Engendering Contemporary African Midwifery

ESTHER AJAYI-LOWO PH.D. - Comparative Women's Studies

The study of African precolonial midwifery reveals colonial interruption of precolonial birthing practices and its attendant consequences for maternal and infant health. The term, “midwifery” reinforces a western linguistic and conceptual gendering of birth work as exclusively women’s work. It associates birth attendants only with wives, women, and womanhood. This colonial gendering of midwifery restricts critical scholarly engagement with African birthing epistemologies. This research discusses the significance of gender in African birthing epistemologies from a decolonial viewpoint.

CERISE: Chemical Education Realized through Interactive Storytelling Experiences

DANIEL ASHLEY, PH.D. - Chemistry and Biochemistry

Fostering emotional and intellectual engagement in chemistry for undergraduate students is challenging. Both because it is a difficult field, but especially so for underrepresented groups like Black women, who often feel like they don't have a space in the field in the first place. My lab has been working on innovative ways to combat these problems by developing CERISE, an educational video game that uses storytelling to help students learn chemistry skills in a fun and engaging way. By using branching narrative experiences students can have agency in how the story develops both through their decisions and their ability to accurately complete chemistry questions. By creating stories centered around Black women and that also highlight chemical issues relevant to Black women, we can also further enhance both emotional engagement and the sense of belonging that Black women deserve to have in STEM.