Abstract
Oftentimes everyday objects in our environment have gendered implications that go unnoticed and unobserved. These objects may or may not have been designed with a specific gender statement in mind, however careful analysis can reveal a great deal about the gendered nature of a commonplace artifact. Such an object that I encounter in each day of my life at the Rochester Institute of Technology is a laboratory bench. This artifact, I feel, is a prime example of an everyday object that has unnoticed gender implications – about myself and my colleagues. This bench, located in the teaching laboratory room 1125 in the College of Science, is used to enable multiple students to simultaneously carry out a single experiment – individually or in groups – for educational purposes. As a result of my frequent encounters with this lab bench I have come to the conclusion that this artifact on the RIT campus is inherently gendered in both its design and its use. This gender, I have determined, is male, and the effects of the bench’s gendered state need to be explored.
Document Type
Paper
Student Type
Undergraduate
Department, Program, or Center
Science, Technology, and Society (CLA)
Campus
RIT – Main Campus
Publication Date
2006
Recommended Citation
Ford, Lauren, "The Gender of a College of Science Laboratory Bench" (2006). Accessed from
https://repository.rit.edu/student/7
Comments
Twenty-Sixth Kearse Distinguished Lecture Award Recipient
Award in Science Technology and Society
The Kearse awards recognize students who have written the most outstanding research papers or projects in areas of study in the College of Liberal Arts. There is one faculty-nominated awardee from each COLA department. Henry J. and Mary Geirin Kearse, lifelong advocates of education, endowed the award.
Note: imported from RIT’s Digital Media Library running on DSpace to RIT Scholar Works in February 2013.