MAJOR ASSIGNMENT #2 (Group): “Interview” a Scientist Who Adler Overlooks. note : you need to create this as an individual

HRS2530 Major Assignment 2 – Interview a Scientist Who Adler Overlooks

This assignment leads you through a narrative medicine approach to your own research. Please read the objectives for the assignment as well as the grading rubric. Once you select a candidate innovator, email their name to Dr. W-C for approval. If the innovator meets the criteria in Objective 1 below, and no other group has “claimed” the innovator yet, they’re all yours. 

OBJECTIVES OF THIS ASSIGNMENT:

1) To research an innovator NOT highlighted by Adler. To achieve this objective, find a  scientific innovator who identifies as a Black or Indigenous Person of Color (BIPOC) and/or as female.  A LOT of possibilities are just a google search away including individuals identified here, Links to an external site.hereLinks to an external site., here, Links to an external site.and hereLinks to an external site.. Note: To find these links I searched for “medical innovations African diaspora” and “historical medical innovation women”.  Try these search terms or others.

2) To describe the impact of daily life experiences on these innovators. To achieve this objective, use a narrative medicine approach to uncovering how daily life impacted a person’s contributions to scientific innovation. What did their day-to-day life look like? Gain insight into their contributions to science by considering their personal daily circumstances. Note: you may have to take a guess at these by reading what others describe from the time period…that’s ok.

3) To communicate the societal forces at play in the life of your chosen innovator (*See example below). To achieve this objective, use a narrative medicine approach to identify societal events and/or challenges that your innovator experienced. Were there critical events in their society (e.g., political or cultural) that opened up opportunities for them? Were there circumstances preventing them from independent innovation (e.g., legal enslavement of people who are Black, practiced in the US until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1865; legal denial of a bank loan or credit card to people who are female until the Equal  Credit Opportunity Act was passed in 1974 (When I was 4))? Gain insight into their contributions to science by considering these broader circumstances impacting their life.

TEAM STEPS FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT:

A. Leaders:  Start from the Leader SubmissionTemplate  Download Leader SubmissionTemplateto ensure you’ve included the header info we need to grade the assignment (Note: missing header info affects the leader’s grade but doesn’t affect other group members).

B. As a group, decide on an innovator NOT highlighted by Adler who is BIPOC and/or female and credited with a medical or scientific first that interests you. Leader email the innovator’s name to Dr. W-C for approval. C. Decide which group member(s) will answer each question below (per the rubric, include your name(s)  in the section(s) you contribute to).

D. Provide answers to the questions below.

E. Cite all of your references in-text and at end.

F. Leader submits the completed document below by the due date.

QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED BY THE GROUP FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT:  To complete this Major Assignment, Type at least 1 paragraph (3+ sentences) in answer to each question below (#2-7). 

1. 1. List your innovator and years they lived? (Note: it’s ok to choose someone who is still alive.)
   2. What is the innovation they are most well known for? Why was this innovation important to human health? Are there lesser-known things that you found interesting about this person?
   3. Were they passionate about their innovation? How did they come to be a ‘first’? Did they realize the importance of their contribution at the time? Were they able to celebrate it?
   4. What did a day-in-their-life look like? How did their day-to-day reality impact your work in innovation? (For instance: What might they have eaten for a meal? How did their clothes get washed? Where did they sleep? Did they have children, pets, or elderly relatives to take care of? )
   5. What societal-level events and/or challenges most influenced their life? Do you think they were aware of these as they were happening? (*See example below)
   6. Was art connected to human health in any way that your innovator might have noticed? Did clinicians practice the art of medicine in your innovator’s day? Was art used to achieve healing in any way at the time?
   7. Is there evidence – or do you imagine –  that your innovator had any type of artistic practice? Did they perform in or enjoy going to the theater? Did they dance? Or draw? Or write? Finally, did these personal artistic practices have the potential to impact their scientific work?

________________________________________________

*Here is an example of how a societal event and/or challenge might have impacted the life and work of an innovator who identifies as Black and female: Let’s say I “interview” Dr. Mae C. Jemison. I might report: Dr. Mae C. Jemison was born in 1956 (Biography.com, 2020). At the time of her birth, she was blocked from becoming an astronaut because she was both Black and female (Weitekamp, 2016).  However, when she was 8 years old, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed in the US Congress, thus legally opening up a host of options for the young Jemison, including the option to one day compete to become a US Astronaut. “

References

Biography.com Editors. (2020, Feb 27). Mae C. Jemison Biography. The Biography.com website. https://www.biography.com/astronaut/mae-c-jemisonLinks to an external site.

Weitekamp, MA. (2016, Mar 17). NASA’s Early Stand on Women Astronauts: “No Present Plans to Include Women on Space Flights”. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/nasa%E2%80%99s-early-stand-women-astronauts-%E2%80%9Cno-present-plans-include-women-space-flights%E2%80%9DLinks to an external site.