Fall  1998                                                                                  Prof. Donald deB. Beaver
MW[F]: 11:00-12:15                                                                Department of History of Science 
                                                                                                 117 Bronfman Science Center

Aim.

     To understand the historical and contemporary interrelationships among women, gender, science, and technology, 

     Although science is thought to produce "objective" knowledge, some critics claim that the basic assumptions and methods of science are so gender-biased that scientific "objectivity" is compromised.  (Others go further to claim there can be no such thing as "objectivity".)  In part, those critics are moved to such claims because supposedly objective science seems to show that gender and behavior are innately sex-linked.  How much are the critics to be believed?  How and to what extent did gender become embedded in scientific activity?  What consequences have there been for women or men as scientists, and what consequences has  'androcentric' science had for women?
 In similar fashion, it appears that technology is masculine, or so we perceive it in Western culture.  Has technology always been so?  How did it get that  way - did it start with "Man the Hunter"?  What role have women played in the development of technology, and how has technological change affected the roles of women, and the ideas of gender?  What alternatives might there be to how things are?

Procedure.

 Put briefly, in the first two-thirds of the course we study (1) how science defines and has defined "the female," (2) how feminists assess science, and (3) how women do and have done science. 
 We begin with a study of gender and science, and feminist theory about science.  We first study how science in the 18th and 19th centuries constructed and defined the "female," and also how those developments gradually led to the virtual exclusion of women from research by 1800.  We then turn to the 20th century, to see how sciences such as biology, anthropology, and psychology look at sex, gender and at women.  We are then ready to consider the "science question in feminism," or how and why feminist theories critique science.  
 Our focus shifts to women as scientists, past and present, and to some of the characteristics of women's careers in science.  As women returned to research in the late 19th and early 20th century, we study some pioneers and contemporary exemplars.  Turning from individuals, we look at what sociologists of science have said about women's careers in science, including a recent comparative study of female and male scientists.  Could alternative science and mathematics education make a difference?  Are there differences between males and females in mathematical ability?  Finally, we invite female scientists at Williams to discuss their careers and reflections about science.     
 In the last third of the course, we go over the same ground with technology as the focus, rather than science.  This part of the course deals mostly with women and/in technology, because feminist analyses of technology, and attempts to construct a theory of feminist technology are relatively scarce.  [Why should that be so?]  
 We begin with technologies viewed through the lens of feminism, and study how microwave technology exemplifies the interrelations of technology and gender.  
 We then consider the factors involved in becoming a professional engineer, and finish with a historical look at domestic technology and the changing roles of women as household manager - workers.  
                          
Requirements. 

     This course will be conducted as a seminar, with students having principal responsibility for reading appropriate materials, and for generating questions for discussion during the class periods.  In large measure, this course will be an exploration of ideas, and the success of that exploration depends upon participation by all.  Because we have only 26 classes [13 weeks] and 9 texts, reading assignments will occasionally be lengthy.  It is advisable to use skimming skills to get through long assignments, and to get a good sense of the reading and its major themes, rather than trying to master every detail.  Have 2 or 3 questions or opinions about the assignment ready for class.

     Partly in contrast to the commonality imposed by the seminar readings, each student is to write two short papers [1500 words or more each].  The topics are each student's choice, and are not limited to topics already considered in the course.  For example, there are a number of interesting topics the course does not cover, such as ecofeminism, women in the workplace, feminist utopias, female inventors, women's technology, girls and boys in science education.

     Principally as a means of reviewing and bringing focus to the course, there will be some sort of final review exercise after Thanksgiving. 
  
   Grades in the course are to be determined approximately as follows:
          Class participation 35%
          Short Papers               35%
          Final Review                 30%

Textbooks.

     There are 9 required textbooks for the course.  They are:

Cynthia Russett Sexual Science
Ruth Bleier Science and Gender
Sandra Harding The Science Question in Feminism
Londa Schiebinger The Mind Has No Sex?
Gerhard Sonnert Who Succeeds in Science?
Judy Wajcman Feminism Confronts Technology
C. Cockburn and S. Ormrod Gender and Technology in the Making
J. McIlwee and J. Robinson Women in Engineering
Ruth Schwartz Cowan More Work for Mother

In addition to the textbooks, there is a packet of papers available as a course packet [445 pages; below cost: $15.00], available from Mrs. Alice Seeley, in Bronfman 189:

