WITH: Women in Technological History

Maines on women’s career choices

Rachel Maines, a [WITH member and] scholar of science and technology, wrote a piece in the May 25 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education asking “Why Women Become Veterinarians but Not Engineers.”  She points out that schools of veterinary medicine are dominated by women, with 77% of the students in doctoral veterinary-medicine being women, and up to 99% of undergraduates, as compared with 18% of engineering undergraduates being women.  What is striking is that this shift toward women’s participation in the profession has been extremely rapid and apparently spontaneous.  In response to questions about why this has happened, some have cited Title VII, the publication of Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small, and the low pay associated with veterinary practice.  But Maines refutes each of these and instead recommends that studies be undertaken to attempt to learn what has happened in veterinary medicine that might be applicable to engineering and science. (See http://www.chronicle.com)

–from http://www.worldexpertise.com/May_2007.htm

2006 Newsletter, including 2006 Annual Report

WITH Annual Meeting, Oct 13th, 2006 in Las Vegas - Reportabout 38 people attended the meeting.

- WITH award

This year’s WITH travel award was presented to Mara Mills, who is a graduate student at the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University. Her paper has the title: “The Deaf May Lead the Way”: Sound Spectrography and Visible Speech. It was presented in session 22 on Friday, Oct 13th, 2006. The paper traces the history of sound spectrography, which was originally designed as an aid to deaf oral speaking, and yet it seems to have provided a fertile research site for quite a few technologies, like e.g. bird song documentation, machine speech and cybernetics. Mara Mills focuses on the significance of minority experience to technological development as well as on the experience of deaf people who are constructed as sound makers by science and technology. Her paper therefore contributes to the conversation about “modes of difference” and broadens our view of the differently abled, as it introduces us to the experiences of a group underrepresented in SHOT.

- WITH travel award prize committee

the prize committee consists of three WITH members, at least one of whom has been a member of the WITH executive board. it operates on a rotational scheme. each member serves three years. a new member of this committee will be elected at the WITH meeting each year.

present members:
molly berger, case western reserve, will join the committee for 2007 to 2009. martina blum, munich center for the history of science and technology, (2006/2007) joan rothschild, city university of new york graduate center, (2006-2008) will be the chair of the committee in 2007.

- WITH travel award funding

as dues were collected at the meeting, we also asked for some extra funding for the WITH award. we all want to thank you for being so generous. about half of the collected money was given for the award.

- 50th SHOT anniversary 2007, washington, d.c.

Debbie Douglas gave a short oversight of some activities planned so far for the next two SHOT meetings that will encompass the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Society. Here is her report:

The Anniversay theme is: Looking Back, Looking Beyond. Next fall’s meeting will be held in Washington, DC and will be somewhat more focused on SHOT’s history. The 2008 meeting will be in Lisbon and the emphasis will be on SHOT’s future. You can expect extra events as well as commemoratives such as a poster and other items. More information will be forthcoming via email and newsletters.

Of particular interest is a special workshop that will be held on Thursday, October 18th. Funded by the National Science Foundation, this will be the first of two sessions (the second will be in Lisbon in 2008) that explores some of the most important ideas and interesting thinkers in our field. Speakers will be invited and papers prepared in advance but all will be welcome to attend and participate in the discussions. The National Academy of Engineering will host two evening events, Wednesday (public) and Thursday (SHOT); there will be wonderful program featuring SHOT’s daVinci Medalists and receptions sponsored by the Lemelson Center.

Since her presentation in Las Vegas, the Anniversary Planning Committee has had to change its Sunday public outreach program. Originally, conceived as an event at the National Museum of American History, the closure of NMAH for renovations has meant some modifications in the plans. The National Air and Space Museum has agreed to host this event but the Smithsonian registrars have said “no” to the idea of lending artifacts from the other museums. This event was intended to allow SHOT members to talk directly with visitors about their favorite artifacts. If you have a favorite Air and Space artifact, you are still welcome to participate but please contact Debbie (ddouglas@mit.edu) directly as this event will be coordinated by the Albatrosses.

Most importantly, Debbie encourages WITH members to submit great ideas for papers and panels. While there will be some historiographical presentations (we discussed a panel that might look at gender and the linked histories of SHOT and WITH), the program committee is mainly looking for current scholarship. In Washington, the anniversary will likely attract some media attention and so everyone on Program Committee and the Anniversary Committee is hoping for especially strong presentations.

ANY PROPOSALS AND / OR VOLUNTEERS TO ORGANIZE A WITH-PANEL for Washington?????

another idea was to collect reflections from WITH members on 32 years WITH experiences and make a special newsletter-edition in analogy to the 21-years-coming of age newsletter in 1996.

all WITH newsletters and other material has been transferred to the archives of the American History Museum.

Bev Sauer offered help to look for rooms for WITH activities at johns hopkins university.

- 50th SHOT anniversary 2008, lisbon

daryl hafter (1325 Brooklyn Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-4414. Phone: 734-995-4918, email: dhafter@emich.edu) proposed to assemble a current bibliography of gender history for the lisbon meeting to have some material at hand for distribution to interested people.

rachel maines, francesca bray, and bayla singer joined into the effort. others interested are welcome to join the group and / or asked to send references to them.

- WITH newsletter

common consent was to keep the newsletter as a means of community building. bev sauer resigned as newsletter editor. molly berger, case western reserve (molly.berger@case.edu) volunteered to take over the job.

