Contemporary research on brain sex differences is characterized by polarized opposing positions. One side is represented by a surge in recent interest in neuroscientific research in sex differences that does not take into account the impact of gender on biology. The other side insists that sex differences in the brain are either entirely instilled by experience, non-existent, or unfortunate proclamations of bad science. Neither position alone gets at the heart of the issue or leads to the best science. This talk presents three examples from Einstein’s own research in which both sex and gender are at play, looking at where they align, where they diverge, and how they interact.
A pre-seminar reading group, open to the public, will meet a week before each speaker. For details and readings, or with other questions, please email wgssymposia@fas.harvard.edu.
Sponsored by the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard and the Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality.