Message-ID: <33F4A288.5218@wigsat.org> Date: Fri, 15 Aug 1997 14:14:10 -0400 From: Sophia Huyer <mailto:shuyer@wigsat.org> Subject: Int'l Gender, S&T Digest #10 To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
***INTERNATIONAL GENDER, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DIGEST ***of the Women in Global Science and Technology Network (WIGSAT)
No. 10, August 1997
**********PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO YOUR NETWORKS********
**Sent by email and regular mail to individuals and organisations working in gender, science and technology around the world. **Posted on listservs and electronic conferences **A total reach of over 3000 **Also posted on the WIGSAT World Wide Web site at http://www.wigsat.org/index.html, along with other WIGSAT activities.
Women in Global Science and Technology Network (WIGSAT) 39 Spadina Road, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2S9, CANADA Tel 1 (416) 926-7570, Fax 1 (416) 926-9481 email: mailto:shuyer@ifias.ca http://www.wigsat.org/index.html http://www.ifias.ca/gsd/gsdinfo.html ******************************************************* Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL GENDER, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DIGEST.
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******************************************************** UPCOMING MEETINGS
1) ANNOUNCING THE AUSTRALASIAN JOINT REGIONAL GASAT AND IOSTE CONFERENCE
The international organisations Gender and Science and Technology (GASAT) and the International Organisation for Science and Technology Education (IOSTE) are holding a joint regional conference 5 - 8 December 1997 at Curtin University's main campus in Bentley Western Australia.
Dr Jayshree Mehta, India, is the president of both GASAT and IOSTE. It is therefore an opportune time for a joint regional meeting which will include the interests of both organisations and particularly the gender dimension of science and technology education.
The aims of the international Gender and Science and Technology association are to: * encourage research into all aspects of gender differentiation in science and technology education and employment. * foster gender equality in science and technology education. * foster socially-responsible and gender-inclusive science and technology. * facilitate the employment of women into the fields of science and technology. * provide a forum for dissemination and discussion of research and experiences of those working in the field. * provide a support network for those working towards the objectives outlined.
The International Organisation for Science and Technology Education was established to advance the cause of education in science and technology as a vital part of the general education of the peoples of all countries and to provide scholarly exchange and discussion in the field of science and technology education.
* alternative modes of delivery of science and technology. * teacher education in science and technology that recognises and includes alternative modes of delivery. * staff development for science and technology education. * research in the teaching and learning of science and technology.
Papers are invited that address any of these aims.
This conference will bring together a wide range of practitioners and researchers working in the areas of gender, science and technology education. Expressions of interest in attending and/or presenting a paper are called for. Flexible modes of presentation are encouraged. Abstracts and early bird registrations are due 31 August 1997.
Further details can be obtained from Joanne Goodellm Teaching Learning Group Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth Western Australia 6845, Australia Phone: 61 8 9266 2113 Fax: 61 8 9266 3051 email: mailto:rgoodell@alpha2.curtin.edu.au http://www.curtin.edu.au/conference/GASAT-IOSTE
2) EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT
The Third UNESCO-ACEID International Conference: Educational Innovation for Sustainable Development is the title of a conference to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, 1 to 4 December 1997. In addition to its main topic, the conference will address such subjects as education and economic development, capacity building and manpower planning, literacy and basic education as tools for poverty eradication, women's education and development, and the role of communities in education for development. It will feature plenary panel presentations, round tables, concurrent paper sessions, and an educational fair. It will interest education policy makers, research workers, and practitioners in research and development.
The conference will take place at the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel and will be conducted in English. Submitted papers are welcome; abstracts will be published. The deadline for registration for the conference is 31 October, with a reduced rate for payment before 31 August. Abstracts prepared according to guidelines must be received by 31 October. Financial assistance is available for some invited participants.
The conference is being organized by the Asia-Pacific Centre of Educational Innovation for Development and the Asia-Pacific Programme of Education for All, together with the Office of the National Education Commission of Thailand and the UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
Information: Rupert Maclean, UNESCO-ACEID, P.O. Box 967, Prakanong Post Office, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Tel. +66 (2) 391-0291, ext. 123 or 131; fax +66 (2) 391-0866; e-mail <mailto:rmaclean@mozart.inet.co.th>.
******************************************************* RECENT MEETINGS
1) WOMEN, SCIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT: FROM INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE TO NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES
The symposium, 'Women, Science and Development: From Indigenous Knowledge to New Information Technologies' was held at the VIII Pacific Science Inter-Congress at the University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji, July 13-19, 1997. The symposium, as was the Inter-Congress itself, was a great success. Although lack of travel funding for the symposium limited the participation of colleagues from Asia and refocused, to a degree, the themes of the sessions, the papers were excellent, the sessions well attended and both provided the context for valuable discussion and a series of recommendations.
Women, Science and Technology was certainly the most visible theme at the Inter-Congress. ECOWOMAN (a network of Pacific women scientists and technologists) organized an incredibly dynamic and highly visible Science and Technology Fair the lasted through the week. Over two dozen local, national and regional organizations participated including WAINIMATE (Women's Association for Natural Medical Therapy),Fiji Women's Crisis Centre, Women in Business (Samoa), the Girl Guides, Do-It-Herself, UNIFEM and many others. The Fair attracted Inter congress participants, members of the public, the press and over 1000 secondary school girls. Such collaborations have the potential of changing the face of Asia-Pacific science. The recommendations included the need to use existing national, regional and international networks and to employ multiple communication strategies to ensure that Pacific Island women become full participants in the activities of the newly established Regional Secretariat for Women, Science, Gender and Technology that has been established in Jakarta (UNESCO, Indonesian Institute of Sciences with funding from the Netherlands) and not be 'tacked on' in name only, i.e. in Asia "and the Pacific".
A measure of the success of the symposium is the fact that the Pacific Science Association has offered to devote the winter issue of the Pacific Science Information Bulletin to the sessions, effectively providing a vehicle for the proceedings. It will reach the 800 plus members of the PSA, universities, libraries, regional organizations etc., extending the impact of the symposium well beyond the Fiji meeting. If you would like to receive a copy (which will include most of the papers, a report on the meeting as well as the recommendations) when available (and you are not a member of the PSA), please send your mailing address to Nancy Lewis (address below).
The next step is to continue the dynamic series of symposia on Women, Science and Development that have been held at PSA meetings since 1991 at the XIX Pacific Science Congress which will be held at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, July 4-9,1999. The overall theme for the Congress is 'Science for Pacific Posterity: Environments, Resources and the Welfare of Pacific People". A number of themes have been suggested, but we want to assure that there is significant input from colleagues in Australia, including aboriginal women, before definite themes are set. Please let us hear from you - especially if you would like to help!
Nancy Davis Lewis, Ph.D., Associate Dean, College of Social Sciences Professor, Geography 105 Hawaii Hall, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 Phone: (808) 956-6070, FAX: (808) 956-2340 email: mailto:nlewis@hawaii.edu
******************************************************* NETWORKING
1)POPULAR ARTS
The Mexican Association of Popular Arts and Culture, AMACUP, was founded in 1989 as a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization. Its mission is to encourage the development and production of Mexican crafts on a sustainable basis. To this end, it currently works with 17 artisan groups and cooperatives in the States of Chiapas, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Mexico, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosi, and Sonora. Through them it assists 450 small producers, 60% of whom are women, and their families.
AMACUP encourages artisans to use traditional designs and technologies. For example, it has helped artisans reintroduce the use of natural dyes and pigments and has assisted four ethnic groups to enter the market with clothes, home furnishings, and accessories based on traditional weavings and embroideries. To ensure that craft production doesn't negatively affect the environment, AMACUP has launched a national program aimed at studying the raw materials used in crafts production and doing a national inventory of the flora and fauna used in craft production. It has also launched pilot resource-management projects with crafts communities and suppliers.
