Academic Team:

Amber McConnell (ambermcc@uoregon.edu) 
FIG Seminar Instructor

Megan 
FIG Assistant

Meet your FIG Instructor and Assistant!

Courses in the FIG:

UGST 109 FIG Seminar

 TIME | BUILDING | CRN | 1 Credit

Science isn’t just about formulas and facts; it is also about the people who shape it. This course celebrates the chemists who challenged norms, discovered elements, and pushed the boundaries of chemistry – even when the world pushed back. We will explore how gender, power, and society have shaped the scientific world and get introduced to pioneers such as Marie Curie, Lise Meitner, and Rosalind Franklin. Along the way we’ll screen the documentary Picture a Scientist to examine present-day challenges in STEM, and at the end of the course we will create infographic posters celebrating the lives and scientific legacies of women chemists, both past and present. Come ready to question the narrative, uncover hidden histories, and reimagine who belongs at the table – periodic or otherwise! 

Please note that the math placement test must be completed prior to students being eligible to enroll. Students planning to take Chem 111 only need to complete the math placement test, but are encouraged to complete both placement tests to ensure they are in the appropriate Chemistry class.

WGS 101 Intro to Women & Gender Studies

Social Science (>2) | >US | TIME | BUILDING | CRN | 4 Credits

Placing women's experiences at the center of interpretation, this class introduces basic concepts and perspectives in Women's and Gender Studies. Focusing on contemporary women's issues, we will examine women's lives with a particular emphasis on the ways in which gender interacts with race, class, sexual orientation and ethnicity. The central aim is to foster critical reading and thinking about women's lives and the ways in which the interlocking systems of colonialism, racism, sexism, ethnocentrism, ageism, and heterosexism shape people's lives. We will also examine how women have resisted these inequalities, worked to create new systems of change, and engaged in national and global transformational politics. Specific topics may include race and racism, body image, sexuality, AIDS and cancer, sexual and domestic violence, and workplace and family issues. We will place these contemporary concerns within their historical, cultural, social, and theoretical contexts, and students will have the opportunity to engage in active discussion.

CH 111 Introduction to Chemical Principles

Science (>3) | TIME | BUILDING | CRN | 4 Credits

This course is designed to introduce students to a limited number of chemistry topics and applied mathematics themes that will enable students to progress to the CH221, 222, 223 General Chemistry course sequence. Students in this course will learn to think like a chemist and will study phenomena in terms of macroscopic, sub-microscopic and symbolic interpretations and representations. In addition to lectures, there will be group work and on-line homework assignments, all of which are designed to build your basic knowledge and scaffold that knowledge to develop the critical thinking and problem solving skills that will lead to success in this and future science courses.