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Acs Jchemed 2c00293
Acs Jchemed 2c00293
org/jchemeduc Article
■ INTRODUCTION
We begin this article with a quote from the student opinion on
reflection of the subjectivity of how the pedagogical decisions
are made in teaching “true science” vs what existing scientific
instruction (SOIS) received by one of the coauthors (SB) from knowledge tells us. This has resulted in the propagation of
scientific miseducation for generations.
their biochemistry lecture class:
Addressing the miseducation of teachers, two decades ago,
“I also feel that in such a scientif ic class that has nothing to do
Joyce E. King wrote: “Critical, transformative teachers must
with gender or the LGBTQ community, the Professor’s personal
develop a pedagogy of social action and advocacy that really
beliefs should have been kept to himself or discussed outside of class
celebrates diversity, not just random holidays, isolated cultural
rather than in f ront of everyone in the middle of class. A student
artefacts, or ‘festivals and food’”.6 While explaining how
answered a question about a disease that affects more XY (males)
miseducation of teachers is done, King introduced a new term,
than XX (females) by stating “male” and “female” in her answer.
dysconscious racism, defined as an acceptance of dominant
This is a concept that is WIDELY taught in the BIOLOGY classes
White norms and privileges arising from the uncritical habit of
at THIS SCHOOL. The student should not have been called out
the mind leading to the maintenance of the status quo. In
in class and asked to change their answer because the un-of fensive
contrast to unconscious bias7 which has been quoted as
words of “male” and “female” were triggering for the professor.
involuntary and used in the academy often, King’s idea of
Especially since there are lots of people out there who genuinely
dysconcious racism demands a critical analysis of the history of
believe there are only two genders. Such a belief should not be
systemic discrimination in the institutions and coming up with
triggering nor offensive and definitely should not be debated in a
effective interventions.6 Although such critical thinking can be
scientific class that has nothing to do with comments about gender
inbuilt in the social sciences, even today, future STEM
made by the professor.” Taken from the survey of student educators seldom get any disciplinary training on the
opinion on instruction for SB’s biochemistry class. relationship between history, politics, and science. The
This response that masks scientific ignorance (such as the
insistence on the strict sex/gender binary) with appeals to
scientific purity typifies the kind of criticism and hostility Received: April 14, 2022
instructors face when they try to use inclusive language in Revised: September 24, 2022
STEM classes. When scientifically established facts, such as the Published: November 14, 2022
nonbinary nature of both sex and gender1−5 are seen by
students of science as a belief, one might ask: Are we being true
to scientific knowledge? We use this student comment as a
© 2022 American Chemical Society and
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00293
112 J. Chem. Educ. 2023, 100, 112−117
Journal of Chemical Education pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Article
importance of inclusion and development of STEM identity for of Black and Brown and colonized people with modern STEM
students from socially discriminated communities have been discipline.
felt and discussed in Chemistry Literature;8 however, we found The instructor S.B. collaborated with a few students who
only one recent work outlining a pedagogical model/ had taken the class already (M.R.: She/her, J.H.: He/him, A.B.:
curriculum developed by STEM departments to disrupt She/her, A.G.: She/her, and A.M.: She/her). S.B. also
dysconcious racism in STEM.9 The effect of this dysconcious consulted D.B. (She/her), D.M. (He/him), and Y.O. (She/
racism might explain the lower retention of URM and LGBT her) during the development of the course with regards to the
students in STEM, as STEM has very often heavily invested in framework and content and then preparation of this manu-
the numerical diversity aspect through hiring of staff/faculty script.
and recruitment of students while not focusing on the support
part.10,11
In this article we describe the development, implementation,
■ THE CONTEXT OF INTRODUCTION OF THIS
COURSE, COURSE OBJECTIVE, AND LEARNING
and student experience from a special topic course in OUTCOME
chemistry, Science and Feminism, as a disruptive tool to
challenge the status quo in Chemistry. Using Critical Race As one of the main emphases of this course was to understand
Theory and intersectional feminism as the framework,12,13 this the historical context of knowledge production and its
course aimed at creating an intellectual as well as physical relationship with power and politics, it is imperative to
acknowledge the historical and political context in which this
space for STEM students at East Carolina University (ECU)
course was developed and offered. Following the murder of
where they could explore their identities and how these
George Floyd there was nationwide galvanization of existing
intersect with the knowledge base and the pedagogy of science
and new antiracism groups in the academy. At East Carolina
by looking at these from historical, political, and feminist lens.
University, several task forces were created to assess our roles
The other aim was to shine light, through this process, how
in institutional racism and anti-Blackness as well as to re-
scientific epistemology and culture have strong links with
evaluate academic practices. That same year, the Chemistry
capitalism, enslavement, colonization, and exploitation of
Department posted an antiracism statement on its Web site,
female-bodied folks. We provide the historical context of
which stated: “...That means we, as a department, must
teaching this class in our institution, development of the course
continually self-reflect and ask hard questions of ourselves. Do
syllabus, assignments, and evaluations adopted for this course our pedagogy, assignments, exams, and grading practices help
over the past two years as a template for future course everyone to succeed?” (The link to the full statement is in the
development. In the Discussion and Conclusion section, we Supporting Information). Although from individual and some
also provide a short description from qualitative analysis of institutional levels there were efforts to have intentional
online student surveys to understand what students thought conversations on anti-Blackness and the academy before, the
about the importance of such a STEM course. Finally, this collective efforts to make tangible institutional and pedagogical
course is intended to produce an affirming space that will allow changes gained momentum after this murder. To meet the
minoritized students to enter a chemistry class without having promise made in the antiracism statement cited above, this
to leave their identities at the metaphorical and physical door special topic class (Chem 5527) was created and offered to all
of STEM classes. undergraduate and graduate students in STEM. The course did
113 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00293
J. Chem. Educ. 2023, 100, 112−117
Journal of Chemical Education pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Article
Table 2. Texts and Unit Questions Used in Science and Feminism Class
Unit Text Used Unit Questions Learning outcomes
Unit 1: Not Feminism is for everybody: b. Hooks A. Scientific objectivity. Is universal objectivity a Students will develop a critical
Just the Jar- feminist idea? Objectivity and the Four “Waves” of feminist consciousness. They
gon Feminism will be able to differentiate
(Chapters 1, 8, 10) Teaching to transgress. Education as the B. Using existing feminist ideologies, devising our own between different feminist
practice of freedom: b. Hooks Feminist lens to look at the STEM disciplines/ ideologies and their relevance
contents/evaluations to STEM
(Chapters 8, 11, 12) On being included Racism and diversity in C. What is diversity? What is inclusion? Going from
institutional life: S. Ahmed the individual to the system, bias to -isms. Biased
(Chapter 2) Ghost Story for Darwin: B. Subramaniam and unbiased in science and society
(Introduction) Unit debate topic: Science done by a feminist
and feminist practice in science are the same thing
Unit 2: Who is Death of nature. Women, ecology, and scientific revolution: C. A. The eugenic project Students should be able to
science for? Merchant recognize how scientific
Who is the (Chapter 6) Medical Apartheid: The dark history of medical B. Perfecting C-section questions are politically and
primary examination on black Americans from colonial times to the historically motivated and
benefactor present: H. A. Washington apply this understanding to
of science? current scientific efforts
(Chapters 1, 4, 13) Unit Debate topic: Health care providers C. Social Darwinism: Facts and myths about evolution
(Doctors, dentists, nurses, PA, PT, and administrators) D. Tuskegee airmen case
should be required to learn the history of medical racism,
sexism, and homo/transphobia and its legacy as part of their E. Whose consent matters in science? The legacy of
licensing process and it should be an ongoing training than a HeLa immortal cells
onetime one. F. The story of DNA structure: Rosalind Franklin
Unit 3: Quan- Meeting the universe halfway: K. Barad A. The Schrodinger’s Cat paradox: In this section we Students should be able to
tum futur- will investigate if science is objective or subjective identify the interdependence
ism with an (Chapter 1) Unit Debate topic: “The past is never dead, it is not B. Randomness and its connection to forbidden of scientific knowledge with
emphasis on even past” territory: In this section we will try to explore the popular culture and move-
Black Quan- connection between the individual and the ments
tum futur- collective in a biased and unbiased framework and
ism then interrogate if we can do the same with our
society to evaluate its biases.
