CHEM 105-6: THE SCIENCE

BEHIND OPPRESSION
Instructor

Prof. Stephanie Knezz (she/her)

Assistant Professor of Instruction

Tech E219

stephanie.knezz@northwestern.edu

Office Hours:
In person: Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 1:30-2:30 pm in E219 (inside doors to D220)
On Zoom: Schedule a 15-minute 1:1 appointment that works for you on Calendly:
https://calendly.com/stephanie-knezz/office-hours

Course Description
Biased interpretations of scientific results have been used to justify racial and gender oppression for
centuries. It was often argued that people of different races and different genders were fundamentally
different, and as such their roles in society should differ as well. Today, many people reject the claim
that race and gender have substantial effect on a person’s abilities or capacity, but how did we get here?
More importantly, how did science help facilitate these claims in the first place?

In this course, we will explore the role of science in historical oppression based on race and gender. We
will identify key scientific studies and their subsequent legacy to reveal the precarious nature of
scientific interpretation in the hands of biased individuals. We will discuss how power structures can
infiltrate scientific integrity and propose safeguards to prevent this kind of infiltration in the future.
 Course Schedule
Tuesday Thursday
Week
1 NO CLASS What is bias in science?

2 Enlightenment: Foundations of modern science, Enlightenment: Foundations of modern science,

Race Gender
3 Human development: Fact vs Fiction, Race Human development: Fact vs Fiction, Gender

4 Justifying Oppressive Systems, Race Justifying Oppressive Systems,Gender

5 Eugenics and its Consequences, Race Eugenics and its Consequences, Gender

6 Eugenics and its Consequences, Ableism & Anti- The effect of bias on Scientific Integrity
fat Bias
7 PEER REVIEW - DRAFT DUE Bias in modern medicine, Race

8 Bias in modern medicine, Gender Bias in modern medicine, Ableism and Anti-fat
Bias
9 What does it look like today?, Race What does it look like today?, Gender

10 Prevention and the path forward NO CLASS

Texts
"Superior: The Return of Race Science", Anglea Saini, ISBN-13: 9780807028421, approx. $12;

"Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong-and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story", Angela
Saini, ISBN-13: 9780807010037, approx. $12

Attendance and Extensions

Our class meets Tuesday and Thursday from 11 am-12:20 pm (CT) through in LG62. Class attendance is
an essential component of the freshman seminar program, and will be taken into account in determining
your grade. Unexcused absence from 2 classes can result in a grade penalty.
Naturally, life comes up and things happen. Health-related or otherwise emergency-related extensions
should be discussed BEFORE the deadline whenever possible. If you believe that a health condition or
emergency will affect your ability to turn in work, please let the instructor know as soon as
possible.
 Statement of Inclusivity and Pronouns
This course strives to be an inclusive learning community, respecting those of differing backgrounds and
beliefs. As a community, we aim to be respectful to all students in this class, regardless of race, ethnicity,
socio-economic status, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.

This course affirms all gender expressions and gender identities. There will be a survey
administered at the beginning of the quarter asking that you provide the name and pronouns that
you use (which is entirely optional). Prof. Knezz welcomes you to correct her on your name or
gender pronoun if a mistake is made. If you have concerns, please contact Prof. Knezz in person or
by email, whatever is most comfortable for you.

Grades
We will be implementing specifications grading in this course. Course components will linked to specific,
transparent levels of mastery to earn each course grade. Every student will have the opportunity to
make progress towards mastery of each specification individually. You will not be compared to other
students in the assignment of your grade. In other words, if every student in the course meets the
specifications for an A, every student will be assigned a final grade of A.

You can work toward the grade you want in the class and use the following table to guide your
experience in the course:

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS: This course will be comprised of four writing reflections, a first draft of a final
paper, and a final paper due in place of a final exam. All topics and assignment details can be found on
Canvas, including final due dates. A summary of the deadlines for major assignments will be posted on
Canvas.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: All written assignments will be assessed on the content presented as well as
the strength of evidence, and coherence of support. Hence, be sure your papers are submitted in a neat
and presentable form, and that the prose is constructed in a manner that is grammatically correct and
which exhibits reasonable unity, coherence and logical flow. If you need help with this you can ask Prof.
Knezz, or make an appointment at the campus Writing Center. I generally do not care about spacing
(single, double, 1.5, etc.), font, and margins, but please be reasonable. If an assignment asks for a certain
page count, we all know the tricks. Please take into account the spirit of what I am asking for more than
the literal page count, and do not hesitate to come to me with questions.

