AstroAnthro Team Members
Astronomy & Society
The Astronomy & Society group is based in the Physics & Astronomy Department at the University of the Western Cape. Jarita Holbrook is the project lead. Astronomy & Society centers on South Africa and includes the following: The film SKA ≥ Karoo Radio Telescope records the expectations of South Africans of the benefits of the Square Kilometre Array. The master’s thesis in Women’s and Gender Studies (UWC) by Thembilihle Bongwana titled “Gendered Dynamics in South African Astrophysics: A Case Study of the South African Astronomical Observatory” focuses on the SAAO. Holbrook was the videographer on the SKA “Shared Sky” art project, several videos were produced as well as a joint article with Jose De Prada Samper on |xam skylore. Master’s student Rodwell Sibusiso Ndlovu’s article analysing age as a variable in Sky in Our Lives Survey was presented at the SEAC 2015 conference in Rome and published in Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry. This research is supported by NRF grant CSUR13092748577.
Project Lead
Past and Current Team Members
Thembilihle Bongwana, Rodwell Ndlovu, Tshawekazi Sinako Mgudlwa, Angelica Nkomombini, Kanya Bizo
Women and Minority Astronomers Strategic Engagement with Distributed, Multi-Disciplinary Collaborations and Large Scale Databases
The project is based in the Gender Studies Department at the University of California, Los Angeles. The project is jointly lead by Sharon Traweek and Jarita Holbrook. Using ethnographic interviews with scientists involved with data-driven astrophysics, we explored the strategies that the underrepresented undertake to craft their careers. The most recent article “Reaching for the Stars without an Invitation” appeared in American Scientist. This project was funded by NSF grant 0956589
Project Lead
Sharon Traweek & Jarita Holbrook