on- and off-line discussions and reading scientific journal create disembodied and “pure” knowledge unaffected by the
articles and book chapters as recommended by the instructor. society and politics.18 This false perception of purity might
As preparation for the developing of this course, the force students from minoritized communities in STEM to
instructor asked the following questions: What institutional choose between the history of their communities’ relation with
efforts have been in place to educate and make ALL STEM science knowledge production and their experience in science
students aware of issues of gender and race? How do we class. This ahistorical and apolitical positioning of STEM
facilitate a conversation on race, gender, and sexuality in knowledge and practice has been critiqued by FSTS scholars,18
STEM with overlapping identities and backgrounds of both who argue that any knowledge is historically situated and is
educators and students? Are we teaching, as a chemistry
shaped by the power of politics. Omission of the history and
pedagogical approach, what questions in STEM are considered
worthy of investigation and what influences this worthiness? politics behind scientific knowledge and culture production
As an example, the American Chemical Society while perpetuates a set of uncritical scientific practices which not
explaining the structure and aims for standard chemistry only contributes to dysconcious racism but also maintains the
curriculum as, “(t) o ensure that key skills and knowledge are status quo. Such uncritical and apolitical position of science
addressed” and “(c) ourses should be taught in a challenging, leads to claims like Black Americans contracting Covid-19 at a
engaging, and inclusive manner that accommodates a variety of higher rate, making it a phenotypic claim in both scientific and
learning styles”,14 it does not list any disciplinary training on popular imagination rather than writing about how the
DEI. historical relation of Black Americans with the American
As will be described, the special topic in chemistry class medical system, their access to the medical service, and the
presented in this article was named Science and Feminism, socioeconomic conditions has contributed to this epidemio-
instead of Diversity in science based on the critique of the logical data.20 On the other hand, a few works tackled these
performativeness of diversity work presented by Ahmed in her issues by critical engaging with the history and politics of
work as well as the definition of feminism given by hooks.15,16 American medicine with Black Americans rather than making
We must add here that although Feminist science and it sound like a phenotypic issue.21−23
technology studies (FSTS) authors17,18 have long engaged Based on these, the objective of this special topic course was
with the question whether science can be done as a feminist
to interrogate scientific objectivity, scientific history, scientific
practice by including a critical and transformative curriculum
breaking away from the binary between science and society, philosophy, and socializing in science using feminist lens. It is
chemistry degree accreditation agencies, like ACS, still do not very important to add here that this class was not intended to
recommend a chemistry class on DEI in the list of create new feminist scholarship but rather shine the light of
recommended classes.19 The lack of such a disciplinary class feminism on science as an enterprise. An overarching theme/
recommendation on the history and politics of science learning objective form feminist science is to recognize that all
epistemology and DEI might wrongly perpetuate the absolute knowledge is historically situated and is influenced by power and
objectivity of science and scientists, where the latter have this politics.18 This overarching objective was divided into the
nearly mystic ability to transcend their embodied biases and following learning objectives:
114 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00293
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Journal of Chemical Education pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Article
• Recognize the salient characters of different social justice assignment as some of the African American students did not
movements/feminist movements and how these influ- want to watch it and be triggered. They wrote a reflection on a
enced the STEM culture book on race and gender that they had read.
• Understand the definitions of keywords (like institu- Unit 4 consisted of reading articles in STEM that used
tional racism, DEI work etc., different gender expression identity (racial/gender/sexuality) as empirical parameters and
terms) and be able to analyze lived experiences from how that can further propagate the absoluteness of these
these learnings categories rather than dismantling these constructed realities.
• Compare and critique different ways social structures The end of the unit assignments was writing a reflection from
have contributed to the way STEM is taught and all the readings and participation. There was no debate for this
practiced since the Industrial revolution unit as this was close to the semester end.
• Plan intersectional intervention to existing methods of
STEM teaching/research/workplace scenario ■ ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENTS
feminism in the context of society, but may have no discussion The Supporting Information is available at https://pubs.ac-
on how these social constructs creates the scientific language s.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00293.
