Sommersemester 2007

Maria-Goeppert-Mayer Programm

Internationale Gastprofessur für Frauen- und Genderforschung
an der Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg

Gastprofessorin
Prof. Dr. Bonnie Spanier, University at Albany (New York, USA)

Bonnie Spanier ist Biologin und eine international renommierte Expertin für Gender Studies in der Biologie. Sie lehrt und forscht an der University at Albany (New York, USA) über Frauen und Gesundheit, Feministische Theorie sowie Gender in den Naturwissenschaften. Prof. Spanier ist Mitgründerin und Vize-Präsidentin der ‚Capital Region Action Against Breast Cancer'. Ihre Forschung wurde von dem National Institute of Health, der American Lung Association und dem Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College gefördert. Ihre Arbeit wurde mit dem University at Albany's Bread and Roses Award und dem Albany NOW's Making Waves Award ausgezeichnet.

Ausgewählte Veröffentlichungen
- Im/Partial Science: Gender Ideology in Molecular Biology (Indiana University Press, 1995)
- 'Your Silence Will Not Protect You': Feminist Science Studies, Breast Cancer, and Activism (in Mayberry, Subramanian, and Weasel, eds. Feminist Science Studies: A New Generation. Routledge, 2001)
- What Made Ellen (and Anne) Gay? Feminist Critique of Popular and Scientific Beliefs (in Marchessault and Sawchuck, eds. Wild Science: Feminist Readings of Science, Medicine, and the Media. Routledge, 2000)
- Transforming Science Curricula in Higher Education: Feminist Contributions (Science and Engineering Ethics, 6, 2000)

Seminar

Biology Destiny? Historical and Current Issues in Biological Determinism

Histories of Western science reveal biases that have played a significant role in supporting systems of inequality (sexism, racism, heterosexism, class bias, ethnocentrism, disability bias, global status, and such). Even the questions: What counts as legitimate science? Who is or can be a scientist it? Engage with a legacy of beliefs about biology determining our behaviours and status. We will investigate the histories of constructing the meaning of differences in Western societies. Students will explore the state of biological determinist beliefs and science in their own countries today.

Blockveranstaltung
Fr 20.04.07, 16 - 18, A01 0-007
21.04.07 - 22.04.07, 8 - 20, A01 0-009
05.05.07 - 06.05.07, 8 - 20, A01 0-007
19.05.07 - 20.05.07, 8 - 20, A01 0-009

Öffentlicher Vortrag

Feminism, Science, and Politics: From Bacteria to Breast Cancer

Critics and sceptics of feminism may see "feminism and science" as contradiction. The history of feminist engagement with science (in the United States) includes significant examples of feminism and science working together in syngergy, creating more accurate science while supporting equality for women.
Bonnie Spanier's analysis of molecular biology through a feminist lens (Im/partial Science: Gender Ideology and Molecular Biology, Indiana
University Press, 1995) exposed the power of masculinist ideology to distort our understanding of biology at the cell and molecular levels. The consequences of not controlling for sexist/racist beliefs in the sciences are illustrated in the predominant approaches to treating and
curing cancer. Professor Spanier's application to breast cancer of Sandra Harding's "strong objectivity" provides a powerful and necessary
tool for biomedical research to benefit women's lives.

Termin und Ort entnehmen Sie bitte dem Flyer.

 

 

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Gastprofessorin
Prof. Dr. Ann A. Phoenix, Open University London, UK