Information: Marta Turok, President, AMACUP, Rio Amazonas 17, Col. Cuauhtemoc, Mexico 06500, Mexico; tel. +52 (5) 592-7360; fax +52 (5) 260-8525.
2) TROPICAL AGRICULTURE
The Tropical Agricultural Research and Training Center (Turrialba, Costa Rica), known by its Spanish acronym, CATIE, is a nonprofit agricultural association for research and education on animal, plant crop, and forestry production in the American tropics, established in 1973. It aims to stimulate and promote the sustainable use of resources. To this end, it emphasizes tropical crops, watersheds and agroforestry, silviculture, biodiversity, and socioeconomics. For example, research on tropical crops includes the improvement of the genetic makeup of coffee, cacao, plantain, and other promising crops so that they become more productive and resistant to pests and diseases.
To ensure that it can contribute to sustainability it is studying social and economic factors that affect natural resource management and ways to encourage community participation in biodiversity conservation efforts.
The center is the oldest postgraduate center in Latin America and the Caribbean in tropical agriculture and integrated management of natural resources. It offers graduate courses leading to masters and doctoral degrees, and a doctoral program in tropical forestry. If offers intensive, shorter courses on a variety of topics; 1997 topics include tropical agriculture, geographic information systems, information resources for agriculture, and women in development.
CATIE has been designated by the UN Environmental Programme as the primary institution working on Environmental and Sustainability Indicators in Costa Rica. Its Web site provides detailed program information and is a regional server for the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations.
Information: Rodrigo Tarte Ponce, Office of the Director General, CATIE, Turrialba 7170, Costa Rica; tel. +506 561533; fax +506 561533; (English and Spanish): <http://www.catie.ac.cr>.
******************************************************* ANNOUNCEMENTS
1) CGIAR’S SYSTEMWIDE PROGRAM ON PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH AND GENDER ANALYSIS FOR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL INNOVATION
1.Background and Purpose: The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) consists of over fifry governments, international organizations, and foundations that finance sixteen international agricultural research centers (IARCs). The system (sponsored by FAO, UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank) is dedicated to food security, poverty alleviation and sustainable resource management. Each IARC is dedicated to strategic and applied research in particular commodities and/or agroecological systems. For example, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) focuses on rice and rice-based cropping systems (rainfed, irrigated, etc.)
Increasingly the participation of farmers, particularly women, has been seen by the CGIAR as vital technology development. In 1996, CIAT (the convening center), CIMMYT, ICARDA and the IRRI in collaboration with the CGIAR Gender Analysis Program initiated a Systemwide Program in Participatory Research and Gender Analysis. This program is dedicated to moving beyond isolated experiments to assessing (through carefully focused empirical studies) how gender analysis and other user methods for user differentiation and participatory research contribute to technology development and institutional innovation. Newly launched, the program will:
* assess methodologies and organizational innovations for gender analysis and other methods for user differentiation; and * operationalize gender analysis and other methods of user differentiation in plant breeding and natural resource management research.
2. Operational Structure The program has been organized around three working groups: Plant Breeding (PB), Natural Resource Management (NRM), and Gender to ensure that CGIAR projects integrate gender analysis into these respective thematic areas. The eight member planning group composed of elected representatives from each working group and NARIs, NGOs, donors, and IARCs representatives oversees the groups, ensures comparability in research design, and provides resources for strengthening research design and assessment. A steering committee, elected from members of the planning group, is responsible for operational tasks delegated by the planning group.