 Author Subject Date needed

1. Pringle New Women of the Ice Age [Sep. 30]
2.  Rossiter Women's Work in Science [Oct. 12]
3.   Mitchell Henrietta Leavitt [Oct. 12]
4.   Patterson Mary Somerville [Oct. 12]
5.  Brush Drudges or Discoverers [Oct. 12]
6. Et al Contemporary Exemplars [Oct. 12]
7. Astin Citation Classics  [Oct. 14]
8. Cole/Zuckerman Marriage and Motherhood  [Oct. 14]
9. Bielby Sex Differences in Careers:  [Oct. 14] 
10. Fox Gender, ...and Science  [Oct. 14]
11. Keller The Wo/Man Scientist  [Oct. 14]
12. Cole and Fiorentine Discrimination, Outcome/Process  [Oct. 14]
13.  Rosser Reaching the Majority  [Nov. 2]
14  Campbell/C-Wright Toward a Feminist Algebra  [Nov. 2]
15. Sanders Girls and Technology  [Nov. 2]
16. Barad Feminist Approach Quantum Physics  [Nov. 2]
17. Gross/Levitt Critique of Feminism re Science [Nov. 2]
18. Benbow Sex Differences in Mathematics [Nov. 4]
19.  Et al More Commentary on Benbow  [Nov. 4]
20. Selkow Male-Female Math Differences  [Nov. 4]
 
 

 SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

1.  Introduction.  Science as a body of knowledge and as a social system

 1. Fri., Sept. 11 Methods, Goals, Values, Norms.  Science vs. feminism.     Ways of studying women/gender in science and 
   technology.  (Rec. Londa Schiebinger, "The History and    Philosophy of Women in Science: A Review Essay," 
   Signs, Winter 1987)

 ===============GENDER AND SCIENCE=================
                                             
2.  Women and Science: History, 1600-1800

 2. Mon., Sept. 14 Schiebinger, The Mind Has No Sex?, 1-118
    "Introduction,"
    "Institutional Landscapes,"
    "Noble Networks,"
    "Scientific Women in the Craft Tradition,"
    "Women's Traditions."

 3. Wed., Sept. 16 Schiebinger, The Mind Has No Sex?, 119-277
    "Battles over Scholarly Style,"
    "Competing Cosmologies: Locating Sex and Gender in the
      Natural Order,"
    "The Triumph of Complementarity,"
    "The Public Route Barred,"
    "The Exclusion of Women and the Structure of Knowledge."

3. Science Constructs the Female

 4. Mon., Sept. 21 19th Century Science
   Russett, Sexual Science, 1-103
    "How to Tell the Girls from the Boys"
    "Up and Down the Phyletic Ladder"
    "Hairy Men and Beautiful Women"
 

 5. Wed., Sept. 23 19th Century Science
   Russett, Sexual Science, 104-206
    "The Machinery of the Body"
    "The Physiological Division of Labor"
    "The Victorian Paradigm Ends"
    "Women and the Cosmic Nightmare"

4.  Gender in Science

 6. Mon., Sept. 28 Sociobiology - How Far Genetic Determinism?
   Bleier, Science and Gender, 1-114
    "Introduction," 
    "Sociobiology, Biological Determinism, and Human Behavior," 
    "The Brain and Human 'Nature'," 
    "Hormones, the Brain, and Sex Differences."

 7. Wed., Sept. 30 Anthropological Myths: Man the Hunter, Farmer, Faber
   Bleier, Science and Gender, 115-161
    "Theories of Human Origins and Cultural Evolution: Man the
     Hunter," 
    "The Subordination of women: A Problematic Universal."
   Packet: "New Women of the Ice Age"
   Objectivity - What could be more true than science?
   Bleier, Science and Gender, 193-207
    "Patriarchal Science, Feminist Visions."
   
5.  Feminism Confronts Science.

 8. Mon., Oct. 5 Harding, The Science Question in Feminism, 15-135
    "From the Woman Question in Science to the Science Question in 
    Feminism," 
    "Gender and Science: Two Problematic Concepts,"
    "The Social Structure of Science: Complaints and Disorders," 
    "Androcentrism in Biology and Social Science,"
    "Natural Resources: Gaining Moral Approval for Scientific
     Genders and Genderized Sciences"

 9. Wed., Oct. 7 Harding, The Science Question in Feminism, 136-
   196; 243-251
   "From Feminist Empiricism to Feminist Standpoint Epistemologies,"
   "Other 'Others' and Fractured Identities: Issues for Epistemologists,"    "Valuable Tensions and a New 'Unity of Science'."
 
