STHS 318 | Science and Gender

This course explores the relationship between ideas about gender, science and society. Taking a comparative approach, students critically examine the history of ideas about the biological and social factors that influence gender roles and sexual preferences as well as sexual orientation and gender identity. Students consider ideas about how variation in sex and gender may have evolved through natural and sexual selection, and how human perceptions of gender feedback influence the scientific study of animals. Policy and ethical implications of scientific research on gender are also considered.