Professor Marlene Zuk back in Uppsala

- It is always a pleasure to work with such a distinguished evolutionary biologist as Marlene Zuk, says one of the organizer Malin Ah-King from the Centre for Gender Research.

This is the second time the organizers Malin Ah-King from the Centre and Professor Ingrid Ahnesjö from the Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, also a former guest researcher at the Centre for Gender Research, hold a Ph.D. course in gender and biology. Marlene Zuk has been invited as course lecturer both times.

The course was held between December 5-9 and gathered Ph.D. students with a broad science interest, natural and cultural. The structure for the course was inspiring lectures by Prof. Marlene Zuk on the role of gender bias in both the practice of academic science and in the execution of research in sex and gender, followed by daily group seminars with discussions of articles read in advance.

The aim of the course was for the students to develop a gender perspective in science, in particular from an evolutionary biology background. The students analyzed and discussed gender perspectives in the intersection of social, cultural and biological science, and how these may vary and change within and between disciplines. Fundamental questions included: How does gender perspectives influence the scientific questions we pose, how does it influence experimental designs, which sex is in focus and whether for a particular reason. How does gender influence theories and models in biology? The course was labeled as multidisciplinary because it involved teachers being “transgressive” in biology and gender research.

Organizer Malin Ah-King is very satisfied with the course and hope for it to continue.

- We have already been talking about the possibility of a continuation, and if so, Marlene Zuk will definitely come back to lecture.

Respected biologist, feminist and author

The course lecturer Marlene Zuk, Professor of biology at the University of California, Riverside, is a respected biologist, feminist and author whose research centers on behavioral ecology and the effect of parasites on host ecology, evolution, and behavior. Much of her work has focused on mate choice and the evolution of sexual signals. Her interest in public understanding of science has led to several books for the general public, as well as articles for the Los Angeles Times, Natural History magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and The New York Times. She is the author of “Sexual Selections: What We Can and Can’t Learn about Sex from Animals” and “Riddled With Life: Friendly Worms, Ladybug Sex and the Parasites That Make us Who We Are”, to mention a few.

Read an interview with Marlene Zuk in Current Biology, Volume 18, Issue 22, 25 November 2008

Visit Marlene Zuk’s website at the University of California, Riverside

Read more about Malin Ah-King (Länk borttagen)