Sociology 299 – Research in Sociology

Instructor: Matt Cazessus

Update!

My time in Creative Inquiry this semester has been very rewarding. It has taught me many things about myself and has given me more perspective on my future education and career. Before taking this class, I had concerns about what to expect being a woman in a male dominated field. I would hear things about how women are discouraged from pursuing STEM education and the struggles continue even after college. Although, after doing research on women in STEM and getting the chance to speak to female scientists from the local community I now feel more confident going into my field. It has taught me that the gender gap in STEM fields is slowly closing and my generation has already made large improvements to the issue. Not only has the problem started to resolve but speaking to other women that have overcome these issues has just reassured me that I can fight through the problems as well. It has also encouraged me to possibly take my own steps to help make the change that is needed to close the gender gap sometime in the near future.

Not only am I more confident about my future, but I now feel more confident in my education abilities. Having to do independent work was a very new experience for me and I was not sure what to expect going into the class. It was very beneficial to have a mentor through this process who can give tips on how to conduct efficient research and keep yourself on track. Slowly over time I began to feel more confident in my abilities and I now have a better understanding of what independent research will be like in the future.

 

Initial Post: My name is Ashley Yates. I am currently working towards a degree in astrobiology and biogeosciences and I will be transferring to Arizona State University in the spring of 2019 semester. My current goal for a career is to work at NASA, studying life in the universe and where it can be found. However, my Creative Inquiry question is not directed to space or biology – but instead a question about gender inequality.

Growing up surrounded by nature and spending my free time in the outdoors, the natural sciences have always piqued my interest. I began asking questions about our world such as how has the world been shaped into what it is today and how does it continue to change overtime? While diving deeper into my field of interest, I noticed a trend. There were fewer women than men in the fields I inquired. This originally came as a surprise to me. My entire life I have been surrounded by women in the construction industry. I knew my mother may have not dressed the same as the other mothers, but it was all I ever knew. I had not realized how varying the roles for men and women were until I was older. This led to my question for my Creative Inquiry. Why is it more common for men to obtain a career in science than women? Being a woman myself, stepping into one of these careers, I felt it was an important question to ask. This question led to more thoughts about women and science. What caused the separation of male and female roles in society throughout human history? When did women first become involved in scientific fields? As well as, how can our society change the thoughts of these specific gender roles for future generations?

With my Creative Inquiry, I hope to answer each one of these questions and begin to take steps to make the change that is needed. To do this I will be organizing a panel of women from the local scientific community of the upstate of South Carolina to speak specifically to young children. The focus will be on their experience being a woman in a male dominated field. In this experience children will be engaged in what entails the women’s everyday work life. These women will be from different science backgrounds, showing the diversity of the field. The goal of this panel is to have children exposed to science and to see women outside of their gender roles. The most important part of this process is for the children to see that it is acceptable to follow any career path that appeals to them, regardless of their gender. Not only do I aim to influence the younger generation, but I am looking forward to learning more about my field and the workforce of my future career.

 

ENG 299 – Research in English

Instructor: Penny Wilcox

My name is Elizabeth Burnside. I work full time and go to school part time. There are two parts to my CI project: “The Uncanny,” an essay written by Sigmund Freud and –in that same vein – book to movie adaptations, i.e., I, Robot (the book by Isaac Asimov and the movie starring Will Smith).  My final project will be a research essay on book to film adaptations that have elements of “the uncanny,” and a fiction piece that will be submitted for publication. There are several reasons that I have chosen to do this project:

• To improve my research skills
• To strengthen my writing skills
• To face my fear of rejection by submitting my work
• To possibly realize my purpose in life

I am so excited by this project and my expectations are high. I have been writing poetry since I was a child in grade school and my teacher told me that I had a gift. In the fall 2018 semester, I took a creative writing class and realized that I wanted to do more with my writing. I have always allowed fear and other peoples’ opinions to keep me from taking myself seriously in this venue. I am done with that. I guess you can add “to build confidence in my talent” as another reason that I am doing this project.