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Iowa State University Library

This course will explore the history of women in relation to the theory and practice of science, technology and medicine. Broad themes include how the development of educational systems and professions affected women over the centuries, and how scientific work, medical thinking and technological development have evolved in relationship to gendered issues. Over the past three decades, scholars of women's history have emphasized the importance of re-examining history with a new concentration on gender issues. Studies in the history of science, technology and medicine have most commonly focussed on the roles and activities of men, yet women's relationship to these fields also deserves attention. Research has shown that women throughout history made significant contributions to science, technology, and medicine, despite barriers limiting their access to education and professionalization. In addition to making science, women have also been subjects of scientific thought; this course will examine the history of biological and psychological ideas about gender difference. Similarly, the course will consider women as subjects of medical practice and examine ways that the medical profession has perceived and treated female patients. Finally, the class will consider how technological changes over time have affected women's lives, both at home and in the workplace. The course will cover material up the present, using a historical perspective to shed new light on current discussions of the gender dimensions of science, technology and medicine.

COURSE STRUCTURE:

This course includes two full-group meetings per week, plus one weekly small-group discussion section, attendance at which is mandatory. Sections will include discussions of assigned reading, viewing of films, and reviews for examinations, among other activities. Sections are also opportunities to ask questions about course procedures and about readings or lecture material. There will be three examinations in this course, two during the semester itself, plus a final. All students, including graduating seniors, are required to take all exams, including the final. Exams cover material presented in the lectures, discussions, readings, and audio-visual material. Students must bring a blue book and a pen to use on exams - points will be deducted for exams written in pencil or not in blue books! Standard ISU policies on academic dishonesty will be applied. Students are responsible for ensuring that they complete all exams by the proper dates. Any exam not completed by semester's end will automatically convert to a zero, unless the professor has specifically granted exemption, and failure to take the final risks course failure. Students experiencing any difficulties should first consult the professor and T.A., but may also wish to use ISU's Academic Learning Lab or Tutoring Services.

TOPICS & ASSIGNMENTS

Monday, August 23 and Wednesday, August 25
Course introduction

ASSIGNMENT (read for this week's sections if possible):

Londa Schiebinger, "History and Philosophy of Women in Science: Review Essay" - RP (reading packet).

Alic, p. 1-49;

ASSIGNMENT for week of 9/6:

Alic, p. 50-107;

Michael Shank, "A Female University Student in Late Medieval Krakow" - RP.

Paula Findlen, "Science as a Career in Enlightenment Italy: Laura Bassi" - RP.

Wednesday, September 8
From the Middle Ages into the Scientific Revolution

ASSIGNMENT for week of 9/13:

Alic, p. 108-147;

Sally Kohlstedt, "In From the Periphery: American Women in Science, 1830-1880" - RP.

M. Susan Lindee, "The American Career of Jane Marcet's Conversations on Chemistry, 1806-1853" - RP.

ASSIGNMENT for week of 9/20:

Leavitt, p. 12-37 (Cornelia Dayton, "Taking the Trade: Abortion and Gender Relations in an 18th Century New England Village"); - Leavitt, p. 111-130 (Carroll Smith-Rosenberg and Charles Rosenberg, "The Female Animal: Medical and Biological Views of Woman and her Role in 19th Century America")

Londa Schiebinger, "Why Mammals are Called Mammals: Gender Politics in 18th C Natural History" - RP.

Elizabeth Fee, "Nineteenth-Century Craniology: Study of the Female Skull," - RP (out of order).

ASSIGNMENT for week of 9/27:

John and Robin Haller, The Physician and Sexuality in Victorian America, excerpts - RP.

Leavitt, p. 48-64 (Laurel Ulrich, "'The Living Mother of a Living Child': Midwifery and Mortality in Postrevolutionary New England");

Leavitt, p. 192-212 (Carl Degler, "What Ought to Be and What Was: Women's Sexuality in the 19th Century,");

Leavitt, p. 252-268 (Linda Gordon, "Voluntary Motherhood: The Beginnings of Feminist Birth Control Ideas in the US,");

Leavitt, p. 328-347 (Judith Leavitt, "Under the Shadow of Maternity: American Women's Responses to Death and Debility Fears in 19th Century Childbirth");

Leavitt, p. 405-422 (Nancy Theriot, "Diagnosing Unnatural Motherhood: 19th Century Physicians and 'Puerperal Insanity'");

ASSIGNMENT for week of 10/4:

Rossiter, p. xv-50;

Edward Clarke, Sex in Education, excerpts, 1873 - RP.

