Women
& Environmental Careers
Spring 2005 (FOR 496-10 &
797-2)
Class meets Tuesdays, 3:30-4:30, 213 Marshall Hall
IF THERE IS A GUEST SPEAKER, class will meet from 4-5 pm, 140 Baker
Laboratory
|
Instructor |
Speaker coordinator |
|
Diane Kuehn |
Heather Engelman |
|
205 Marshall |
218 Marshall |
|
470-6561 |
315-470-4877 |
Course
Overview:
Women
& Environmental Careers is a
1-credit, college-wide seminar geared towards a diversity of students from
various departments at ESF. The main goal of the course is to provide an open
forum for female and male faculty and students to interact and discuss gender
issues pertaining to academia and other professional arenas. The course
consists of one hour of lecture or discussion per week, with opportunities to
interact with female professionals outside of class. Updates to this syllabus
can be found at: http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/syl2005.htm
.
Course
Objectives:
After completing this course, the student should be able to:
Course Layout:
The
schedule consists of two required types of meetings: discussions of general
interest topics facilitated by class members and guest speaker presentations
that comprise the ESF "Women in Scientific and Environmental
Professions" public lecture series (http://www.esf.edu/womenscaucus/speakers.htm). In
addition, students are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities to
interact with the visiting presenters through mentoring dinners.
Students’
responsibilities:
1.
Assist in the arrangements for speakers (25% of your grade). You or a pair of you will develop a
schedule for one speaker during her visit. "Instructions for Student
Hosts" offers tips and recommended timelines. Specifically, you are
responsible for:
a. Arranging meetings with interested students and faculty (generally at ESF, but SU, Upstate, and some local groups might also request an audience);
b. Arranging speaker pick-up and drop-off at the airport if needed;
c. Making arrangements for a post-lecture reception; and
d. Making arrangements for one mentoring dinner with the speaker and class participants.
To assist you, the speaker coordinator will take primary responsibility for sending out e-mails to ESF faculty and will arrange overnight accommodations, parking, publicity, and reimbursements to the speaker for travel expenses. She will also arrange the date and location of each mentoring dinner to best meet the speaker's traveling schedule and sponsors restrictions. She has made initial contact with the speakers, their sponsors, and faculty members offering their homes for the mentoring dinners, and will provide you with this correspondence.
2. Write a press release on the speaker's presentation (15%). Following the speaker's visit, the hosting student(s) will (jointly) write a brief press release about the speaker’s presentation. Press releases are to be submitted electronically to the instructors by the Tuesday following the speaker's presentation; the instructors will then forward it to the Knothole and sponsors on your behalf. The press release should include the speaker’s name and affiliation, the title of the presentation, and a summary of the presentation, and conclude with presentation sponsors and biographical information about the speaker.
3. Facilitate a discussion on one
general interest topic (20%).
Each student will lead or co-lead a discussion on one general interest topic
listed below in the class schedule. The articles that each student is required
to read in preparation for class discussions are listed below each topic. You may choose additional or different articles for
your class facilitation. If articles are not listed for a topic, it is the
student’s responsibility to invite guest speakers or to choose and distribute
articles for the discussion. The student facilitator(s) should prepare
questions based on the articles that will foster class discussion. You
may find Bloom's taxonomy (http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.html)
useful in developing questions. Discussion questions should be typed for
distribution in class. The student should give the instructor the typed
questions at least one day prior to class so that photocopies can be made. The
instructors encourage you to talk with them about your facilitation prior to
it.
4. Write two brief paragraphs stating the two most important points of your facilitated session (10%). The paragraphs should be no more that two to three sentences each, and should state the two most important discussion points resulting from the class that you facilitate. These should be e-mailed to the instructor by the Tuesday following your facilitated discussion.
5. Weekly class participation (30%). Every student is expected to participate in class discussions on a weekly basis by:
a. Reading the assigned articles and participating in the class discussion (15%).
b. Completing a discussion assessment form at the end
of each session (15%). Discussion assessment forms are due to the
instructor by the Tuesday following the session. Anonymous copies will be given
to the discussion facilitator to help them improve their facilitation
skills. The instructors will assess and
grade the original assessments and return them for the purpose of improving the
constructive commentary of students.
c. Attending the "Women in Scientific and Environmental Professions" Lecture Series that has been scheduled during the normal class meeting time. There will be a 10% deduction in final class grades for each lecture missed. You are also encouraged to join all of the speakers for the mentoring dinners.
Deductions for lateness:
Written assignments and discussion evaluations are
due to the instructor by the following class. Deductions of 10 points per day
for each day that assignments are late will be made on written assignments that
are received after the due date.
Instructor responsibilities:
The instructors will answer any questions the student facilitator(s) have concerning appropriate questions for class discussions and will facilitate interactions between the speaker and sponsors. The instructor will grade discussion assessment forms and written assignments and will provide constructive commentary in a timely manner. The instructors view this syllabus and its development as a work in progress, and we expect to modify it during the semester to better meet the needs of the students and speakers.
Schedule for Spring 2005
Readings
are listed in italics below. Students are expected to read the articles prior
to class.
January 18: Introductions, expectations, and speaker preparations
January 25: Discussion on career patterns of women with demonstration of facilitation skills. Diane Kuehn to facilitate.
·
Sonnert, G., and G. Holten. 1996. Career patterns
of women and men in the sciences. Am. Scientist 84:63-71.
·
Benditt, J. 1992. Women in science. Science
255:1365-1388.
