Montgomery College Hosts Spectrum Lecture About Gender in the Sciences

October 1, 2010 -- Dr. Amy Bug, Ph.D., a professor of physics at Swarthmore College, will speak at Montgomery College-Germantown on Tuesday, October 12 at 4:30 p.m. as part of the College’s 2010 Spectrum Lecture Series. The talk will take place in Globe Hall, which is located in the High Technology and Science Center, 20200 Observation Drive, Germantown, Md. This event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Bug, Dr. Etsuko Hoshino-Brown (psychology, Swarthmore College) and Dr. Kristine Lui (physics, Montgomery College) have explored the double standard of student evaluations for men and women teaching physics. In her lecture, Dr. Bug will report on their study to determine the effect of gender when other variables are controlled by having male and female actors deliver a scripted, identical lecture. After physics students viewed such a lecture, their written evaluations showed significant bias related to both the gender of lecturer and of the student. These differences and their implications will be discussed.

Like all Spectrum Lectures, Dr. Bug’s presentation is designed for a non-scientific audience, enabling scientists, students and the community to learn about ground-breaking advancements in science.

Dr. Bug earned her B.A. in math and physics from Williams College and her Ph.D. in physics from M.I.T. She is currently the chair Elect of the Division of Computational Physics of the American Physical Society. She does research on condensed matter physics and issues of gender in science.

Spectrum Lectures are appropriate for a general audience. For questions or to request accommodations for physical disability, please contact Susan Bontems at susan.bontems@montgomerycollege.edu or 240-567-7740.