���Lest some TIPSters think that concerns about the quality of much feminist scholarship are of little direct relevance to the teaching of psychology, consider the following document published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (http://www.aacu.org):
Frequently Asked Questions About Feminist Science Studies http://www.aacu.org/publications/pdfs/faq1.pdf The response to Question 3, "Does feminist science studies suggest a form of relativism where all perspectives are 'right'? Doesn’t science need to remain objective?" contains a great deal of equivocation, but I find worrying the response to the specific question, "What does race and ethnicity have to do with the seco nd law of thermodynamics?": "It is important for students to understand that the second law of thermodynamics is not self-evident, but evolved out of the context of the industrial revolution and, as such, is a product of that era and reflects its dominant values and the ways people were interested in interacting with the natural world." Leaving aside that no knowledgeable person would contend that the second law of TD is self-evident, or fail to recognize it was (painstakingly) arrived at, and experimentally confirmed, in the social milieu of the European industrial revolution, what is one to make of the contention that it "reflects [the] dominant values" of the era? If 20this means anything of substance, it must be that in a different social milieu a different law of physics, incompatible with the second law of TD, could well have been derived. Of course, had different conceptual schema been employed it is conceivable that the formulation of the physical principle inherent in the law could well be different, but if such a fundamental law of physics is worthy to be described as a scientific "law" the two formulations would be equivalent (as in the case of Schrodinger's quantum mechanics and Heisenberg's matrix mechanics). I think it is pernicious that an influential educational organisation is promoting, under the heading of feminist scie nce studies, the view that fundamental laws of physics are a function of what the above article describes as "social values such as race, ethnicity [and] gender". Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London http://www.esterson.org ---------------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Hake <[email protected]> Re: Persistent Myths in Feminist Scholarship Sun, 5 Jul 2009 17:39:29 -0700 Some psychologists may be interested in a recent post "Re: Persistent Myths in Feminist Scholarship [Hake (2009)]. The abstract reads: ************************************** ABSTRACT: Stephen Black, in a TIPS (Teaching in the Psychological Scienc es) post of 3 July 2009 called attention to Christina Hoff Sommers' (2009) provocative Chronicle article "Persistent Myths in Feminist Scholarship" at <http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i40/40sommers.htm>. In the ensuing discussion:(a) Paul Brandon pointed out that, although he respects her work, Hoff Sommers is "slightly right-wing" and paid by the American Enterprise Institute; (b) Allen Esterson then responded that Hoff Sommers' work "should be treated on its merits, regardless of whether her socio-political views are right or left of centre!" I agree with Esterson and point out that, as indicated in "Gender Issues in Science/Math Education (GISME) [Hake & Mallow (2008)] and by Esterson, the persistent errors in of some of the femi nist literature have been repeatedly pointed out by many non-AEI-sponsored authors from all sectors of the socio-political spectrum, e.g.: Almeder et al. (2003), Esterson (2006), Holton (1993), Koertge (1998), Newton (1997), Patai & Koertge (2003), & Tobias et al. (2002). ************************************** To access the complete 18 kB post, please click on <http://tinyurl.com/qfc6t6>. Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University 24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367 Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands. <[email protected]> <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake/> <http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi/> <http://HakesEdStuff.blogspot.com/> REFERENCES Hake, R.R. 2009. "Re: Persistent Myt hs in Feminist Scholarship," online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://tinyurl.com/qfc6t6>. Post of 5 Jul 2009 17:11:09-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. ________________________________________________________________________ Don't let your email address define you - Define yourself at http://www.tunome.com today! --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
