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All the Voices: Respectful Science and Scholarship

Associate professor of marine affairs Amelia Moore wants students to leave her classes with new vocabulary, new ideas, and new perspectives.

For Amelia Moore, teaching and advocacy are inseparable. 鈥淓verything I do now鈥攁ll of my research, my teaching, my service, my academic practice, my life鈥攊s to work toward the goal of transformation.鈥�

Transformation in this context is multivalent. Moore seeks to expand her students鈥� perspectives to make them more informed and respectful researchers and scholars. In her own work, Moore seeks to expose bias in science while also restoring voices that have been ignored or nearly forgotten. This past summer, for instance, Moore, along with undergraduate fellows, graduate students, colleagues, and community partners, spent time on Block Island working on an ethnographic project, 鈥淧ublic Memory, Place, and Belonging: Unearthing the Hidden History of Racially Marginalized Populations of Block Island.鈥�

One of Moore鈥檚 most popular courses is Race, Gender, Colonialism, and Science. She teaches both an undergraduate and a graduate-level version. In its earliest iteration, the course was called Social Studies of Science and it examined the historical and social context for the practice of science. But in recent years, the country鈥檚 increasing political polarization, ideological shifts, and violent rhetoric ignited the activist in Moore. 鈥淚 needed to teach directly to an awareness of this context,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 pretend that this rhetoric and biased practices aren鈥檛 causing real harm in the world or that they don鈥檛 need to be countered with real evidence, real scholarship.鈥� Moore says.

鈥淢y goal is that my students leave my classes with a new vocabulary, new ideas, and their own perspective on the practice and history of science.鈥�

Ameila Moore

Moore introduces her students to the ways in which colonialism, capitalism, and nationalism have influenced the development of science and technology. Her process is collaborative; she encourages students to share their histories and perspectives, even if controversial. In this way, she says, 鈥渨e learn about one another and from one another as we discover our own ways to relate to the course material and to the varied experiences of others.鈥�

Graduate students Satya Sullivan and Lauren Zane met in Moore鈥檚 class. Sullivan is a cinematographer pursuing a master鈥檚 in marine affairs. Zane is a Ph.D. student in the biological and environmental science program. Both rank MAF 500: Race, Gender, Colonialism, and Science as one of their favorite courses. Sullivan calls Moore 鈥渁n incredible voice,鈥� praising her ability to lead students through the complex conversations that develop when examining the intertwining of history, intersectionality, civilization, power, and wealth generation.

For Zane, the course has shaped and changed how she views herself as a scientist. 鈥淢y work in that class helped me think about creating a practice in which I can conduct science in a more just, equitable way.鈥�

One of the perks of Moore鈥檚 position, she says, is to see ideas seize and propel students.

鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly productive to think with students as they鈥檙e processing the course content in real time and applying it to their own professions and research and career development,鈥� Moore says. 鈥淢y goal is that my students leave my classes with a new vocabulary, new ideas, and their own perspective on the practice and history of science.鈥�

鈥揗arybeth Reilly-McGreen

Photo: Nora Lewis