Ankündigungsflyer

Prof. Dr. Phoenix ist als Professorin für "Social and Developmental Psychology" an der Open University in London tätig. Sie ist eine international überaus renommierte Wissenschaftlerin, die neben ihrer Professur an der Open University in London regelmäßig Gastprofessuren an anderen Universitäten, insbesondere an Universitäten in Schweden und Dänemark inne hat. Voraussichtlich wird sich Prof. Phoenix von Mitte Mai bis Mitte Juli an der Carl von Ossietzky Universität aufhalten.
Die Arbeitsschwerpunkte von Prof. Dr. Phoenix beziehen sich auf die folgenden Themengebiete:
- Adoleszenz und die Herausbildung von Männlichkeiten (basierend auf einer umfassenden empirischen Studie an Londoner Schulen, die 2002 unter dem Titel "Young Masculinities" erschienen ist und vor diesem Hintergrund die Wirksamkeit schulischer Anforderungen und Strukturen analysiert);
- Bedeutung des Konsums für Identitäten junger Frauen und Männer (ebenfalls basierend auf einer empirischen Studie, in der u.a. über den Besitz von sozial hoch bewerteten Markenartikeln sich vermittelnde soziale Inklusions- und Exklusionsmechanismen analysiert werden);
- Verflüssigung ethnischer Zuschreibungen und Selbstverortungen am Beispiel ethnisch gemischter Paarbeziehungen sowie der Identitätsbildungsprozesse und Rassismuserfahrungen der Kinder aus solchen Beziehungen (ebenfalls auf der Basis eines Forschungsprojekts);
- Verknüpfung unterschiedlicher für die Produktion sozialer Ungleichheiten und dadurch geprägte Identitätsbildungsprozesse relevanter sozialer Kategorien wie "gender", "class" und "ethnicity" zu einem der Komplexität sozialer Realitäten angemessenen Analyseinstrument (als Untersuchungsperspektive leitend in allen beschriebenen Arbeitsschwerpunkten und empirischen Projekten).

Prof. Dr. Phoenix hat zu diesen Themen zahlreiche Veröffentlichungen vorgelegt

 

Seminare

Adolescence and Masculinities

Im Zentrum stehen Prozesse unter Jungen und jungen Männern, über die in sozialen Interaktionen Männlichkeitsentwürfe erprobt, verworfen, modifiziert oder übernommen werden. Ausgehend von der Frage, welche Bedeutung Inhalte einer "hegemonialen", d.h. an Dominanz, Durchsetzungsfähigkeit und Abwehr von als "weich" konnotierten Attributen orientierten Männlichkeit für die Jugendlichen haben, werden unterschiedliche Strategien diskutiert, mit diesem Ideal umzugehen. Möglichkeiten des Wandels traditioneller Männlichkeitsvorstellungen sind ebenso Thema wie die Bedingungen ihrer Reproduktion.

Do 24.05.07, 18 - 22, A04 4-419
Do 31.05.07, 18 - 22, A04 4-419
Fr 01.06.07, 14 - 20, A04 4-407
Sa 02.06.07, 10 - 19:30, A04 4-407
So 03.06.07, 10 - 13:30, A04 4-407

Gender, Class and Ethnicity in Schools and Families

Im Zentrum stehen soziale Zuschreibungs- und Selbstverortungsprozesse entlang der sozialen Differenzlinien "gender", "class" und "ethnicity", wie sie in familialen und schulischen Interaktionen von Bedeutung sind. Möglichkeiten der Verflüssigung entsprechender Zuschreibungs- und Selbstverortungsprozesse sind ebenso Gegenstand der Diskussionen wie die Bedingungen ihrer Tradierung. Basis des Seminars sind die Ergebnisse zahlreicher Forschungsprojekte, z.B. zu Zuschreibungen und Selbstverortungen in ethnisch gemischten Paarbeziehungen sowie den Identitätsbildungsprozessen und Rassismuserfahrungen der Kinder aus solchen "mixed - parentages". Bezogen auf Schule werden Ergebnisse des Forschungsprojekts "Young Masculinities" einbezogen, in dem schulische Anforderungen und Strukturen vor dem Hintergrund unterschiedlicher geschlechts-, schicht- und ethnizitätsbezogener Zuschreibungsprozesse diskutiert werden.

Do 07.06.07, 18 - 22, A04 4-419
Do 14.06.07, 18 - 22, A04 4-419
Fr 15.06.07, 14 - 20, A04 4-411
Sa 16.06.07, 10 - 19:30, A04 4-414
So 17.06.07, 10 - 13:30, A04 4-414

 

Öffentlicher Vortrag

Negotiating a place in the masculine hierarchy: 11-14 year old boys' relationships with girls, mothers, fathers and other boys

In many countries there is current anxiety about increasing crime rates and deteriorating educational performances of boys in relation to girls and the decreasing likelihood that young men will establish long-lasting relationships with partners and their children. This has often been referred to as a 'crisis in masculinity'. Many explanations have been put forward for this supposed 'crisis'. However, relatively little attention has been paid to boys' own views on what motivates them to perform as they do. This talk will analyse notions of 'crisis' from boys' own perspectives. It will focus particularly on how boys negotiate a place for themselves in what they see as a masculine hierarchy by giving examples of what 11-14 year old boys living in London say about their relationships with other people.

