Why are African Americans,
Latinos, and Native Americans severely underrepresented among
scientists? Why does this matter, and what policies and programs
address this issue? How are biomedical advances making an impact on
the health of communities of color? What role does science play in
creating racial constructs? These are some of the questions that will
be raised by Race and Science: What's the Connection?, a
series of events beginning March 2 that will bring together
distinguished scholars and activists to examine a wide range of ways
that race and science intersect. As a liberal arts institution
deeply committed to intellectual inquiry and diversity, Mount Holyoke
is presenting the Race and Science series with the hope it
will inspire new cross-disciplinary dialogue and further campus
efforts to educate a diverse group of scientists in a multicultural
world. Race and Science is cosponsored by MHC's Inclusiveness
Program and the Balfour Foundation. Lead organizers for the series
are Sean Decatur, assistant professor of chemistry, and Rochelle
Calhoun, associate dean of the College. The events will be held at
Gamble Auditorium in the Art Building. PANEL
DISCUSSION Thursday, March 2, 7:30
pm PANEL DISCUSSION Wednesday, March 22, 7:30
pm PANEL DISCUSSION Wednesday, April 5, 7:30
pm "New Technologies and
Communities of Color: Impacts and Access" FILM AND DISCUSSION Tuesday, April 18, 7:30
pm ABOUT THE PANELISTS Marsha Darling is a
historian who focuses on women of color, political power, and
political equality. She is at work on a book examining the social
construction of race and sex in American scientific thinking.
EVENTS
"Race and Science: A Dialogue on the Issues"
Willie Pearson Jr.
Professor of sociology Wake Forest
University Sean Decatur
Assistant professor of chemistry Mount
Holyoke College Anthony
Walton Writer in residence
Bowdoin College
"Fixing the Pipeline: Increasing
Racial Diversity in the Scientific Community"
Yolanda S. George Deputy director and
program director, Education and Human Resources Directorate, American
Association for the Advancement of Sciences
Manuel Gomez Vice chancellor of student
affairs University of California, Irvine
Becky Wai-Ling Packard
Assistant professor of psychology and education
Mount Holyoke College
James Wyche Associate provost and professor of
medical science Brown University; executive
director, The Leadership Alliance
Marsha Darling Associate professor of history
and women's studies Georgetown University
Troy Duster
Professor of sociology New York University
Jorge R. Schement
Professor and codirector, Institute for Information Policy,
College of Communications Pennsylvania State
University
Miss Evers' Boys A dramatization about
"The Tuskeegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male," a
forty-year study by the United States Public Health Service that
involved 400 African American men with syphilis, who were used as
subjects yet were excluded from receiving a cure.
Sean Decatur's research interests
include biophysical chemistry and spectroscopic studies of proteins;
conflicts arising between scientists and policy makers; and the
impacts of science and technology on communities of color. He is the
coordinator of the Balfour Program at Mount Holyoke to encourage
women of color to pursue careers in the sciences.
Troy Duster is a former director of the
Institute for Social Change at the University of California,
Berkeley. He is the author of Backdoor to Eugenics and The
Social Consequences of Genetic Disclosure.
Yolanda S. George is dedicated to increasing
the participation of minorities, women, and disabled persons in
science and engineering. She has implemented such multiyear projects
as Science Linkages in the Community, Science Education Reform for
All, and the AAAS Black Church Project.
Manuel Gomez has sought to improve education and intercultural
understanding for nearly thirty years, through his work with Oakland
Public Schools, the U.S. Department of Education, and the University
of California. Becky
Wai-Ling Packard specializes in the role of future images in
fostering students' motivation. Her research focuses on women and
minorities in science, especially first-generation college goers.
Willie Pearson Jr.'s
research has centered on the career patterns of Ph.D.
scientists--particularly African Americans--and human resource issues
in science and engineering. He is the author of Black Scientists,
White Society, and Colorless Science: A Study of Universalism in
American Science and coeditor of Who Will Do Science?
Educating the Next Generation.
Jorge R. Schement is the author of Global Networks:
Tendencies and Tensions of the Information Age and Competing
Visions, Complex Realities: Social Aspects of the Information
Society. He serves on the advisory board of the Advertising
Council and the American Libraries Society Institute.
Anthony Walton is the author of
the critically acclaimed book Mississippi: An American
Journey. He has written extensively about the social and
political challenges facing African Americans. His essay "Technology
versus African-Americans" appeared in the January 1999 Atlantic
Monthly. James
Wyche is founder and executive director of The Leadership
Alliance, an academic consortium working to expand opportunities for
underrepresented students and faculty, from kindergarten up to the
university level.
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