Sally Kohlstedt, "Maria Mitchell and the Advancement of Women in Science" - RP.

Toby Appel, "Physiology in American Women's Colleges: Rise and Decline of a Female Subculture" - RP.
EXAMINATION #1 coming up on Monday, October 4!

EXAMINATION #1 on Monday, October 4;

Alic, p. 148-191;

Rossiter, p. 51-99;

ASSIGNMENT for week of 10/18:

Rossiter, p. 100-159;

Regina Morantz, "Feminism, Professionalism, and Germs: Mary Putnam Jacobi & Elizabeth Blackwell," - RP.

Barbara Melosh, "Every Woman is a Nurse: Work and Gender in the Emergence of Nursing" - RP.

Leavitt, p. 425-443 (Charlotte Borst, "The Training and Practice of Midwives: A Wisconsin Study");

Leavitt, p. 509-525 (Mary Roth Walsh, "Feminist Showplace");

Leavitt, p. 526-539 (Regina Morantz-Sanchez, "The Gendering of Empathic Expertise: How Women Physicians Became More Empathic Than Men");

Leavitt, p. 636-658 (Judith Leavitt, "The Growth of Medical Authority:Technology and Morals in Turn-of-Century Obstetrics")

ASSIGNMENT for week of 10/25:

Carole Srole, "'A Blessing to Mankind, and Especially to Womankind': The Typewriter and the Feminization of Clerical Work, Boston, 1860-1920," - RP.

Ruth Cowan, "Ellen Swallow Richards: Technology & Women" - RP.

Moyra Doorly, "A Woman's Place: Dolores Hayden on the 'Grand Domestic Revolution,'" - RP.

Christine Kleinegger, "Out of the Barns & Into the Kitchens:Transformations in Farm Women's Work," - RP.

Ruth Cowan, "Less Work for Mother?" - RP.

Martha Trescott, "Lillian Moller Gilbreth and the Founding of Modern Industrial Engineering" - RP (out of order).

Leavitt, p. 596-611 (Nancy Tomes, "Spreading the Germ Theory: Sanitary Science and Home Economics, 1880-1930");

Leavitt, p. 612-634 (Judith Leavitt, "Gendered Expectations: Women and Early Twentieth-Century Public Health");

ASSIGNMENT for week of 11/1:

Leavitt, p. 540-556 (Kimberly Jensen, "Uncle Sam's Loyal Nieces: American Medical Women, Citizenship, and War Service in World War I");

Sally Keil, Those Wonderful Women in Their Flying Machines - RP

ASSIGNMENT for week of 11/8:

Rossiter, p. 160-217 and p. 248-316;
EXAMINATION #2 coming up on Monday, November 8!

EXAMINATION #2 on Monday, November 8;

Carroll Pursell, "Am I a Lady or an Engineer?" - RP.

additional articles to be distributed in class;

ASSIGNMENT for week of 11/29:

Leavitt, p. 293-305 (Jessie Rodrique, "The Black Community and the Birth Control Movement");

Leavitt, p. 306-326 (Andrea Tone, "Contraceptive Consumers: Gender and the Political Economy of Birth Control in the 1930s");

William Chafe, "The Debate on Woman's Place" - RP.

Diana Dutton; "DES and the Elusive Goal of Drug Safety" - RP.

Emily Martin, "The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles" - RP.

Leavitt, p. 659-680 (Rickie Solinger, "'A Complete Disaster': Abortion and the Politics of Hospital Abortion Committees, 1950-1970");

Monday, November 29 and Wednesday, December 1
Medicine, Gender, and Reproductive Technologies: Change and Controversy;

ASSIGNMENT for week of 12/6:

Stephen G. Brush, "Women in Science and Engineering," American Scientist, Sept.-Oct. 1991: 404-416.

"Women in Science '93" - Science, v.260, Apr. 16, 1993 - RP.

Ynestra King, "Toward an Ecological Feminism and a Feminist Ecology," - RP.

Week of December 13th

FINAL EXAMINATION WEEK - final exam at time to be announced.

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