FOR THE 2007 NEWSLETTER, PLEASE SEND UPDATED CONTACT INFORMATION, NEWS OF PUBLICATIONS, PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS, AND NEWS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE TO MOLLY BERGER AT MOLLY.BERGER@CASE.EDU.

on behalf of the WITH board,

martina blum, annual meeting organizer
molly berger, newsletter editor
jonathan coopersmith, treasurer
melanie mccalmont, webadministrator

Chemical Heritage Foundation, “City, Industry, and Environment in Transatlantic Perspective,” Philadelphia, April 16-17, 2004

“City, Industry, and Environment in Transatlantic Perspective,” Philadelphia, April 16-17, 2004 The Chemical Heritage Foundation invites proposals for papers on urban environmental history in North America, the British Isles, continental Europe, Latin America and other regions constituting the Atlantic world.The conference will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from Friday, April 16th through Saturday, April 17, 2004. It will be hosted by the Chemical Heritage Foundation through the generous support of the Gordon and Mary Cain Foundation.

We welcome proposals that recognize the common experiences and contexts of American and European cities for understanding relationships among cities, manufacturing and commercial activities, and environmental consequences, responses, and challenges. We are particularly interested in research situated in the long nineteenth century. While case studies of cities or of industries in specific urban contexts are welcome, comparative studies and research that crosses geographies are especially encouraged. We also seek papers that explore ways that technological innovation, urban ideals, markets, and environmental conceptualizations linked cities across space. How, for example, did professional and informal networks of communication and knowledge in science, engineering, business, labor, law, politics, and medicine shape responses to environmental consequences of industrial and urban growth? How did responses by community members, reformers, and workers engage these groups in discourses across class, cultural, or political boundaries?

We aim to bring both established and younger scholars together to share their ongoing research as well as broader perspectives on themes and opportunities in urban environmental history. The conference will have a workshop format with a limited number of participants. Participants will give 10-15 minute presentations followed by discussion. We expect to be able to contribute to the cost of travel, lodging and meals for workshop participants.

The deadline for proposals is December 1, 2003. Proposals should be 250-500 words and accompanied by a short c.v. and an email contact address. Senior scholars who would like to participate as discussants are warmly encouraged to send a c.v. and statement of interest. Materials may be submitted electronically or by mail to the address below. Notification of accepted proposals will be made on or about December 31, 2003. Invited scholars will be asked to confirm participation by mid January 2004.

Please feel free to contact Donna Rilling, Chemical Heritage Foundation, with any questions.

Donna J. Rilling

Associate Professor, SUNY, Stony Brook and Gordon Cain Fellow in Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Policy, 2003-04

Chemical Heritage Foundation
315 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702
(215) 925-2222
(215) 925-2178 x317 (direct)
DonnaR@chemheritage.org

2004 Organization of American Historians, “American Revolutions’

The 2004 Organization of American Historians convention program will be organized around the theme of American Revolutions. The OAH expects the program to explore a wide variety of political, social, cultural, intellectual, economic, diplomatic, military, technological, and environmental transformations in American history–as well as movements that sought and failed to bring about such transformations. We also expect the program to examine counterrevolutions and anti-radical backlash and to include sessions and papers that emphasize continuity, challenging the “revolutionary” character of particular moments, movements, or trends in American history. Finally, we welcome sessions that explore the relationship of the United States to various sorts of revolutions in the rest of the world, as well as those that examine revolutions in the interpretation of American history OAH Annual Meeting, 112 North Bryan Ave., Bloomington IN 47408-4199, tel 812-855-9853 fax: 812-855-0696. See URL: http://www.oah.org/meetings/2004/

Western Association of Women Historians, Thirty-Fourth Annual Conference

Western Association of Women Historians, Thirty-Fourth Annual Conference. Clark Kerr Conference Center, University of California, Berkeley, California, June 6-8, 2003. The WAWH welcomes proposals for panels or single papers on any historical subject, time period, or region. Papers do not necessarily have to focus on women or gender history, although those issues are of special interest to our membership. Panels, workshops, or roundtables on major concerns of women in the historical profession are also encouraged. Proposals for complete panels, including commentators, are preferred, but individual papers will also be considered. Proposals must include five copies of each of the following: A WAWH Cover Page (found at www.wawh.org ) The cover sheet must be included for either individual or panel proposals; A one-half to one-page abstract for each paper; One-to-two-page curriculum vitae for each panelist.. Please send five copies of these materials by February 1, 2003 to Barbara Loomis, History Department, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132. Tel. 415-338-7537, barbaral@sfsu.edu, or visit the website at http://www.wawh.org

The Costume Society of America, “Understructures: Shaping the Body, Fashioning the Person

The Costume Society of America will be holding an interdisciplinary symposium entitled “Understructures: Shaping the Body, Fashioning the Person,” April 5, 2003 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Proposals are invited on topics related to undergarments that shape the body, from antiquity to the present day, from a broad range of disciplines. Special consideration will be given to papers that use interdisciplinary or multicultural approaches. Proposals of original research/perspectives may be submitted for 20 minute paper presentations and 10/10 ongoing research presentations (10 min. presentation, 10 min. group discussion). Submit a title page with name/complete contact information, 1-2 page abstract with bibliography (4 copies, do not put your name on these), and two-page CV, postmarked by Friday, Dec. 6, 2002, to Carrie Alyea. 26 Bradford St. #1, Boston, Massachusetts 02118