Introduction to the Syllabus Project
In the dozen or so years since the Women’s Caucus of the History of Science Society (HSS) last compiled a syllabus sampler for courses on the history of women and gender in science, scholarship and teaching in this field has continued to expand and flourish. The Society’s prize for the best article or book on women or gender in the history of science (given since 1987) was fully endowed largely due to the efforts of the HSS Women’s Caucus. In 2004, the prize was named after pioneering historian of science, Margaret W. Rossiter, and as the quantity and richness of scholarship in this area has grown, it has become one of HSS’s most competitive awards. Recent institutional transitions made by many college and university departments of “Women’s Studies” to newly-christened departments of “Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies” reflect how the broad scholarly field in which many of our member historians locate their work now foregrounds the intersectionality of race, class, sex, and gender. The increased vibrancy and inclusively of this field has also complicated the prospect of teaching its themes and subjects in our courses, whether those courses are defined chronologically, by discipline, or by special topic.
We hope this updated syllabus sampler will provide a resource for enhancing or developing courses, units, or modules on women, gender, and sexuality in the history of what contemporary educational policy makers call STEM fields (i.e. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The syllabi presented here were submitted in response to a call for participants in an HSS Women’s Caucus Workshop on this topic (held in at the 2011 Annual Meeting in Cleveland). Workshop participants discussed the diversity of ways in which the study of women and gender can transform the practice and teaching of history, engineering, and science for all students. Whether offered within a General Education course or as an upper-level majors-only elective, the materials presented draw our attention to the heterogeneous disciplinary framework of scholarship and teaching in the field (including historians, sociologists, and philosophers). Collectively, these syllabi offer a ‘classroom-tested’ set of sources and pedagogical strategies that we hope will inspire and encourage interested scholars and teachers.
We thank the contributors for sharing their insights and the products of their hard work, and also the workshop presenters and attendees, for a productive discussion. We are grateful to Jay Malone and the staff of the HSS Executive Office for overseeing the logistics of our meeting, and to the HSS Annual Meeting Local Arrangements Subcommittee and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences (especially Associate Dean and physics faculty member Alison Baski) for support and funding.
Karen Rader (Co-Chair, Women’s Caucus, 2009-2011) and Erika Milam (Co-Chair, Women’s Caucus, 2010-2012)
We hope this updated syllabus sampler will provide a resource for enhancing or developing courses, units, or modules on women, gender, and sexuality in the history of what contemporary educational policy makers call STEM fields (i.e. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The syllabi presented here were submitted in response to a call for participants in an HSS Women’s Caucus Workshop on this topic (held in at the 2011 Annual Meeting in Cleveland). Workshop participants discussed the diversity of ways in which the study of women and gender can transform the practice and teaching of history, engineering, and science for all students. Whether offered within a General Education course or as an upper-level majors-only elective, the materials presented draw our attention to the heterogeneous disciplinary framework of scholarship and teaching in the field (including historians, sociologists, and philosophers). Collectively, these syllabi offer a ‘classroom-tested’ set of sources and pedagogical strategies that we hope will inspire and encourage interested scholars and teachers.
We thank the contributors for sharing their insights and the products of their hard work, and also the workshop presenters and attendees, for a productive discussion. We are grateful to Jay Malone and the staff of the HSS Executive Office for overseeing the logistics of our meeting, and to the HSS Annual Meeting Local Arrangements Subcommittee and the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences (especially Associate Dean and physics faculty member Alison Baski) for support and funding.
Karen Rader (Co-Chair, Women’s Caucus, 2009-2011) and Erika Milam (Co-Chair, Women’s Caucus, 2010-2012)
Individual Syllabi
Resources on this page page were developed in cooperation with the Society for the History of Technology special interest group “Women in Technological History” or WITH. If you have a syllabus you would like to add to this collection, please email Erika Milam (emilam@princeton.edu).
Amy Bix, Iowa State University
History 607: Gender and the History of Technology (Spring 1999) [.pdf]
Angela Creager, Princeton University
Women and Gender Studies 393: Seminar on Gender and Science (Fall 2009) [.pdf]
Freshman Seminar 151: To XY and Beyond: Sexual Difference and Sexuality in the History of Science (Fall 2008) [.pdf]
Monica Green, Arizona State University
History 301: Global History of Health (Spring 2013) [.pdf]
History 312: The History of Women in Science and Medicine (Fall 2008) [.pdf]
Jane Lehr, California Polytechnic State University
Women and Gender Studies 350: Gender, Race, Science and Technology (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
Erika Milam, University of Maryland
History 401: Gender and Science (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
Georgina Montgomery, Michigan State University
Lyman Briggs 336: Gender and Evolution (Spring 2011) [.pdf]
History 487: Gender, Sex and Science in Popular Culture (Summer 2012) [.pdf]
Donald Optiz, DePaul University
Liberal Studies 193: The Science of Sexual Orientation (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
LLS 455: Valuing Human Difference (Spring 2011) [.pdf]
Karen Rader, Virginia Commonwealth University
History 398: History of Women's Health (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
Sarah Richardson, Harvard University
History of Science 138: Sex, Gender, and Evolution (Spring 2011) [.pdf]
Banu Subramaniam, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Women’s Studies 290A: Introduction to Biology of Difference (Spring 2011) [.pdf]
Arleen Tuchman, Vanderbilt University
History 281: Historical Perspectives on Women, Health, and Sexuality (Spring 2010) [.pdf]
Mark Waddell, Michigan State University
Lyman Briggs 333: The Historical Relationship of Science and Gender (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
The entire syllabus sampler in a single file (5MB) [.pdf]
Amy Bix, Iowa State University
History 607: Gender and the History of Technology (Spring 1999) [.pdf]
Angela Creager, Princeton University
Women and Gender Studies 393: Seminar on Gender and Science (Fall 2009) [.pdf]
Freshman Seminar 151: To XY and Beyond: Sexual Difference and Sexuality in the History of Science (Fall 2008) [.pdf]
Monica Green, Arizona State University
History 301: Global History of Health (Spring 2013) [.pdf]
History 312: The History of Women in Science and Medicine (Fall 2008) [.pdf]
Jane Lehr, California Polytechnic State University
Women and Gender Studies 350: Gender, Race, Science and Technology (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
Erika Milam, University of Maryland
History 401: Gender and Science (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
Georgina Montgomery, Michigan State University
Lyman Briggs 336: Gender and Evolution (Spring 2011) [.pdf]
History 487: Gender, Sex and Science in Popular Culture (Summer 2012) [.pdf]
Donald Optiz, DePaul University
Liberal Studies 193: The Science of Sexual Orientation (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
LLS 455: Valuing Human Difference (Spring 2011) [.pdf]
Karen Rader, Virginia Commonwealth University
History 398: History of Women's Health (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
Sarah Richardson, Harvard University
History of Science 138: Sex, Gender, and Evolution (Spring 2011) [.pdf]
Banu Subramaniam, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Women’s Studies 290A: Introduction to Biology of Difference (Spring 2011) [.pdf]
Arleen Tuchman, Vanderbilt University
History 281: Historical Perspectives on Women, Health, and Sexuality (Spring 2010) [.pdf]
Mark Waddell, Michigan State University
Lyman Briggs 333: The Historical Relationship of Science and Gender (Fall 2011) [.pdf]
The entire syllabus sampler in a single file (5MB) [.pdf]
