but then, every time we come to a unit on feminism (which we inevitably do since i teach science studies), students express some opinion about whether or not they "agree" with it. (almost always, they don't.) and again, i cannot recall ever once requiring students to "agree" with anything, or even suggesting that what we cover is subject to "agreement" or "disagreement." but somewhere along the way, even though the other stuff is learned (although "liked" or "disliked"), this stuff on feminism is resisted in this bizarre way, as if learning it equals agreeing with it. hmm, maybe i need to start making a little speech before these feminist units.
p.s. forgive the scare quotes, but they visually illustrate the alienation these terms cause in me, when it comes to teaching.
4 comments:
i am more curious about this statement... "...every time we come to a unit on feminism (which we inevitably do since i teach science studies)..."
feminism... inevitably... science studies
really?...
cool.
I'll bet the same would be true about race or politics. The public can only take so many opinion based instant polls (at least three a day on cnn, at the end of all local news casts, hotornot.com, etc.) before everyone starts expressing an opinion about everything, whether they are supposed to just learn it or not.
I’m sure the coddling of children and the extra attention to their feelings nowadays has some small role to play also.
aha, yes. well, since science studies involves what various humanist-type scholars (historians, philosophers, anthropologists, english professors) have said over the years about what science does, many have naturally been interested in the non-representative numbers of women in the sci/tech professions and have come to speculate that this tells us something about sci/tech's abstract and material processes. humanist interests have noticed something about the humans and theorized long and hard about that business.
i'm sure the same would be said about race or politics, but i'm not teaching them to be feminists, is the thing. i realized that wasn't clear from my post. . .i'm teaching, like, what particular (relatively influential) people have said, like you learn, say, what thomas hobbes said in a political science class or something. it all comes back to overcoddling though, doesn't it?
Have you shown your students this avatar, in case they were under some mistaken impression that you're a coddler?
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