90061 - History, Science and Society (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

The course addresses the interactions between science and society in modern and contemporary times from a transdisciplinary perspective. At the end of the course the students will have: – conducted an in-depth exploration of historical cases and contemporary data; – learned to assess the sources and use the critical tools to address these themes independently.

Course contents

Bodies of Knowledge

Women, Science, and Society: From the Present to Darwin and Back

This course explores the complex and non-linear relationships over time between gender and science, and between women and men within Western educational and research institutions.

From the perspective we will adopt, discussing how to strengthen the relationship between women and science is aimed at promoting a form of social innovation rooted in a radical reform of the educational and research systems. The goal remains that of a feminism which – since the nineteenth century (in fact, even earlier, as we will see), and especially from the 1980s onward – seeks to transform science itself, making it more equitable and sustainable (interview with Fox Keller, Dajani, 2019).

The approach will be interdisciplinary, and the sources used will include historiographical and sociological works, scientific literature (natural sciences), and science studies (or studies in science, technology, and society – STS, the interdisciplinary tools to which the introductory sessions will be dedicated).

We will start from the present, and from the advances that since the 1980s have emerged in the scientific and (bio)technological fields through a dialogue between the natural and social sciences, mediated by gender studies and feminism. These liminal (or integrated) approaches have supported so-called gendered innovations in laboratory practice; they have fostered the development of new areas of research; they have contributed to definitively deconstructing the myth of “female” and “male” brains in the field of neuroscience.

And yet, as we will see, despite the many significant achievements women have made in education and research over the past fifty years, women scientists today – even when their scientific output matches that of their male colleagues (as confirmed by numerous data we will examine) – still do not receive full professional recognition. This is a phenomenon that affects not only women and minorities, but also undermines research institutions and society as a whole (to be discussed starting in week two).

To better understand such a complex present, we will focus on three specific case studies:
– During the decades of dissemination and (political) appropriation of Darwinism, we will examine the reasons behind the acceptance by some evolutionary thinkers – and the rejection by others (notably in the so-called “Darwinian feminism”) – of the scientific fact ("temporarily true") of women’s inferiority;
– During the Cold War, we will explore both the success and the subsequent (self-)exclusion of women from computer science (Light, 1999, uploaded on the platform);
– We will investigate the life and work of geneticist Barbara McClintock (1902–1992) (Fox Keller, 2017 [1983]), awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983 – a case that will open up discussion on the role of the body in the production of natural scientific knowledge (weeks three and four of the course).
These cases will allow us to explore both the strategies involved in the social and cultural construction of scientific facts, and the backlash experienced by women in science (but not only – e.g. data on the current situation of women philosophers in Italy), particularly after World War I and World War II, and again from the 1990s onward, when the number of women graduates began to surpass that of men across much of Europe and North America.

The final week of the course will be dedicated to the presentation and discussion of group activities.

Classic reference literature:

- J. Stuart Mill [and H. Taylor], The subjection of women, London : Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1869.
- Virginia Woolf, The Three Guineas, The Hogarth press, London, 1938.

IMPORTANT NOTE
In case of coughs, colds, sore throats or other symptoms (even mild ones), those attending class are asked to wear a mask rated FFP2 or higher. Thank you.

Readings/Bibliography

"Scienze filosofiche" and"Didattica e comunicazione delle scienze naturali"

The program is the same for attending and non attending students, and Erasmus program.

1. Texts and PowerPoints posted (during the course) on the e-learning platform.

2. Evelyn Fox Keller, A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock. Freeman, 1983.

3. P. Govoni, M.G. Belcastro, A. Bonoli, G. Guerzoni, Ripensare l'Antropocene. Oltre natura e cultura, Carocci, Roma, 2024.

Recommended reading for those who do not attend:

(Scienze filosofiche): The handbook of science and technology studies. Fourth edition, eds. U. Felt; C. A. Miller, L. Smith-Doerr; R. Fouché, Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England: The MIT Press, 2017, capitoli 1 e 14 (available online through Almastart).

(Dicosn): P. Govoni, Che cos'è la storia della scienza (Carocci, 2019)

Teaching methods

This course is part of the Digital Innovative Teaching (DDI) program. Materials and links to documents (see point 1 of the Bibliography) will be uploaded to the Virtuale platform. Lectures will be recorded and made available via a link on Virtuale (recordings will remain accessible for the entire academic year). Students who watch the lectures later may submit questions or comments via the forum (on Virtuale) or by email (p.govoni@unibo.it).

Whenever possible, the course will take a seminar-style approach. On a date to be announced, as part of the Passa il testimone project - which focuses on preparing for the master’s thesis and exploring career opportunities - we will welcome recent master’s graduates to share their experiences. We will also host Letizia Lambertini, an expert in research and policy design in the fields of social, educational, and equal opportunity policies, with whom we will discuss gender-based violence and education for respect.

This course aims to support autonomy in learning processes, self-assessment practices, and collaboration among peers and with the instructor. As much as possible, we will try to avoid the traditional approach: lecture, independent study, examination. We will attempt to adopt, at least in part, the so-called ‘cooperative learning’.

Objectives: to facilitate deeper engagement with and communication of what is discussed in class and studied independently; to practice teamwork; to reduce competitiveness and performance anxiety in favor of jointly resolving doubts and problems. To this end, we will organize peer-to-peer activities that are a fundamental part of this course.

Attending students may give a presentation in class – individually, in pairs, or in groups – on one of the required readings or on a topic relevant to the course, agreed upon with the instructor, who will take these activities into account in the final evaluation.

Attending students may also choose to submit a written assignment via Virtuale within 7 days after the end of the course. This optional assignment is NOT based on the exam syllabus: following a given prompt, students are invited to develop a personal argument – also based on their own notes and properly cited online resources – on what was discussed in class and presented by the groups. This assignment will also be given significant weight in the final evaluation.

Assessment methods

Exam sessions and schedule
The University of Bologna requires "at least six exam sessions" per year, which for this course are scheduled as follows: one in September (before the start of classes); two in January (after my classes, which run from September to late December); one in May, one in June, and one in July.

How the oral exam is organized
The exam begins with a topic of your choice and develops into a discussion based on three/four questions drawn from the materials listed in the “Texts/Bibliography” section. The entire exam lasts approximately 20 minutes.
If you participated in in-class activities during the course, the results - which remain valid over time - will be given significant weight in the final assessment.
For more information about the exam, please see the Virtuale platform.

Assessment criteria
While knowledge of all the texts on the syllabus is essential, equally important is the ability to articulate what you have studied - and, for those attending classes, what was discussed in class - in a clear, coherent, and personal way. The aim is to assess how you have studied and with what goals.

For further information, please consult  the educational guidelines here (Regolamento didattico).

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) or temporary/permanent disabilities should contact the relevant University office, which will propose any necessary exam accommodations. These must then be submitted to me for approval (at p.govoni@unibo.it) at least 15 days before the exam. Thank you for your cooperation.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint; e-learning tools; science museums.

Office hours

See the website of Paola Govoni