Voices in Science Writing: Race, Gender, and Culture
This section is comprised of readings that address the question: Whose voices are communicated and amplified in the sciences?
As you read, think about whose voices and whose knowledge you have been taught or have chosen to read or listen to. Consider also whose voice and knowledge may be absent from the science communities or conversations you participate in.
The first two readings, “Indigenous Science: Proven, Practical and Timeless” and “A Window into the Indigenous Science of Some Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America” are chapters from a book titled Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science, which highlights the need to incorporate Indigenous Knowledge into science education.
“Indigenizing Science and Reasserting Indigeneity in Research” is the introduction to a special edition of the journal Human Biology devoted entirely to Indigenous Science, and highlights some of the articles in the issue.
In “Weaving Indigenous and Sustainability Sciences to Diversify Our Methods” the authors address the need to bridge Indigenous and Western Science systems, especially in sustainability science, and they offer some methods for starting that process.
“Traditional Knowledge in a Time of Crisis: Climate Change, Culture and Communication,” by R.D.K. Herman, is part history of Western culture, part summary of Western vs. Indigenous science, and part narrative of the Polynesian canoe as a model of indigeneity.
In “The Disturbing Resilience of Scientific Racism,” Ramin Skibba summarizes the history of scientific racism as discussed in Angela Saini’s book Superior: The Return of Race Science.
In “Unnatural Selection: How Racism Warps Scientific Truths” Abaki Beck documents examples of colonialism and racism in the history of Western science.
“‘The Finkbeiner Test'” reports on the ways journalists write about female scientists, and determines that gender is best left out of profiles of scientists and their work.
“Inequality Quantified: Mind the Gender Gap” was published in the journal Nature, and reports that females scientists face discrimination in academia and the work force.
