
Jane Goodall part II. Plan of the magazine analysis. Week 3: Dian Fossey in Montgomery. Video Search for the great apes.
Do apes have language? Do they have culture? Small, Aping culture, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh.
Field notes due. Week 4: Birute Galdikas in Montgomery. Video Search for the great apes.
III. Images of women's bodies. What images do newspapers, print advertisements, and magazines convey? What impact do these images have? Week 5: Barbie presentation. Killing us softly III video.
Week 6: Susan Bordo. The slender body. Plan of the bibliography assignment. Presentation of magazine analysis. Present topics for final project.
IV. Elizabeth Marshall. Human Genome Project.
What is the HGP? What prospects does it hold for changing the way we live? What are some of the issues and concerns? Is it more helpful or harmful to know the human genome sequence? Week 7: pp.7-50, 99-104 (Scene 1 and 2); pp. 51-98; 104-107 (scenes 3 and 4) Week 8: Video Gene blues.
IV. Our babies, ourselves. Infant rearing in different cultures. What can we learn about child care from other cultures? Week 9: Sleeping. What is SIDS? Where should infants sleep?
Eating, crying. What should infants eat? How often? Should we let them "cry it out?"
V. Caplan and Caplan. Research on sex and gender.
What kinds of questions have scientists asked about sex and gender? How have the questions shaped their research? Would science change if there were more women scientists? Week 10: Chapters 1 and 2, 1-30 How and why are scientists biased? Can we avoid such bias? What is social darwinism? What is sociobiology? What are some of the errors that may affect scientific research?
Chapters 3-5, 31-58. Define spatial abilities. Do men or women have better spatial abilities? Does the answer to this question matter? Why? Which sex is better in math?
What is masochism? Are women masochistic? Week 11: Chapters 7-9, 59-88 What is aggression? Is it good or bad? Which sex is more aggressive? How have scientists tested aggression? Is everything all Mom's fault? Bibliography due
Chapters 10-12, pp.76-106 Do our hormones control us? Are they out of control? What is PMS?
VI. Environment. Was Rachel Carson the first ecologist? What is the significance of her work? Week 12: Carson Silent spring. Video of Rachel Carson.
VII. Biographies. Who are the women scientists and what have they achieved? How did the scientific community treat them? Week 13: Mme Curie video. Read biography of Marie Curie in Renaissance women.
Biography and scrapbook due.
