Inclusive Science Conference (June 15-18)

Jun 22, 2008 20:04

Having mostly recovered from the past week, it's time to blog about the Inclusive Science Conference that I worked at and attended last week.

It started on Sunday, kind of.  Court and I got there early to help with set up, which was mostly just fun work and talking with the other student workers.  There was one male student working with us, from Hamline, and it was interesting to hear what questions he had about St Kate's and the environment there, and to try to figure out reponses to his questions.  There was also the hilarious moment when we tried to order lunch from Chipotle via fax, and accidentally sent our order to a restaurant in California.  That seemed a bit far to go to pick up our already late lunch, so we canceled that order and tried again from the neighborhood Chipotle.  Conference attendees who were staying in the dorms started arriving late afternoon and into the evening, so we had wine and cheese appetizers and then dinner from Punch Pizza.  Court, B, and I got to go pick up Monday's keynote speaker, Marlene Zuk, at the airport.  She got in the car and immediately started chatting away about all sorts of things, mostly biology-related.  I had previously only heard of her, when Dr Norton mentioned her research to me during my grad school search, and that she was speaking at the conference.  She sounded amazing then, and she truly is.

Back at CSC, a bunch of us gathered to eat.  Court, B, and I were definitely the youngest there.  During a discussion about feminism, the rest of the crowd (most of whom were at least old enough to be our parents) asked us if we considered ourselves feminists.  I didn't have a good answer to that one, and I still don't.  Yes, I believe that females are equal to males and deserve equal opportunities, equal rights, equal pay, and the freedom to make their own choices concerning themselves and their bodies.  But do I consider myself a feminist?  I don't know.  I have grown up believing that males are equal to females, and for the most part, this has been true.  No one has ever told me I cannot do something because I'm female.  I realize that other people have not been as lucky as me, but that is what I have experienced.  So, having always believed these sorts of things, and seen it for the most part, I don't feel that I have a need to label myself as sometime or "take back" anything.  It makes sense that the older generation, having grown up in a time where there was more inequality between the sexes, would label themselves as feminists.  They have experienced discrimination becuase of their gender and sex, and needed a label to identify themselves to others as believe in equality.  But me?  I still don't know.  Also, as Court pointed out, I don't necessarily want to label myself.  Labels say that you are something in particular, but what if you're so much more than that label?  I don't want to limit myself.

Monday morning the conference actually started.  After much trouble getting the projectors set up (and an inept student worker, oi), we finally got the conference going.  Like I mentioned previously, Marlene Zuk was the keynote.  She talked about the use of males as model organisms, and how that really isn't such a good system.  (She's also an expert on gay animals, and, thanks to B, I will soon be reading one of her books!)  More information on her talk, as well as the other talks and presentations during the conference,can be found at one of the other speaker's (Alice Pawley) blog.

Monday evening many of the conference goers attended a dance performance by Ananya Dance Theater.  It was, um, interesting.  Usually, I love dance performances of all kinds.  This, however, was not among my favorites.  The music did not hold my attention, and I didn't really get what they were trying to say.  I was also really really tired by this point, and that certainly didn't help matters.  Many of the other conference attendees loved the performance though, so maybe it was just my exhaustion that made me dislike it.

Tuesday was full of more presentations and discussions.  Again, see Alice's blog for more info.  That evening some of us went to a banquet at Como Zoo and Conservatory.  We got to meet a two-toed sloth, up close and personal (but no petting, alas).  Sloths metabolism is so slow that it takes them a month to digest food, and they only poop once a week.  (You were just dying to know that, right?)  The food was good (I have to figure out how to make the vegetarian dish I had), I ate two pieces of cake (Thanks Marcie!), and the conversation was excellent, even at the "kids table" I was at.

Wednesday was the last day of the conference.  We broke out into three sessions, two of which were based on dance and movement like the Ananya Dance Theater used.  The rest of us convened in the middle to discuss logistics, like if we wanted another conference in a couple years (yes!), if we should form some sort of organization (yes?), and how to use discussion boards and the internet to facilitate further discussion about these topics.  (They wanted to use listservs, but I had to inform them those were no longer cool.)  After lunch, Court and I brought Marlene Zuk to the U of MN to meet a friend in the EEB department, and had an interesting conversation about the differences between single sex and coed colleges on the way there.

I told Dr Norton this, but I don't think I would have necessarily gone to this conference if she hadn't asked me to run tech stuff for it.  However, I'm very glad she did ask me to go.  Like I said, I'm not certain if I would label myself a feminist, but I do believe in many of the same values, and it was fascinating to see how those values intersect science (to use the conference's tagline).  And, having TAed for several classes and worked with high schoolers, I enjoyed the pedagogy discussions, and learning how I can be more inclusive of all students, once I have my own classroom.  Also, the discussion of the exclusion of racial minorities, purposeful or not, and how they feel in the classroom also spoke to me, as a Deaf/hard of hearing person.  The "inclusive" part of the conference didn't really cover disabilities, but I wonder if it should.  I too know how it feels to have teachers know my name, but no one elses name on the first day of class, simply becuase I'm the "different" one, or to look around the classroom and not see other people like me.  This is why black women choose to go to Spelman College and deaf students go to Gallaudet - they feel empowered.  They're with other people like them, and they're suddenly "normal." 

science, links, interesting facts, court, labels, bv, feminism, networking, conference, biology

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