ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author aims to hold dual citizenship in the country of natural science and the less easily defined territory of women’s studies, an interdisciplinary area that spans the humanities and social sciences but is united by feminist theory. Viewed in the largest possible context, she aims to mediate a real exchange of ideas and foster mutual understanding and respect between science and feminism. A primary goal of teaching biology to women’s studies students is to develop in students a well-informed skepticism about the ability of biologists to remain objective when researching provocative subjects like the biology of sex differences. In several undergraduate classes, the author teaches the value and scholarly worldview of biology to non-science majors. A plant pathologist not only knows about basic botany, microbiology, ecology, and the specifics of dozens of plant diseases and pathogens, but also agriculture and something of its social context.
