Sandra Harding facts for kids

Sandra G. Harding (March 29, 1935 – March 5, 2025) was an American philosopher. She studied important ideas like feminist and postcolonial theory. She also explored epistemology, which is about how we know things, and the philosophy of science, which looks at how science works.

Sandra Harding led the UCLA Center for the Study of Women from 1996 to 2000. She also helped edit Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society from 2000 to 2005. She was a respected professor at UCLA. She was also a professor at Michigan State University. In 2013, she received the John Desmond Bernal Prize for her work.

Education and Career

Sandra Harding started her college journey at Douglass Residential College in 1956. After college, she worked for 12 years. She was a legal researcher, an editor, and even a fifth-grade math teacher.

She then went back to school. In 1973, she earned her doctorate degree. This was from the Department of Philosophy at New York University.

Early Teaching Roles

Harding's first university job was at the State University of New York at Albany. Later, she joined the Department of Philosophy at the University of Delaware. She also worked with their Women's Studies Program.

She became a full professor in 1986. From 1981 to 1996, she also worked in the Department of Sociology. She directed the Women's Studies Program at Delaware for several years.

Work at UCLA

From 1994 to 1996, she was a part-time professor at UCLA. In 1996, she became the Director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women. This center focuses on research.

She held this important role until 2000. Since 1996, she was also a professor at UCLA. She taught in the Graduate Department of Education and Gender Studies. In 2012, she became a Distinguished Professor.

International Work

Sandra Harding was a visiting professor in many countries. She taught in Amsterdam, Costa Rica, Zurich, and Bangkok. In 2011, she became a Distinguished Affiliate Professor at Michigan State University.

She also advised several United Nations organizations. These included groups focused on science, technology, and women's development. She helped write a chapter for UNESCO's World Science Report in 1996. This chapter was the first to discuss gender issues in science globally.

She also wrote a chapter for UNESCO's World Social Science Report 2010. It was about "Standpoint Methodologies and Epistemologies." This looked at how scientific research can be fair for everyone.

Lectures and Publications

Harding was on the editorial boards of many academic journals. These journals covered philosophy, women's studies, and science studies. She was chosen as a national lecturer by Phi Beta Kappa in 2007.

She gave over 300 lectures at colleges and conferences. She spoke in North America, Central America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Her books and essays have been translated into many languages. They have also been included in hundreds of collections.

Death

Sandra Harding passed away on March 5, 2025. She was 89 years old.

Awards and Honors

• 2013. Awarded John Desmond Bernal Prize by the Society for the Social Studies of Science.
• 2012. Appointed Distinguished Professor of Education and Gender Studies at UCLA.
• 2011. Appointed Distinguished Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at Michigan State University.
• 2009. Received the American Education Research Association (AERA) Award. This was for her important work in gender equality in education research.
• 2007–08. Appointed a Phi Beta Kappa National Lecturer.
• 2007. Awarded The Douglass (College) Society Membership.
• 2000–05. Co-editor of Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.
• 1990. Named Woman Philosopher of the Year by the Eastern Division Society for Women in Philosophy.
• 1989. Elected to membership in Sigma Xi.

Selected Works

Sandra Harding wrote many influential books. Here are some of them:

Books

• The Science Question in Feminism, 1986.
• Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?: Thinking from Women's Lives, 1991.
• Is Science Multicultural? Postcolonialisms, Feminisms, and Epistemologies, 1998.
• Science and Social Inequality: Feminist and Postcolonial Issues, 2006.
• Sciences From Below: Feminisms, Postcolonialities, and Modernities, 2008.
• Objectivity and Diversity: Another Logic of Scientific Research, 2015.

See also

In Spanish: Sandra Harding para niños

• American philosophy
• List of American philosophers
• Standpoint theory
• Standpoint feminism