Feminism, Science, and Technology Syllabus NYU-Poly Class Meetings Times & Location Instructor: Lisa Brundage LBrundage@gmail.

com Office Hours & Location

About Feminism, Science and Technology This class has a two-fold agenda. We will begin by examining feminist interventions in the philosophy of science. What is science and what is a feminist critique of, or way of doing it? We will use our explorations of that topic as a springboard for discussing cultural implications of genders interaction with science and technology, and vice versa. We will discuss, in broad terms, the history, theory, and practice of gendered and feminist forays into science and technology. Class Requirements and Grades There will be three short papers and a final project for this course; each will constitute 20% of your final grade. I will give you detailed instruction and we will allot class time to workshop these assignments. The final project may take the form of a traditional paper or a multimedia projectagain, we will discuss that in detail later in the semester. There will also be a class blog where you will be expected post most weeks. Participation in the class blog, in addition to in-class participation, will count for 20% of your grade. I will post prompts on the blog, but you may also write and respond freely there. Class Policies (Attendance, communication, and academic honesty policies in accordance with Poly-NYUs) Readings and Assignments Week 1 Readings Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction Introduction: Feminism Inside the Sciences by Sandra Harding, Kate Norberg, Meg Conkey, from Signs (2003) Volume: 28, Issue: 3, Pages: 859-866 Assignments: Post an introduction on the class site. Continued discussion of Week 1 readings Feminism and Science by Evelyn Fox Keller (in the book Feminism and Science, 28-41)

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Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective by Donna Haraway (in Feminism and Science, 259-263 Post to class blog The Madame Curie Complex Introduction (1-11) and Chapter 5 (Maria Goeppert Mayer and Rosalind Franklin: The Politics of Partners and Prizes in the Heroic Age of Science, 157-200) Introduction to apps we can use in class: Voicethread, Tiki-Toki, Skitch etc. Short Paper #1 Due Gangbang Interviews and Bikini Shots: Silicon Valleys Brogrammer Problem from Mother Jones (linked on site) Do Women Shun Science? by Lisa Belkin (linked on site) Understanding the Causes of Womens Underrepresentation in Science by Stephen J. Ceci and Wendy M. Williams (National Academy of Sciences, linked on site) Post to class blog How to Make a Man by Anne Fausto-Sterling (handout/class site) The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Constructed a Romance based on Stereotypical Male/Female Roles (in Science and Feminism, 103-120) Language and Ideology in Evolutionary Theory: Reading Cultural Norms into Natural Law by Evelyn Fox Keller (in Science and Feminism, 154-172) Post to class blog Writing Workshop Race and Gender: The Role of Analogy in Science by Nancy Leys Stepan (in Feminism and Science, 121-136) Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology: What is Strong Objectivity? by Sandra Harding (in Feminism and Science, 235-248) Short Paper #2 Due Donna Haraway and Cyborg Theory Amber Case: We Are All Cyborgs (TED Talk video, linked on site) Post to class blog The Technology of Gender by Teresa de Lauretis Automating Gender: Postmodern Feminism in the Age of the Intelligent Machine by J. Halberstam Post to class blog Writing Workshop New Sciences: Cyborg Feminism and the Methodology of the Oppressed by Chela Sandoval Short Paper #3 Due Reproductive Technologies 2

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Readings TBA Post to class blog Alien Supplemental readings TBA Make an appointment to discuss final project Continued Discussion and Final Project Workshops Representations and adaptations of gender and technology in the arts Post to class blog Why I cant Stop Reading Mormon Housewife Blogs by Emily Matchar (linked on site) Better Homes and Bloggers by Holly Hilgenberg (linked on site) Post to class blog Gender, Technology and Development Readings TBA Post to class blog Final project discussion and expo Final Project Due