Mittwoch, 23.5.07 um 16 Uhr in Raum A1 0-010

Forschungskolloquium

Doing and Debating Intersectionality

Intersectionality als forschungsmethodologische Strategie zielt auf die Untersuchung komplexer Beziehungen zwischen sozialen Differenzlinien wie race, class und gender. Prof. Ann A. Phoenix stellt im Kolloquium Erkenntnisperspektiven dieses Forschungszugangs sowie eigene Projekte und Erfahrungen zur Diskussion.

Mittwoch, 27.6.07 um 18 Uhr in Raum A4 4-403

 

Vortragsangebote

1. Doing and Debating Intersectionality

Intersectionality is an increasingly popular feminist approach to theorising and analysing the ways in which everybody is simultaneously positioned in multiple social categories. It is, however, a much debated concept. This paper will discuss recent literature on intersectionality to examine current debates on intersectionality. In particular, it will consider whether, on the one hand, intersectionality fails to address structural inequalities because it focuses on agency and, on the other, if it produces fixed conceptualisations of structure. The paper argues that the most productive versions of intersectionality are those that draw on postmodern ideas of social categories and their associated positions and identities being fluid and multiple while also recognising that structure and culture are mutually constitutive.

The paper also considers whether intersectional theory requires examination of so many intersections that it becomes impossible to know which should be analysed at any particular time. It suggests that those analysing intersections have to take strategic and creative decisions about which intersections are the most relevant for specific groups or for individuals at particular times and on particular issues. Intersectional methodologies are in the process of development. However, the paper highlights types of methodologies used by feminist researchers and argues that intersectionality is necessarily constituted of multiple methods.

2. Identities in process: Motherhood in relational context

There is currently much concern about parenting - particularly mothering in circumstances of disadvantage - and its impact on outcomes for children. Yet we still know relatively little about the processes involved in establishing mothering for the first time and its impact on women's identities. This paper will consider how women make the transition into their identities as mothers for the first time in the context of their biographies, social positions, relationships and other identities, such as ethnic group membership, social class and geographical location.

The paper will use data from a longitudinal interview and observational study of women from different ethnic groups who live in the same locality in Britain. It will throw light on the relevance of psychological and social issues to their transition into identities as mothers and on the diversity of context and meanings that they experience in the process. In doing so, it will address microanalytic theoretical issues such as the plurality, situatedness and dynamism of identities and macro-processes such as the intersections of ethnicity, gender and social class.

3. '"I shop, therefore I am?" Young people and struggles over positioning

There is currently much concern about children's and young people's inappropriate consumption of, for example, over-sexualised clothing for young girls; fattening food and drink and branded clothing. Researchers now view consumption as an important context for children and young people's development and one that involves family relationships, peer relationships and broader group identities. This paper will discuss the ways in which consumption is important to the identities of children and young people in Western societies, to their interactions with their peers and parents and so to their development. It will consider how consumption affects young people's identities and how young people use consumption to construct and negotiate their identities. It focuses on the significance of brands to young people's identities and the part played by consumption in peer relations, as well as the ways in which gender, ethnicity and social class are intersect in young people's consumption. It argues that, far from being trivial, consumption is a site in which young people have little choice but to struggle over their positioning.

4. Transforming experience: Adult reworking of narratives of childhood difficulties

It is increasingly being recognized that there is currently not enough understanding of how adults from different family backgrounds negotiate their identities as they re-evaluate their earlier experiences. In particular, how do some adults who have had childhood experiences generally viewed as non-ideal manage to become 'unremarkable' adults in the sense of living routine, productive lives? There are now suggestions from different areas of research literature that the narratives such adults are able to produce are central to how they fare. This paper will use data from a study of three groups of adults who have had experiences in childhood that many consider 'non-normative': (i) coming from the Caribbean to Britain to rejoin their parents in the process of serial migration; (ii) growing up in families of mixed ethnicity and (iii) having sometimes taken responsibility for their parents as translators.

The paper will explore the ways in which the adults use their past and current experiences to produce new identities and how they deal with any conflicts they experience about their childhoods and use these to develop new ways of talking about themselves. It will draw on developments in narrative theory to help analyse these accounts.