Lessons & Activities Search
Title |
MIT Course | Preview | Type of Activity | Instructional Approach | Content Area | SDG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 4: Reading Guide | Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power |
Each week’s readings will be accompanied by a set of guiding questions. As you read the materials, take notes about key messages as well as questions you have. Class discussions will center around these. |
Discussion, Reading | Other | Activism | SDG 5 - Gender Equality |
| Week 3 Reading Guide: The Nuclear Freeze Campaign and the role of organizers | Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power |
We start the first day with a brief discussion of Gusterson’s second article, building on the previous long discussion of the first one. The second part of this discussion is based largely on television interviews of two activist leaders of the campaign for nuclear disarmament. We conclude with Beckwith’s chapter and its relevance to current events at MIT.
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Discussion, Reading | Other | Activism | SDG 16 - Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions |
| Week 2: Reading Guide | Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power |
Each week’s readings will be accompanied by a set of guiding questions. As you read the materials, take notes about key messages as well as questions you have. Class discussions will center around these.
|
Discussion, Reading | Other | Activism | SDG 16 - Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions |
| Week 1: Reading Guide | Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power |
Each week’s readings will be accompanied by a set of guiding questions. As you read the materials, take notes about key messages as well as questions you have. Class discussions will center around these. |
Discussion, Reading | Other | Activism | SDG 5 - Gender Equality |
| Week 12: Reading Guide | Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power |
In this final week we will hear from a prominent MIT student activist of the 1980s and early 1990s, Steve Penn, who is now a physics professor at a liberal arts college. During all of MIT’s history there has probably never been a student more engaged in activism and protest. Four years after his PhD graduation, and ten years after Penn led the “Tent City” protests of MIT’s real estate development near Central Square, a writer in The Techappropriately described Penn as “a famous student activist.” We will end the class with a brief discussion of the contributions of another famous student activist, Rasheed Auguste (BS 2017, 8 and 22), and the final chapters of the books by Ben Barres and Jon Beckwith.
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Discussion, Reading | Other | Activism | SDG 16 - Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions |
| Week 11: Reading Guide | Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power |
This week we examine the impact of intersectionality theory on activism. Developed by black feminist writers, the concept of intersectionality includes both a categorical element (a person’s combination of multiple social identities) and a political one (the impact of overlapping systems of oppression). An example of the salience of the categorical element can be found in this analysis of MIT climate surveys. The political element, on the other hand, reminds us of the importance of movement spillover and coalition building. Contemporary activists working with an intersectional lens recognize that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King) and that single-issue activism often ends up further marginalizing oppressed peoples. As a result, intersectional activists focus on bringing attention to the systemic nature of oppression. They include several notable scientists such as Chanda Prescod-Weinstein and Ben Barres. |
Discussion, Reading | Other | Activism | SDG 5 - Gender Equality |
| Week 10: Reading Guide | Science Activism: Gender, Race, and Power |
This week we study the impact of women scientists who spoke out against gender discrimination they experienced at MIT. Led by biologist Nancy Hopkins, all but one of the tenured women faculty in the science departments in 1995 called for investigation and change. In response the Dean of Science formed a committee to investigate, which led to a public report in 1999 that made a big impact not just at MIT, but across higher education and beyond. In 2016, undergraduates Caroline Chen and Kamilla Tekiela co-authored a companion report on the status of undergraduate women at MIT. The issues they identified remain persistent, difficult problems of culture at MIT.
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Discussion, Reading | Other | Activism | SDG 5 - Gender Equality |
| Waste Technology | D-Lab: Waste |
First Reflection Use this reflection to explore a waste management technology with one of three lenses:
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Paper | Other | Waste | SDG 6 - Clean Water & Sanitation |
| WASH Tutorial | D-Lab: Water Sanitation and Hygiene |
Students, individually, or in groups of two or three, will sign up for and give a 15-minute WASH tutorial to the class on a selected water/sanitation/hygiene topic. Your topic can be on any subject within the field of water, sanitation, hygiene, or environment. Some may focus on specific technologies, while others will do demonstrations, skills training, or share success stories of case studies, designs, policies, plans, or engineered solutions. |
Presentation | Inquiry-Based Learning | Interdisciplinary | SDG 6 - Clean Water & Sanitation |
| WASH Term Project | D-Lab: Water Sanitation and Hygiene |
The main deliverable for the semester is a term project which includes a project proposal, a final class presentation, and participation in the D-Lab Showcase. Guidance on content, structure, etc. of the term project will be provided in class and on the course site. You can select an individual or a team project. For those working in teams, each team member must identify a specific area for which they are responsible and their specific contribution to the overall team. The term project may be done on the same topic as your WASH Tutorial, or it may be a separate topic. |
Paper, Presentation, Project | Inquiry-Based Learning | Interdisciplinary | SDG 6 - Clean Water & Sanitation |