3.The Plant Breeding Group The challenge of the PB Group is to better differentiate which stakeholders should participate in plant breeding and to identify who actually benefits when participatory plant breeding approaches and gender analysis is used. To meet the challenge, the group will undertake a variety of activities, including a workshop on impact assessment with the Gender Working Group (GWG), and three papers: one on technical and institutional issues in participatory plant breeding which starts with formal research; one on technical and institutional issues in plant breeding which builds on farmer's own breeding practice; and a third, on gender/users issues in participatory plant breeding. (This will be written in conjunction with the GWG). All three papers will integrate gender and other user concerns; the third paper will look at this topic exclusively. The Plant Breeding and Gender Working Groups invite scientists interested in this work to contact Louise Sperling (Plant Breeding Group Facilitator) at mailto:l.sperling@cgnet.com or Jennifer Green, the Gender Working Group Coordinator, at jennifer mailto:green@dai.com.
4. Natural Resource Management Group Like the Plant Breeding Group, the NRM Group will uncover and examine the importance of gender analysis and other user differentiation and gender sensitive participatory research methods and how they have an impact on natural resource management projects. The NRM Group is planning to undertake regional workshops, synthesis papers and empirical studies to assess the contribution of these methods to technology development and institutional capacity building in NRM. The NRM Group will focus on the field/plot level and watershed levels of activity. Interested parties can contact Jacqueline Ashby (mailto:j.ashby@cgnet.com) for further information.
5. The Gender Working Group The Gender Working Group’s task is to assess the role of gender analysis and other methods for user differentiation in NRM and PB. It will also provide guidelines on the use of gender analysis and other methods of user differentiation and gender sensitive participatory research in future research efforts. Through close conjunction with the PB and NRM Groups, the GWG will strive to:
*develop effective methods and capacity for using gender analysis in plant breeding research and natural resource management projects; *assess the costs and benefits and favorable circumstances of using gender and user sensitive participatory approaches in technology development; *analyze if and how gender and other user tools can be used to study other differentiated groups (such as those based on age, ethnicity or economic status).
To obtain additional information on the GWG, contact Jennifer Green, jennifer mailto:green@dai.com.
******************************************************* BOOKS, NEWSLETTERS, JOURNALS...
1) DYING WISDOM: RISE, FALL AND POTENTIAL OF INDIA'S TRADITIONAL WATER HARVESTING SYSTEMS", edited BY Anil Agarwal and Sunita Narain.
The book is a mega-effort to document the diversity of traditional water harvesting systems across the country. The report divides the country into 15 different ecological regions and efforts have been made to document whatever water harvesting systems there exist in these different regions. The report also looks at why these systems declined and what efforts are being made by government and NGOs to revive them. The book is an important milestone in the country's development as far as water resources are concerned.
This is a report on which not only Centre for Science and Environment, but concerned people from all over India have been working for the last six years. This book is being released through fifteen public meetings all over India, ten of which took place in the last couple of months. More meetings are being held in the next month. With the publication of this report and these meetings, the Centre for Science and Environment is launching its campaign to bring local water harvesting systems into the focus of India’s water policy and practices.
Here are only a few of the opinions about the book:
"Dying Wisdom, a seven-year country wide stury by Delhi's Centre for Science and Environment, reveals that vestiges of amazing ancient technologies survive in every corner of India." India Today, May 31, 1997.
"Let me congratulate you on this very useful effort, which is a contribution to the welfare of the society at large." G. Thimmaiah, member, Planning Commision, India.
"Dying Wisdom is a profusely illustrated, painstakingly documented survey of Indian ingenuity in conserving water-from prehistoric, community tanks....It makes passionate plea for going back to the roots of Indian traditional skills to overcome the current water crisis..... Indian planners must make it compulsory reading."The Hindu-Thiruvanthapuram, 24.3.97.
The book costs Rs. 290.00 for the paperback edition and Rs. 490.00 for hard cover. CSE is offering 33% off to early buyers. Thus price comes to Rs. 195 for paperback edition and Rs. 329 for the hardcover edition. For people outside India and Nepal, the prices are $12 for paperback edition and $18 for hardcover. All prices are inclusive of postage and packing charges. Interested parties are advised to send cheque or draft along with the order request.