LATE WORK: You will have ONE allowed late assignment token. Complete the “late assignment” survey
in Canvas to indicate what assignment you’d like to use your late token for, and it will give you an extra
48 hours to complete it. In the table of specification, you will notice a “timeliness” category outside of the
content or style of your writing. With this model, these aspects are scored separately. Turning in late
work for an assignment will not impact your individual assignment scores, as long as work is submitted
before the next assignment is due. I am willing to be flexible with deadlines if there is clear
communication about your needs in light of sudden unexpected circumstances. In other words: if you
believe that a health condition, care for another, or unexpected circumstances will affect your ability to
turn in work, let Prof. Knezz know as soon as possible. She will write back to establish a new deadline
for you, appropriate to the circumstances. As long as you meet the new deadline, your assignment will
be considered on time.

Your course grade will be determined based on your performance on the following components:

Component % of Grade
Reflections (average of 5) 40%
Reaction Video 10%
Course discussion 10%
First Draft of Proposal 10%
Final Draft of Proposal 20%
Peer Review 5%
Timeliness 5%

Academic Integrity
Plagiarism, the unacknowledged appropriation of another person’s words or ideas, is a serious academic
offense. It is imperative that you hand in work that is your own, and that cites or gives credit to others
whenever you draw from their work. Please see refer to Northwestern University’s Office of the
Provost’s Policy on Academic Integrity and the WCAS Student Handbook for more information.

Additional information can be found below:

• Academic Integrity at Northwestern: http://www.northwestern.edu/uacc/

• Definitions of academic dishonesty: http://www.northwestern.edu/uacc/defines.html
• Due Process and Student Rights: http://www.northwestern.edu/uacc/dueproc.html
• What Happens If You Cheat: http://www.northwestern.edu/uacc/whathapn.html

Students must read and accept the terms related to academic integrity through the Quiz on
Canvas before they are allowed to participate in the lab.

Sources
Internet sources may be used in your assignments (and must be appropriately cited), but you should try
to include as at least half of your sources “hardcopy” references or websites that have hardcopy
equivalents (which includes scientific journal articles). Sources cited from the internet are of most value
when they can be substantiated by reference to corroborating information in books, journals, or
standard reference works. The use of internet sources of dubious validity can detract from your
argument in a paper!
 AccessibleNU: Students with Disabilities
In compliance with Northwestern University policy and equal access laws, Prof. Knezz and the TAs are
committed to supporting the learning of all students. If you have already registered with the AccessibleNU
Office and have your letter of accommodations, please meet with Prof. Knezz as soon as possible to
discuss, plan, and implement your accommodations in the course. If you have or think you have a disability
(learning, sensory, physical, chronic health, mental health or attentional) that isn’t recorded by
AccessibleNU yet, please contact the AccessibleNU Office (accessiblenu@northwestern.edu; 847-467-
5530) for disability verification and for determination of reasonable academic accommodations. All
information will remain confidential.

Except for unusual circumstances, requests for academic accommodations need to be made during the
first week of the quarter so arrangements can be made. For more information, please visit:
http://www.northwestern.edu/accessiblenu/

Weekly Reflections
Over the course of the quarter (starting in Week 2), you need to write a total of 5 reflections on the topic
for the week (1-1.5 pages). These are informally written and should highlight your personal insights
about the topic of the week. You can discuss race, gender, ableism or some nuance bringing any of them
together. Any notion that you found interesting and would like to expand your thoughts about is fair
game. The only requirement is that you reference and cite one source and include a personal connection.
These will be due by Friday at 5pm every week.

The reflections will be graded on a scale from 1 – 5, and your overall reflection score will be calculated
as shown below.

Roughly
letter
Score Meaning grade
Needs significant
1 improvement C
2
Good work that could use
3 some improvement B
4
5 Excellent work A

At the end of the quarter, your letter grade on the reflections will be an average of your 5 scores.
 Reaction Video
At some point during the quarter, you will be assigned to record a 1-3 minute video “reaction” to the
readings for the week. This is not meant to be polished, more of an off-the-cuff clap-back or punch-up.
You are not expected to deliver this in any particular way, just bring your own personal style. I hope to
play these at the beginning of class, so keep that in mind (if you are uncomfortable with your video being
shown, just let me know). In order to avoid everyone doing theirs at the same time, you will be given a 2-
week window when you will need to do your video, but choose whatever topic within that week speaks
to you.

Discussion Leadership
One session during the quarter, you will be assigned to lead a 15-minute discussion on the readings for
the week. Think of questions you’d like to bring out or maybe an activity or extra piece of media you’d
like to share that is relevant to the topic.

Final Paper
As a final component to the course, you will write a paper outlining your own proposal to solve a
problem identified in the course (or related to issues discussed). The paper will start as a well-
researched background on the issue and transition into some kind of proposed solution. You can draw
on literature that has been published on similar solutions (it does not need to be original!), but you
should draw from a variety of sources. More information on this will be provided later in the quarter.

The first draft of this paper will be due in Week 6, and we will dedicate one class period to discussion
and peer review.