and the way of doing science. These surveys added that the Word frequency analysis (XLSX)
ability to host this discussion within STEM puts science ECU Chemistry Pledge Against Racism full statement,
knowledge and practice in the context of society, its history, survey questions, method for survey analysis, excerpts
and politics. Introspective analysis of the benefits of the course from student survey answers (PDF, DOCX)
for students who had not taken this course but participated in
the survey came from their own personal desire to understand
the intersectionality of differing cultures and how that would
apply this knowledge for future jobs or positions they may
■ AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Authors
hold. Among these two groups of students there is an Michelle Anne C. Reyes − Department of Biology, East
agreeance that the benefits of this course in the field of Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27834,
academia as well as their proposed professional career support United States; Email: reyesm15@students.ecu.edu
its importance in our intuition. The conscious perspective Sambuddha Banerjee − Department of Chemistry, East
students gain from this course helps them propel their Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858,
understanding of the unspoken innerworkings of institutional United States; orcid.org/0000-0002-4810-9561;
racism, hidden history, and much more, which in turn will Email: banerjees17@ecu.edu
propel their growth as an adult and a professional. To
conclude, we return to the student comment which appeared Authors
at the start this article. Instead of seeing the student comment Jonathan Hall − Department of Chemistry, East Carolina
as a single deviation, as STEM practitioners, we must University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858, United States
understand our contributions in creating such ideas. These Yasmene H. Odeh − Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina
ideas are products of systemic miseducation that allows the University, Greenville, North Carolina 27834, United States
weaponization of unscientific facts as true science. This process Aied Garcia − Department of Biology, East Carolina
is used by educators and scientists when they choose to use University, Greenville, North Carolina 27834, United States
gendered and racialized language in their profession. As a Amy Benton − Wayne Community College, Department of
queer student themselves, S.B. often did not have the tools or Science, Goldsboro, North Carolina 27534, United States
language to challenge dysconcious racism in class. Through Anna Moffett − East Carolina University, Department of
this course, we tried to break that circle of violence and Neuroscience, Greenville, North Carolina 27834, United
helpless silence for future STEM practitioners. The authors are States
116 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00293
J. Chem. Educ. 2023, 100, 112−117
Journal of Chemical Education pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc Article
Dennis McCunney − Intercultural Affairs, East Carolina (16) Hooks, B.Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of
University, Greenville, North Carolina 27834, United States Freedom; Routledge, New York, 1994.
Diya Bose − William and Mary, Department of Sociology, (17) Longino, H. E. Can there be a feminist science? Hypatia 1987,
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185, United States 2 (2), 51.
(18) Subramaniam, B.Ghost Story for Darwin; University of Illinois
Complete contact information is available at: Press, 2014.
https://pubs.acs.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00293 (19) ACS guidelines for Bachelors’ degree program. https://www.
acs.org/content/acs/en/education/policies/acs-approval-program/
Notes guidelines-supplements.html (accessed on 2022-07-22).
(20) The Coronavirus is infecting and killing Black Americans at an
The authors declare no competing financial interest. alarmingly high rate. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/
■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors acknowledge that this article was conceived,
2020/04/07/coronavirus-is-infecting-killing-black-americans-an-
alarmingly-high-rate-post-analysis-shows/ (accessed 2022-07-22).
(21) Yancy, C. W. COVID 19 and African Americans. JAMA 2020,
323 (323), 1891−1892.
researched, and written on Indigenous land and “We (22) Li, Y.; Galea, S. Racism and COVID-19 epidemic. Am. J. Public
acknowledge the Tuscarora people, who are the traditional Health 2020, 110 (110), 956.
custodians of the land on which we work and live, and (23) Khazanchi, R.; Evans, C. T.; Marcelin, J. R. Racism, not race,
recognize their continuing connection to the land, water, and drives inequity across the COVID-19 continuum. JAMA 2020, 3 (3),
air that Greenville consumes. We pay respect to the eight state- No. e2019933.
recognized tribes of North Carolina; Coharie, Eastern Band of (24) Furgione, B. K. Evans.; Russell, W. B. J., III; Jahani, S. Divided
Cherokee, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi We Test: Proficiency Rate Disparity Based on the Race, Gender, and
Band of Saponi, Sappony, and Waccamaw-Siouan, all Nations, Socioeconomic Status of Students on the Florida US History End-of-
Course Assessment. J. Soc. Stud. Educ. Res. 2018, No. 9, 62.
and their elders past, present, and emerging”. We thank the
Chemistry Department, East Carolina University for support.
S.B. is thankful to Dr. Banu Subramanian, Dr. Marsan, and Dr.
Peralta for their support and constructive criticisms in
developing this course and this article.
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