Himanshu Thakkar. Centre for Science and Environment Tele: 698 1110, 698 1124 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area 698 3394, 698 6399 New Delhi- 110 024, India Fax : 91-11-698 5879 Email: mailto:himanshu%cse@sdalt.ernet.in
2)CALL FOR PAPERS: COMPUTERS AND COMPOSITION: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR TEACHERS OF WRITING SPECIAL ISSUE ON COMPUTERS, WRITING, AND GENDER
This issue of Computers and Composition will address the ways gender affects how teachers, scholars, and students of writing practice and think about computers and composition. Gender- whether defined by biology, historical process, or a combination of the two--has often been cited as an influence on men's and women's relationship to technology: e.g., it conditions their attitudes towards computers, their software preferences, their behavior on discussion lists, and their level of access. At the same time, gender is sometimes said to influence a writer's use of language, and similarly, a student's experience in the classroom. What, then, happens when technology, writing, and pedagogy come together? What role does gender studies play in the discipline of computers and composition?
We encourage submissions on a wide range of topics, including but not limited to the following: * gendered language in cyberspace * male and female identity in online communities * the physical body in virtual space * gay and lesbian issues in computers and composition * men and women on the Internet and World Wide Web * software as a gendered artifact * men and women as computers-and-composition professionals * the effect of gender on computers and composition as a discipline * male and female students in computer-enhanced writing classes * impact of gender on the design of computer products * the computer-based writing classroom and feminist pedagogy * computers, composition, and gay/lesbian or feminist activism * equal access to technology * feminist or queer theory and technology
The audience for *Computers and Composition* is teachers, scholars, educational administrators, and technology users with a particular interest in computer-enhanced writing instruction. Manuscripts should be 15-30 pages long, double-spaced, and follow the guidelines of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
DEADLINES 500-word abstract: September 15, 1997 Draft of manuscript: December 1, 1997 Final manuscript: March 2, 1998
Please send abstracts or questions to Lisa Gerrard, Guest Editor EMAIL: mailto:gerrard@humnet.ucla.edu FAX: 310-267-2224 UCLA Writing Programs 271 Kinsey Hall UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90095
3) The Electronic Green Journal, published by the University of Idaho Library, is a professional, refereed publication devoted to disseminating information concerning sources on international environmental topics including: assessment, conservation, development, disposal, education, hazards, pollution, resources, technology, and treatment. We are academically sponsored; our focus, however, is to publish articles, bibliographies, reviews, and announcements for the educated generalist as well as the specialist. We welcome original contributions from authors on any of the above topics.
Original contributions from authors are welcome. Guidelines for authors are available from the editors. Send contributions, requests for guidelines or for any other information about the journal to: Maria Jankowska, mailto:majanko@uidaho.edu Francis Griego, mailto:fsg@uidaho.edu Mike Pollastro, mailto:mikep@uidaho.edu http://www.lib.uidaho.edu:70/docs/egj.html
4) WOMEN, WORK AND COMPUTERIZATION - SPINNING A WEB FROM PAST TO FUTURE The proceedings of the 6th International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Conference on Women, Work and Computerization (IFIP-WWC =B497) are now available.
A.F. Grundy (University of Keele, UK), D. K0hler (University of Hamburg, Germany), V. Oechtering (University of Bremen, Germany), U. Petersen (GMD, Germany) (Eds.): Women, Work and Computerization - Spinning a Web from Past to Future. Proceedings of the 6th International IFIP-Conference, Bonn, Germany, May 24-27, 1997. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag 1997. ISBN 3-540-62610-7. Softcover. Price: US$ = 73.85.
