Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2017 Term D
TF 9:00-10:50
Salisbury Labs 411
Instructor: Constance Clark
Office: 408 D Salisbury Labs
Phone: (508) 831-5712
Email: cclark@wpi.edu
Office Hours:
Monday 3:00-4:00, Tuesday 11:00-12:00, Friday 2:00-3:00, and by appointment
The history of the life sciences is a vast subject, and one that we cannot cover
comprehensively in seven weeks. The emphasis, therefore, will be on exploring some
important themes in that history. Rather than tracing a linear chronology of important
developments in the history of the life sciences, we will focus on the history of how
people have “done” science: what organisms they have studied; how the organisms
chosen have shaped the kinds of questions people have asked, as well as the kinds of
answers they have found; the kinds of laboratory and field techniques that have shaped
their understanding of biology and the natural world; the social, cultural and institutional
settings in which people have asked questions about the natural world; and a survey of
the history of medicine.
Course Outcomes:
1. To learn to ask good and heuristic questions about history.
2. To learn to evaluate historical evidence critically
3. To improve critical reading skills
4. To improve research, writing and presentation skills
Assignments:
Brief written answers to discussion questions based on readings in Endersby, A
Guinea Pig’s History of Biology: You will choose two questions from a list of
questions for discussion for the first four reading assignments from Endersby to
answer in writing (and you should be able to discuss those you did not respond to
in writing). The questions will be posted on the myWPI course website. You will
bring your typed (but brief) answers to class. Your answers must be typed and
printed out, but need not be in essay form; they are intended to help focus your
reading and get your group discussions started. You will hand them in at the end
of class. Papers scribbled during class will not be accepted.
Dates due: March 28, March 31, April 4, April 7
Written questions on subsequent reading assignments: two good questions typed
and brought to class to use in your group discussions. You do not need to answer
the questions, but you should put real thought into generating good questions.
They should be historically interesting, not trivial, they should explore significant
historical patterns or problems, and they should be questions that will provoke
worthwhile discussion. You will bring your typed, printed questions to class. You
will hand them in at the end of class. Papers scribbled during class will not be
accepted.
Dates due: April 11, April 14, April 21, April 25, April 28, and May 2
Short Paper (no more than 750 words) on Porter, Blood and Guts. A detailed
description of the paper assignment will be posted on the course website.
Due date: On course website by 3:00 Monday, March 27
Group presentations: Presentation of a relevant topic of your own choosing in the
history of the life sciences—either biology or medicine. You will hand in a
complete, formal bibliography at least two days before your presentation date,
submitted on the Canvas course website. You should also hand in a short
description of each person’s contribution in order to make sure everyone receives
the appropriate amount of credit. No more than 15-20 minutes for the whole
presentation.
Due dates to be determined based on groups’ preferences and course schedule.
Short Paper on Endersby: Short (no more than two typed pages) paper reflecting
on one of the themes or issues raised in any one of the chapters of the book. You
may also draw on class discussions or presentations; but keep in mind that your
discussion should rely on very specific examples and details.
Due date: Posted on course website by 3:00 pm Monday, April 17
Occasional in-class short writing assignments
The reading may include things that are unfamiliar to you, especially if you have not
taken a lot of biology. If you find things in the reading that are unfamiliar, don’t feel
intimidated: bring your questions to class for discussion. This is a highly participatory
class, with a lot of discussion. Since uninformed discussion would be a waste of
everyone’s time, it is essential that everyone keep up with the reading.
Because active student participation is essential to the success of this course, the grade
for participation in class includes an attendance component; but if you are suffering from
a contagious disease please do not come to class until you are well again. If this happens,
let me know by email, and we will figure out how to make a realistic and fair
accommodation.
Please do not play computer games, whisper, engage in private conversations, sleep,
update your Facebook status, Tweet, text, work on homework for other classes, or watch
cat videos during class! If you feel compelled to do these things at the hours when our
class meets, please do them somewhere else. In particular, when your classmates are
making presentations, you should give them your undivided attention, both because it is
impolite not to, and because things from student presentations will appear on quizzes.
Please make sure that cell phones are turned off before class. You should come to class
having done the assignments and prepared to contribute to discussions.