· Primack, R. B., and V. O’Leary. 1993. Cumulative disadvantages in the careers of women ecologists. BioSci. 43:158-165.
February 1: Discussion: Mentoring
·
National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of
Engineering, and Institute of Medicine. 1997. What is a Mentor. Ch. 1 in:
Advisor, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: on being a mentor to students in
science and engineering. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.
·
Sandler, B.R. Mentoring: Myths
and Realities, Dangers and Responsibilities. pp: 271-279
in: A hand up: Women Mentoring Women in Science.
·
Kohler, C.C., J.E. Wetzel. 1998 . A
report card on mentorship in graduate fisheries education. Fisheries
23(9): 10-13.
· Murphy, B.R. 1998. Graduate Mentoring: Advancing Students' professional development. Fisheries 23(9): 7-9.
February 8: Discussion: Women's Voices and/or learning styles
·
American Association of University Women.
1994. Shortchanging girls, shortchanging America: Executive
Summary. American Association of University Women.
·
Miller-Bernal, L. 1993. Single-sex
versus co-educational environments: A comparison of women students' experiences
at four colleges. American Journal of Education. 23-53.
·
Tannen, D. 1991. Men and Women use different
approaches in classroom discussion. Chronicle of Higher Education. June 19.
1991, B1.
·
Rosser, S.V. 1990. Women's Ways of Knowing. Chapter
4 in Female Friendly Science. Pergamon Press.
February 15: Discussion: Campus Climate
·
Fellows, M.O., J.J. Kimberlin, and J.F.
Palmer. 1995. Summary Findings from the 1995 ESF Working
Environment Survey. SUNY ESF, Syracuse, NY. 7 pp.
·
Mason, J. 1991. The invisible-obstacle
race. Nature 353:205-206.
·
Phillips-Miller, D. L., K Guilfoyle, D.
Ehrenreich, F. Sammarruca, and B. Howard Meldrum. 1999. Exploring campus
climate for women. Women in Natural Resources, 20(3): 23-39.
·
Phillips-Miller, D. L., K Guilfoyle, D.
Ehrenreich, F. Sammarruca, and B. Howard Meldrum. 1999. Exploring campus
climate for women: part II. Women in Natural Resources, 20(3): 23-39.
· Smallwood, S. 2002. New study at MIT finds that female faculty members still feel marginalized. Chronicle of Higher Education (chronicle.com), March 20 issue.
February 22: GUEST SPEAKER: Dr. Caryl Fish, Assistant Professor, St. Vincent's College, LaTrobe, PA (Women’s Caucus Potluck Dinner to follow presentation)
March 1: Discussion: Balancing work and family
·
Excerpts from Equality in the
University of Wisconsin System: A Focus for Action in the Year 2000; Report of
the Committee on the Status of Women in the University of Wisconsin System;
University of Wisconsin System Initiative on the Status of Women; October 25,
1999, (http://www.uwsa.edu/acadaff/status/equal.htm).
·
Heweltt, S.A. 2002. Executive women
and the myths of having it all. HBR OnPoint. Product number
9616: 5-11.
·
Romano, C. 2001. Get a life and a
career. What a concept! The Chronicle of Higher Education
(chronicle.com) March, 23 issue, B12.
·
“How colleges can help faculty members with
children,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 5, 2003, vol. 50 (15): 7.
·
Stafford,
S.G. 1996. Finding leadership opportunities in an era of
dual-career couples.
·
Wolf-Wendel, L.E.; S.B. Twombly; and
S. Rice. Dual-career couples: keeping them together. The
Journal of Higher Ed 71(3): pp. 1-2 and 14-16.
March 8: GUEST SPEAKER: Dr. Frances Dunwell, NYDEC
March 15: Spring Break
March 22: GUEST SPEAKER: Dr. Esnard, Cornell University
March 29: Mid-course evaluation
·
Review of assessment form, syllabus, instructions
for student hosts.
April 5: Discussion: Productivity differences in women and men
·
Creamer, E.G. 1998. Equity and
equality in measuring faculty productivity. Women in Higher Ed.
Sept. issue: 7-8.
·
Fox, M.F. 1999. Gender, knowledge, and
scientific styles. Annals of the NY Acad. Sci. 869: 80-93.
·
Holton, G. 1999. Different perceptions of
"good science" and their effects on careers. Annals NY
Acad. Sci. 869: 78-86.
·
Loehle, C. 1987. Why women scientists publish less
than men. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 68: 495-496.
· Sonnert, G. 1995. What makes a good scientist? Determinants of peer evaluation among biologists. Soc. Studies of Science 25:35-55.
April 12: In lieu of class, please attend the Farnsworth Speaker's Presentation below. Please see the instructor regarding conflicts.
April 15 (Friday): GUEST LECTURE: Dr. Ann Bartuska, USFS
April
19: Discussion:
Whistle-blowing and harassment issues
·
Sexual harassment in the federal workplace:
Trends, progress, continuing challenges; US Merit Systems Protection Board
·
Sexual harassment: Suggested policy and procedures
for handling complaints; Am. Assoc. of University Professors.
·
Gunsalus, C. K., 1998, How to blow the whistle and
still have a career afterwards, Sci. and Eng. Ethics, vol. 4: 51-64.
April 26: International and cultural perspectives on women in science: An invited panel
·
No new readings. Panel to be selected by student
facilitator.
May 3: Discussion: Personal
and Professional Strategies (Course Wrap-Up)
·
Please be prepared to discuss: what about this
class should remain the same (and why), and what should still be altered (and
how). What topics that should be added to the 2006 syllabus?