History and Philosophy of Science MA student Picabo Fraas successfully defended her thesis, “Dig Sites and Domesticity: Jessie Camp and the 1947 University of California Africa Expedition”
Fraas examined the role of Jessie Camp in the University of California Expedition to Africa from 1947-1948, arguing that Camp created a position of power within her husband’s expedition by capitalizing on her domesticity.
Fraas discussed the difficulties of unearthing Camp’s voice and contributions among records kept primarily by men and regarding male scientist’s work on the expedition. Fraas advocated for acknowledgement of the labor and knowledge production of lesser known actors in scientific expeditions.
“Wives of field scientists offered a unique, intangible, and unpaid form of labor in the production of scientific knowledge on expeditions that should be recognized and counted among the other forms of ‘women’s work’ and invisible labor in science.”
Fraas’s fascinating topic resulted in a lively question and answer session ranging from domesticity in expedition settings to exclusion and erasure of lesser known actors.
Completing a degree in the midst of quarantine and pandemic is difficult enough, let alone doing so earlier than expected. Fraas made it look easy.
Congratulations, Picabo!
CATEGORIES: Graduate Students