This volume includes the submissions to the 6th International Conference on Women, Work and Computerization WWC 97. The conference provides an interdisciplinary forum for researchers, practitioners and users in the field of information technology. This series of conferences has a tradition of interpreting the word 'computerization' not just in the narrow sense of computing systems, but also in a broader sense which includes the organisational and social context in which computer systems are designed and used. In this book the authors discuss how different areas of society are being transformed by computer technology, but with particular emphasis on changes in women's work and life and how these have come about. Such transformations include transition from women's traditional work to work based on modern technology; from communicating within personal communities to communicating within virtual communities; from traditional job gendering to new perspectives on 'who does what'.
To order: Springer-Verlag, P.O. Box 31 13 40, D-10643 Berlin, Germany, Fax: ++49-30 82787-301, Email: mailto:orders@springer.de
*************************************** WORLD WIDE WEB SITES AND LISTSERVS
1)THE WOMEN AND MEDIA NETWORK "WOMMED/FEMMED" LAUNCHES ITS WEB-SITE
WomMed/FemMed is a world-wide network of women and men working together to redress gender-balance in access to expression and decision-making in the media. The Network was created by the participants of the Toronto International Symposium on Women and the Media organized by UNESCO in March 1995.
The trilingual Web-site (English, French, Spanish) includes information about the Network, news of events and programs relating to women and communication, references to initiatives developed by members and links to relevant documents. It contains an electronic version of the periodical Exchange Bulletin prepared by the Communications Department of UNESCO.
You are invited to visit the web-site at: http://www.ecuanex.apc.org/alai/wommed/ind-eng.html
The site is published by the Women's Program of the Agencia Latinoamericana de Informaci'on Area Mujeres - Agencia Latinoamericana de Informaci'on - Redacci'on INTERNET: mailto:mujeres@alai.ecx.ec oR mujeres@alai.ecx.apc.org Direcci'on: 12 De Octubre 622 y Patria Edificio Bossano Of. 503,Casilla 17-12-877, Quito, Ecuador Telefono: (593 2) 528-716, 505074 Fax: (593 2) 505-073
2)FUTU-FEM List
In preparation for the World Futures Studies Federation conference 28.9- 3.10.1997 in Brisbane, Australia we have founded a new discussion forum called FUTU-FEM. We invite you all to join the discussion, which i intended to continue even after the conference. All comments sent to this list will be studied and discussed during the conference.
The purpose of this list is to encourage women to discuss the following subjects:
1. Feminist critique of the male biased futures research and futures images. Alternatives to the male approaches. This includes e.g. within economic theory, social sciences, natural scientific approaches to future etc.
2. Women's futures images and visions, including both images of fear and hope, and creation of new futures in women's everyday lives (implications on local and global levels).
3. Female futures. Developing new special futues images based on women's values and women's ways of thinking. Thinking female societies?
4. Imaging future communication processes beyond sexist and dominating patterns. Conversation with future generally. Can women offer solutions for improving life on their 'stolen' planet?
We welcome all women to join the list and air their views on the futures, by sending a message to mailto:JARVA@HELSINKI.fi. Helsinki and Novi Sad 6.8.1997 Vuokko Jarva Ivana Milojevic
******************************************************* GSD ELECTRONIC SERVICES
1) World Wide Web Site -
All documents and information contained in this digest, the digest itself, and other interesting things, including the International Gender, Science and Technology Policy Issues Information Map, and the latest Once and Future Action Network (OFAN) newsletter, are available on the GSD World Wide Web site. The home page for this site is http://www.ifias.ca/gsd/gsdinfo.html, and for the OFAN page, http:/www.ifias.ca/gsd/ofan/ofan.html
2) WomenSciTech Conference
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******************************************************* Women in Global Science and Technology Network Gender, Science and Development Programme 39 Spadina Road Toronto, Ontario M5R 2S9 Canada Tel 1-416-926-7570 email: mailto:shuyer@wigsat.org Fax 1-416-926-9481 http://www.wigsat.org/index.html