Women, Gender, Sexuality 391CS - S-Femnst Cultrl Studies of Sci

Spring
2013
01
3.00
Jacquelyne Luce

TU TH 11:15AM 12:30PM

UMass Amherst
25274
In this course we will explore the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary field of feminist science studies. We will pay particular attention to feminist cultural studies of science, addressing the means by which scientific practices, knowledge, and technologies, as well as popular images of science are shaped by local and global dynamics, established and emerging forms of media, and forms of knowledge governance. In what ways do norms and lived experiences of body, gender, sexuality, race, and citizenship shape science? How can the complexities of intersectionality be addressed through feminist engagements with science? How can "science" be rendered visible as part of everyday life? The course is divided into three parts. We will begin by exploring the genealogy of feminist cultural studies of science learning about the different narratives that accompany its development, as well as aboutkey feminist scholars who have actively shaped this diverse field. Next, we will focus on selected topics such as hormones, chromosomes, transgressions of species boundaries, media and popular representations, imaging technologies and contemporary configurations of "life." In the third section of the course, we will focus on the relationship between technology, science policy, society and activism. We will do so by engaging in a close reading of a contemporary text and simultaneously carrying out group projects in which we explore the possibilities for doing cultural studies of science as a feminist intervention.
Permission is required for interchange registration during the add/drop period only.