Race and Gender in the Scientific Community

This course examines disparities in representation in the scientific community, issues facing different groups in the sciences, and paths towards a more inclusive scientific environment. We will delve into the current statistics on racial and gender demographics in the sciences and explore their background through texts dealing with the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. We will also explore the specific problems faced by under-represented and well-represented racial and ethnic minorities, women, and LGBTQ community members. The course is reading intensive and discussion based.

This course emerged from a Group Independent Study Project "Race and Gender in the Science Community" (links to the GISP blog site), which was created by a group of Brown students in Spring 2014 and ran as a Brown course in Fall 2014. Among the final recommendations that the student group made was "Make the course on Race and Gender in the Scientific Community a permanent offering, and consider making it a requirement for STEM concentrators in the future". APMA 1910 originated directly from this recommendation, and the syllabus evolved from the original syllabus that the student group designed. Thank you, Amy, Jamelle, and Jasmine for all your advice and encouragement to get APMA 1910 started! This interview describes my fears and worries when I started offering this follow-up course on the original GISP.