Courses
HIST 300 Topics
A study of a special topic at an advanced level. This and all 300-level courses are small discussion classes. Descriptions of HIST 300 courses offered in a given semester are available on the History department Website or in the History department office prior to registration for that semester. May be repeated for credit with different topics.
Credits
1/2-1 course
Spring Semester information
Martha Espinosa300A: Topics: History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in the Global South
Science is necessarily a transnational project, emerging from exchanges between nations. However, dominant Western narratives have often deemed certain regions of the world peripheral to the production of scientific knowledge. The so-called "Global South," as a racialized category contingent on the economic development of a nation rather than on geography, serves to encapsulate those countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa that have been left out of the historical discourse on scientific progress. This course redresses that oversight by discussing the past and present of scientific, technological, and medical knowledge in the Global South. We will analyze distinctive ways of understanding nature within Indigenous knowledge systems while also examining how imperialism and colonialism have influenced scientific practices and applications. Discussions on the role of science and medicine in the production of meanings attributed to gender, race, and sexuality will also be at the core of this course.