On April 28, 2023, the Center for Humanities hosted a discussion of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kate Zernike’s book, The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science, which tells the story of sixteen female faculty members at MIT who quantified the discrimination faced by female scientists at their institution and forced a sustained public discussion about sexism in science.
The discussion was moderated by Laura Lindenfeld. In addition to Kate Zernike and Laura Lindenfeld, the panelists included Nancy Hopkins, who is the central figure of the book, and CSHL professor Hannah Meyer.
The discussion covered topics including:
* how to prove discrimination, and the fact that discrimination doesn’t always look the way we imagine it
* the connections between journalistic research, writing history, and doing science
* what has changed for women scientists and what has remained the same
* how we measure progress on questions of representation and/or discrimination
* how to incorporate the lessons of the book into your own career, regardless of your gender
* the role of representation in how we think about what is normal and who is or isn’t an exception
* why it’s necessary to change the world if we want a truly level playing field for women and minorities in science
Nancy Hopkins is the Amgen, Inc. Professor of Biology (emerita) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Read more about here about her research, publications, and numerous awards.
Kate Zernike is an author and national correspondent for the New York Times covering education, criminal justice, Congress, and national elections. Zernike was a member of the New York Times team which shared the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting on global terrorism.
Laura Lindenfeld, Ph.D., is the Alda Center Executive Director, School of Communication and Journalism Dean, and Journalism Professor, Stony Brook University.
Assistant Professor Hannah Meyer is affiliated with the CSHL Cancer Center and the Simons Center for Quantitative Biology. Her research focuses on how T-cells, a key component of the immune system, learn to distinguish between healthy cells and diseased cells or foreign invaders.