Consultations and office hours: Please do not feel that office hours are only for raising
problems: I will be happy to talk to you at any time during my office hours, and encourage
you to make appointments at other times if your schedule does not allow you to come
during my office hours. I will also be glad to talk with you at other times: If you stop by
and find my office door open, you are welcome to come in and talk: I will be pleased to
see you. (You should not, however, assume that I will be available to answer long emails
on Saturday and Sunday nights!)
The research librarians at Gordon Library can assist you with a variety of research
questions related to locating and citing sources. Their walk-in office hours are M-F 8-5 and
Saturday 1-5 in offices 202A-C. You may also schedule a research meeting with a librarian
by visiting tinyurl.com/wpilibrary or writing to library@wpi.edu. We have wonderful
librarians who are eager to help you: I recommend them very highly.
WPI offers an excellent writing center, and even the best writers can profit from consulting
the people there. Here is important and useful information from the WPI Writing Center
Director: Located on the first floor of Daniels Hall (room 116), the Writing Center is a
valuable resource for helping you improve as a writer. Writing Center tutors are your peers
(other undergraduate and graduate students at WPI) who are experienced writers
themselves and who enjoy helping others work through thinking and writing problems.
Although a single tutoring session should never be seen as a quick fix for any writing
difficulty, these sessions can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, and teach
you strategies for organizing, revising, and editing your course papers, projects, and
presentations. Writing Center services are free and open to all WPI students in all classes,
and tutors will happily work with you at any stage of the writing process (early
brainstorming, revising a draft, polishing sentences in a final draft). To make an
appointment: http://wpi.edu/+writing.
If you have not already done so, students who need to utilize accommodations in this class
are encouraged to contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) as soon as possible to
ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion. This office can be
contacted via email: DisabilityServices@wpi.edu or via phone: (508) 831-4908, or in
person: Daniels Hall First Floor (124 or 137).
Plagiarism will not be tolerated, of course. The WPI policy on Academic Honesty is
available online at http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/Policies/Honesty/policy.html. When in
doubt—and there are sometimes good reasons to be in doubt—about whether an act violates
those policies, it is always best to ask.
Friday, March 17 Introduction to the history of For discussion Friday, read Porter Blood and
medicine and ideas about the body Guts from beginning through page 52. Write
out two questions (typed) for discussion and
bring them to class
Tuesday, March History of Medicine For discussion Tuesday read Porter, pages 53-
21 74. Write out two questions (typed) for
discussion and bring them to class
Friday, March 24 For Friday, read Porter 75-134. Write out two
questions (typed) for discussion and bring
them to class
Tuesday, March The Quagga: History of ideas about For Tuesday: read Porter, 135-169 and
28 generation and inheritance Endersby, A Guinea Pig’s History of Biology,
1-28. Read the discussion questions on Porter
and on Endersby: You should be able to
discuss all of the discussion questions, but
you only need to write answers to two of
them, one on each book.
Tuesday, April 4 Library Research Presentation in For Tuesday read Endersby, A Guinea Pig’s
SL 411 at 9:00 History of Biology, 61-94 Write out brief (a
Human heredity, Francis Galton, sentence or two for each question) answers to
Eugenics, and Statistics two of the discussion questions (typed) and
bring them to class.
Fri., April 7 Quiz 2 For Friday read Endersby, 95-127. Write out
Pea Plants and Hawkweed: brief (a sentence or two for each question)
Mendelism, and the mechanisms of answers to two of the discussion questions
evolution: Introduction (typed) and bring them to class.
Tues., April 11 Oenotheria lamarckiana: Problems For discussion Tuesday, read Endersby, pp.
of inheritance, regression, mutation, 128-169. Write out (typed, printed)
and mechanisms of evolution twodiscussion questions of your own about
Discussion and Presentations this chapter, and bring them to class
Fri., April 14 Drosophila: the Fly Room and For discussion Friday, Read Endersby, pp.
Chromosomes 170-208. Write out (typed, printed) two
Quiz 3 discussion questions of your own about this
chapter, and bring them to class
Due Date: Short paper on Endersby
posted on course website by 3:00 Monday,
Tues., April 18 No Class April 17
Tues., April 25 Late Twentieth-Century biology For discussion Tuesday, read Endersby, pp.
and its context 292-233. Write out (typed, printed) two
Discussion and Presentations discussion questions of your own about this
chapter, and bring them to class