JessicaBlack

I learned many things during the duration of this class. I am not a Women Studies major and I have only taken one other Women Studies class so I didn’t know really what to expect. I did know that technology is a major thing in our everyday lives now so I thought it was something important to learn about. It ended up correlating with my Psych 499 class, Women, Weight, and Body Image. I was able to take a lot of information I learned through that class and use it in my knowledge I gained in this class. I love it when that happens.

The knowledge that I learned in this class consisted of an abundance of things, such as, how women are treated in technology based careers, how women can jump over those gender gaps in the work place; I have gained knowledge of some very important women in the Science and Technology Field through my own and the other students Culture Sites that I read. I learned how to make a budget for a dream and find other scenarios that would help me save money. I created my own Teaching Module which really helped me see what it is like to put together curriculum and tutorials, as well as learn how to personalize my iPad2. I also learned how to create and run a blog.

That had to be my favorite part. I love my blog now and will most definitely continue to keep it up while I am studying abroad. I never thought much of blogging but now that I have some experience and knowledge in it I truly enjoy the concept.

Yes I feel like I met the Course Objectives. This is because I got as much out of the course as I wanted to. Maybe I could have gone above and beyond and taught myself more but I did what was needed to learn what was required for the course.

I definitely have a new appreciation for women in the Science and Technology work force. I know now how hard it is for a women to grow in this male driven world, but I also know now how important it is that we thrive and continue to work towards our goal no matter what is standing between us and it.

Yes, I do think that this course exemplifies feminist pedagogy because it is all about teaching women, and men, new ways of thinking. It focuses on opening our minds into new concepts and ideas that are not normally projected as appropriate or ordinary. I did not think though that this course showed ways of teaching that worked for everyone. Step by step detailed instructions do not work for everyone.

Thank you for teaching this class and giving us a chance to gain knowledge on this particular subject matter.

Jane Nichols,

Hello, my name is Jessica Black and I am enrolled in the online Women Studies class this term and one of our projects is called Culture Site. In this project we are to find a inspirational women who has done some exponential things in her life for the Science and Technology industry. I have chosen Gae Aulenti who is an Italian Architect. I have found some good information on her work with the old hotel, now called Musee d’Orsay.

I was wondering if you could assist me in finding a lot more useful information on her regarding, culture; trends in education, business, and the chosen technology field; biography; technology details; as well as a interview conducted with her that I can actually understand, maybe even a transcript of the interview since they are all in french.

That would be amazing!
Thank you,

Jessica D. Black
Above is the e-mail I sent to our Librarian, Jane Nichols. The one thing I am really looking forward to is finding an interview (written or video) with Aulenti that I can understand. I have watched a few of them that are in French and the way she moves and speaks, I can already tell she is very passionate about what she does. In the videos it also shows her work place – which which is extremely technology friendly – everything is white and Apple made. I am excited to learn more about the equipment she uses and what she used to have before the technology got profoundly better in the last decade.

I missed the time that the Jane goes home, so I will update this as soon as I get an e-mail back from her

Here is Jane Nichols Response:

Dear Jessica,
I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond to you sooner. I can definitely point you to some places to get started on these questions. One great place to check out is Google Scholar. Here you can see her patents reflecting her work: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Gae+Aulenti.

Another great place to search for scholarly literature (for this and any research topic you might have) is the library’s search engine 1Search –it’s the search box on the right side of the library home page. Here is a simple search: http://bit.ly/Jf5Ykz. I limited to full text online and scholarly.

Other things to consider when you search are: what keywords to use to answer your questions below. I suggest searches like “women in architecture” or women in industrial engineering. Search these in 1Search. Also use Academic Search Premier which is listed on this library web page for the library: http://ica.library.oregonstate.edu/course-guide/596-WS320. This page offers additional suggestions as well.

Want to give these a try and let me know how it goes? I”m happy to answer any follow up questions.

Best, Jane

I checked out all of the hyperlinks she gave me and didn’t find much information. Except a lot of information about Gae Aulenti’s furniture line and the things she still sells. I might be able to use those on my Culture Site. Haven’t decided if I want to incorporate that into my project yet, but I probably will because it is apart of who Aulenti is now in her career. I will definitely contact her again as I grow my knowledge and start looking for something specific – she still didn’t help me finding an interview of her in English – but I will try more things to find that.

All in all it was a good resource and I hope to find more.

I truly like the idea of blogging. Yet all this set up stuff is a bit crazy. I wish we knew why we were adding all these links and titles and categories to this page. Right now I know that  we are just setting things up for future use but why are we setting it up? I like the way my page looks though. It is very me.

Honestly, all this information is throwing me off and I am getting agitated. I like when things are simple and to the point. None of this so far has been either simple, or to the point. More like difficult and circles the point 5 times before halting. Right now I am just taking a deep breath and repeating to myself – “everything will be okay”.

This is my first post ever.

I hope that this is working correctly.

Jessica Black

WS320