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"there are people on this campus in the Gender Studies Department who use books by one of these ideologues and literally have classes basically saying that what

"there are people on this campus in the Gender Studies Department who use books by one of these ideologues and literally have classes basically saying that what I’m saying is wrong." Q1. What purpose does a Gender Studies Department serve. Q2. Why are its teachings based not on science, but apparently on the opposite?

threeseed 7y ago
1) Gender Studies is about the discussion of gender. And the purpose is to satisfy the needs of students who want to learn about it. No different to studying art, computers, music. 2) It's not based on the opposite. It's based on a superset of factors of which science is just one. We don't interact with other people according to purely scientific algorithms and so dealing with the emotional, political and philosophical aspects are equally as important as the scientific.
- claytongulick 7y ago
  Are you claiming that the emotional, political and philosophical interactions of humans can not be evaluated scientifically? If the scientific process does not apply to Gender Studies, that's fine I suppose, it can be considered part of the arts. However, it would be an error to then consider forming policy based on it - similar to forming policy based on music or painting. In order for us to make policy decisions or recommendations, there needs to be academic rigor, otherwise we may as well be a theocracy. I know you didn't directly bring up anything about forming policy, so those points aren't necessarily directed at you. I bring them up because I see a lot of material from the field of Gender Studies being used to form policy, law and social expectations.
  - throwaway2048 7y ago
    Science doesn't have a monopoly on truth or validity, in academic contexts, or otherwise. https://www.aaas.org/programs/dialogue-science-ethics-and-religion/what-scientism https://www.aaas.org/programs/dialogue-science-ethics-and-re...

threeseed 7y ago

1) Gender Studies is about the discussion of gender. And the purpose is to satisfy the needs of students who want to learn about it. No different to studying art, computers, music. 2) It's not based on the opposite. It's based on a superset of factors of which science is just one. We don't interact with other people according to purely scientific algorithms and so dealing with the emotional, political and philosophical aspects are equally as important as the scientific.

claytongulick 7y ago
Are you claiming that the emotional, political and philosophical interactions of humans can not be evaluated scientifically? If the scientific process does not apply to Gender Studies, that's fine I suppose, it can be considered part of the arts. However, it would be an error to then consider forming policy based on it - similar to forming policy based on music or painting. In order for us to make policy decisions or recommendations, there needs to be academic rigor, otherwise we may as well be a theocracy. I know you didn't directly bring up anything about forming policy, so those points aren't necessarily directed at you. I bring them up because I see a lot of material from the field of Gender Studies being used to form policy, law and social expectations.
- throwaway2048 7y ago
  Science doesn't have a monopoly on truth or validity, in academic contexts, or otherwise. https://www.aaas.org/programs/dialogue-science-ethics-and-religion/what-scientism https://www.aaas.org/programs/dialogue-science-ethics-and-re...