From Biological Sciences to Critical Studies of Science: A Journey
ANJANA
This collage aims to present the elements of my journey from being a trained biologist to pursuing research in critical science studies presently. By including details from laboratory work that are seldom overlooked, and juxtaposing them with elements of critical science studies that constitute my current motivation, I aim to give a glimpse into what compelled me to undergo this shift. The layout of the collage, through the background images, aims to indicate the overlap of the elements that I have encountered from the respective fields, while the elements themselves symbolise my experience in scientific research and my current attempts to understand it.
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This is contrasted with the top- right side region that shows my current interest in critically examining laboratory culture, symbolised by a looking glass or a critical lens itself. This gaze examines the scientific method, scientific textbooks as well as the generation of scientific facts. Additionally pictured is a popular biology textbook that has later become a subject of my analysis. This process is composed of identifying my own privileges and well as marginalizations, and understanding how identities in terms of gender, caste, and class play out in research. A small sketch/self portrait shows where my interests lie currently.
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The top- left region consists almost entirely of personal accounts of my laboratory experience. It visualises the anxieties surrounding experiments, data collection and analysis.
The bottom left image is a recreation of Bruno Latour's "Laboratory Life's" cover page, one of the texts that influenced my understanding of the sociological aspects of research and fact formation. The X-Ray diffraction image of the DNA molecule taken by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, signed by both, titled- Crystallographic photo of Sodium Thymonucleate, Type B. "Photo 51."- forms the background in the top right region. (The file is archived as a part of the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling papers). Franklin being sidelined in the discovery of the double helix was one of the first examples of academic misconduct and sexism in scientific research that I had come across during my undergraduate days.
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A 13th century painting of Hildegard of Bingen, a German abbess, a polymath who was also a medical writer and practitioner, and her nuns, forms the background in the bottom right portion. This was included to acknowledge early contributions from women in science, out of my interest in the history of science and archiving the same.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
About Anjana
Anjana Thadathil's academic interests lie in Science and Technology Studies, particularly Feminist Critiques of Science. She graduated with a BS-MS in Biology from IISER, Pune and currently works as an Academic Associate at Azim Premji University, Bangalore.
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From Biological Sciences to Critical Studies of Science: A Journey
ANJANA
"This collage aims to present the elements of my journey from being a trained biologist to pursuing research in critical science studies presently. By including details from laboratory work that are seldom overlooked, and juxtaposing them with elements of critical science studies that constitute my current motivation, I aim to give a glimpse into what compelled me to undergo this shift."
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