ANTHRO 2656 - Introduction to Feminist Science Studies

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2021

Prof. Anna Jabloner
Wed. 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Peabody 12

This seminar is an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of feminist science studies. As the feminist movements of the 1970s began to change the American political landscape, academic feminists began inquiries into the marginalization of women in science a debate philosopher Harding called the woman question in science. Feminist scientists began to examine sex, gender and race bias in their own disciplines.

In consequence, they raised questions about androcentric  male-centered  epistemologies underlying Western science (alongside a growing critique of Eurocentrism). Harding called this debate the science question in feminism. Since then, feminist science studies scholars have worked up a critical literature on sex, gender, race, class, and disability in genetics, primate studies, botany, physics, as well as in the humanities and social sciences. We will seek to understand what motivated feminist science studies emergence and its main intervention areas, and we will highlight the fields relevance in the current moment as calls to decolonize the academy are being debated. As you learn about this field, my goal is for you to develop skills for thinking critically and conceptually about all knowledge production. Whether you are an anthropologist, natural scientist or STS researcher, you can use this class methodologically to consider how feminist approaches enable social justice-oriented trajectories across all fields of research.