This course examines intersections of gender and knowledge, with a
particular focus on feminist analyses of scientific epistemology and
practice, exploring the implications of various, sometimes
conflicting, feminist theories about the social meaning and the
gendered construction of scientific research. Particular focus is
placed upon race, class, sexuality and cultural difference in
medical, psychological, and evolutionary accounts of “human nature.”
Specific topics for students’ research projects may include: the
history and politics of sexual difference in scientific discourse;
feminist perspectives on, and appropriations of, the concept of
objectivity; the circulation of scientific findings and technologies
in popular culture; and the formulation of alternative scientific
methods and knowledge.