  =================WOMEN AND SCIENCE===================

6.  Women in Science: Historical and Contemporary Individuals 1800-1996

 10. Mon., Oct. 12 Packet:
    Rossiter, "Women's Work"
    Mitchell, "Henrietta Leavitt"
    Patterson, "Mary Somerville"
    Brush, "Drudges or Discoverers?"
    Et al : Contemporary Exemplars - biosketches

7. Women and Men in Science: Sociological Patterns

 11. Wed., Oct. 14 Packet:
    Astin, "Citation Classics, . . "
    Cole/Zuckerman,"Marriage and Motherhood"
    Bielby, "Sex Differences in Careers"
    Fox, "Gender and . . Productivity. ."
    Keller, "The Wo/Man Scientist. . "
    Cole/Fiorentine, "Discrimination: Confusing. . "

====================FALL READING PERIOD========================

 12. Wed., Oct. 21 FIRST PAPER DUE
    Open Class: Discussion of Papers and topics
       suggested by them

 13. Mon., Oct. 26 Sonnert, Who Succeeds in Science?, 1-137
    "Science Careers for Women and Men,"
    "Reaching the Top of Academe: Ten Who Succeeded,"
    "Taking a Different Road."

 14. Wed., Oct. 28 Sonnert, Who Succeeds in Science?, 138-196
    "Pieces of the Puzzle: Toward a Bigger Picture,"
    "Mapping Scientists' Careers,"
    "What Can be Done?  Advice for Novices and Policy Makers."
 
8.  Educational Reforms?

 15.  Mon., Nov. 2 Packet:
    Rosser, "Reaching the Majority,"
    Campbell/C-Wright, "Toward a Feminist Algebra,"
    Sanders, "Girls and Technology: Villain Wanted,"
    Barad, "Feminist . . Quantum Physics"
    Gross/Levitt, "Auspicating Gender" [A Critique]

 16.  Wed., Nov. 4 Packet:  [Sex Differences in Mathematics] 
    Benbow, "Sex Differences in Mathematical. .Ability"
    Et al, Further Commentary on Benbow
    Selkow, "Male-Female Differences in Math Ability"

10.  Women in Science: Professors at Williams

 17. Mon., Nov. 9 Guest Professors

 18. Wed., Nov. 11 Guest Professors

==================================================================
 
 ===GENDER AND TECHNOLOGY===

11.  Feminism and Technology

 19. Mon., Nov. 16 Wajcman, Feminism Confronts Technology, 1-80
    "Feminist Critiques of Science and Technology,"
    "The Technology of Production: Making a Job of Gender,"
    "Reproductive Technology: Delivered into Men's Hands."

 20. Wed., Nov. 18 SECOND PAPER DUE
   Wajcman, Feminism Confronts Technology, 81-161
    "Domestic Technology: Labour-Saving or Enslaving,"
    "The Built Environment: Women's Place, Gendered Space,"
    "Technology as a Masculine Culture."

12.  Engendering Technology - An Exemplar

 21. Mon., Nov. 23 Cockburn and Ormrod, Gender and Technology in the
   Making, 1-97
    "Achieving a New Technology,"
    "Gender in the Microwave-World,"
    "The Engineer and the Home Economist."

 22. Wed., Nov. 25 Cockburn and Ormrod, Gender and Technology in the
   Making, 98-176
    "White Goods, Brown Goods,"
    "Cooking and Zapping,"
    "Gender: Making and Remaking."

=====================THANKSGIVING RECESS=======================

        ===========WOMEN AND TECHNOLOGY=============

12.  Women and the Culture of Engineering

 23. Mon., Nov. 30 McIlwee and Robinson, Women in Engineering, 1-108
    "Women in Engineering: A Promise Unfulfilled?"
    "Women's Work and Engineering: Theoretical Issues,"
    "Paths to Engineering,"
    "College Experiences,"
    "Encountering the Engineering Workplace."

 24. Wed., Dec. 2 McIlwee and Robinson, Women in Engineering, 109-191
    "The Culture of Engineering in the Workplace,"
    "The Family and the Engineering Career,"
    "Conclusion."

    [Fri., Dec. 4 Possible date for review of course exercise.]
 
13.  Women and Household Technology

 25. Mon., Dec. 7 Housework and Technology to the 20th century;
   Alternative Technologies.
   Cowan, More Work for Mother, 3-150
    "An Introduction: Housework and Its Tools,"
    "Housewifery: Household Work and Household Tools under
        Pre-Industrial Conditions,"
    "The Invention of Housework: The Early Stages of
        Industrialization,"
    "Twentieth-Century Changes in Household Technology."
    "The Roads not Taken: Alternative Social and Technical 
        Approaches to Housework."

 26. Wed, Dec. 9 Domestic Technology and Household Work 1900-Post           World War II  
   Cowan, More Work for Mother,  151-219
    "Household Technology and Household Work between 1900 and
          1940,"
    "The Postwar Years,"
    "Postscript: Less Work for Mother."
        Conclusion.  SCS.