Events for May 31, 2012

May 31, 2012

Workshop

Masculinities in Science

Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science

May 31st through June 2nd, at the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Given the ubiquitous dominance of men as scientists and engineers and doctors throughout history, what are the consequences of changing the kinds of questions we ask about the scientific enterprise from, for example, “why did scientists think X?” to “why did male scientists think X?” Or, more exactly, what does it add to our understanding of science if we factor in the masculine social and cultural perspectives of time and place? The tools for understanding complex gender dynamics and the importance of gender in the everyday lived experiences of scientists and engineers have been amply demonstrated by the substantial literature on women in science and gender studies of science. Our challenge is to bring to light the ways that scientific masculinities have operated over time, and within different cultures, without re-enacting history by excluding women or femininity from the story.

Organized by Robert Nye and Erika Milam.

For a full report, see the News and Notes item here.

Program

Thursday, May 31: Afternoon

• 1:30pm Introductions
  Robert Nye (Oregon State University) and
  Erika Milam (University of Maryland)

Part 1. Scientific Constructions of Masculinities

• 2:00pm Leah DeVun, Rutgers University
  Hermaphrodites in Medieval Surgical Manuals
• 2:45pm Alexandra Rutherford, York University
  Masculinity and Objectivity in mid-20th Century American Psychology: Edwin Boring and the ‘Woman Problem’ Revisited
• 3:45pm Nathan Ha, UCLA
  Kurt Freund, Penile Plethysmography, and Late-Twentieth Century Sexology

Friday, June 1: Morning

Part 2. Masculine Scientific Cultures

• 9:00am Zeb Tortorici, Stanford University
  Surgeons, Medical Examinations, and Criminal Sexuality in New Spain
• 9:45am Mary Terrall, UCLA
  Masculine Knowledge for the Public Good: The Scientific Household of Réaumur
• 10:45am Michael Robinson, University of Hartford
  Manliness and Exploration: The Creation of the Modern Arctic Narrative
• 11:45am Sally Horrocks (with Tom Lean and Paul Merchant), University of Leicester
  ‘The Usual Problem with the Female Staff is That There is No Lavatory Provided for Them’: Cultures of Masculinity in mid-20th Century Britain

Friday, June 1: Afternoon

Part 3. Gendering Technology

• 1:45pm Frances Bernstein, Drew University
  Arms and the [Soviet] Man: Prosthetic Manhood after World War II
• 2:30pm Beth Linker, University of Pennsylvania
  ‘Bringing it Up’: Impotence and Disabled World War II Veterans In America
• 3:30pm Nathan Ensmenger, University of Texas, Austin
  ‘Beards, Sandals, and Other Signs of Rugged Individualism’: Masculine Culture within the Computing Professions

Saturday, June 2: Morning

Part 4. Popular Science and Gender Norms

• 9:00am Michael Reidy, Montana State University
  The Third Switzerland: Mountaineering, Masculinity, and the Male Body in Victorian Britain
• 9:45am Eugenia Lean, Columbia University
  Recipes for Men: Manufacturing Make-up and the Politics of Production in 1910s China
• 10:45am Erika Milam, University of Maryland
  Men in Groups: Anthropology and Aggression in the 1960s

Final Discussion