ABSTRACT
Chapter 3, “Learning to Ask,” employs a feminist lens to invite students to ask for what they need and advocate for their interests in supportive communities of women. In this chapter, we describe the ways we structured the literacy curriculum in GWS to encourage asking questions of a new subject area, of new ideas, and of ourselves in connection to science. To do this, we designed the GSW workshop to push back against traditional notions of classroom-based writing and reading as formulaic and structured to invite students to consider ways literacy is epistemic, or knowledge building. We used writing as a means for students to make connections with one another, with scientific voices via a variety of texts, and with scientific women outside of the classroom. These connections would aid students in learning what and how to ask within and beyond this community of practice.
