Author Archives: Axiothea

TableTalk. A call for submissions

For those this may engage: A fellow student from Reed College and I would like to introduce you to a new journal that will be coming out February 2014. Welcome to TableTalk. TableTalk will be a space that will bring … Continue reading

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TableTalk. A call for submissions

For those this may engage: A fellow student from Reed College and I would like to introduce you to a new journal that will be coming out February 2014. Welcome to TableTalk. TableTalk will be a space that will bring … Continue reading

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Goodbye, and good luck

July 31, 2013 My practicum in the philosophic aspects of scientific research is technically over today. My internship at LBPA (Laboratoire de biologie et de pharmacologie applliquée) was an amazing experience. I want to thank Bianca Sclavi and the teams … Continue reading

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Epistemic values

July 30, 2013 Before listing the different types of epistemic values that I have observed in Bianca’s lab and explaining them within the context of Bruno Latour and Thomas Kuhn, I want to start with an example of how axiology, … Continue reading

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Microbiology report

July 30, 2013 Well, it is finished. I have learned a lot this week while editing my science report. It is interesting to look at my three posts that attempt to describe the experiments in accessible language and compare those … Continue reading

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Limits

July 28, 2013 How many pages should a science report be? How much detail should I include? How do I know when to explain a vocabulary word? Who should be able to understand my report? What does ‘understand’ mean? Does … Continue reading

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The last week in the lab, part III

July 16-18, 2013 Finally after over a month of preparing the DNA fragments it was time to analyze the activity of the P5 promoter at each different position in the chromosome. To do this we conducted both a flow cytometry experiment and a … Continue reading

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The last week in the lab, part II

July 16-18, 2013 ** you should read ‘The last week in the lab, part I’ before reading this post !! This post is a summary of the experiments that I conducted throughout the last two months in the microbiology lab … Continue reading

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The last week in the lab, part I

June 16-18, 2013 I have been postponing this account of my experiments because it’s hard to explain microbiology to nonscientists, especially as a non-scientist myself! But one of the goals of my internship is not only to see if this … Continue reading

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Another day in the life of Axiothea

July 15, 2013 Hello, hello! First, I must mention the remarkable fireworks that I saw last night for Bastille Day. I have never seen fireworks like that before in my life. The streets were packed, and I had to weave … Continue reading

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NightScience!

July 12, 2013 Today I attended a conference hosted by CRI called NightScience. It was fascinating. This is the third year of the event, and each year “the event remains faithful to its original mission: get together knowledge creators”.  There were … Continue reading

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Update from Paris

June 10, 2013 Today I am back in the lab at Cachan. I know you are eagerly awaiting my post that summarizes my microbiology experiment, but I am still working on it. I am struggling with the specific vocabulary needed … Continue reading

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An account of the state of ID/TD in Paris

July 9, 2013 Today I learned something about the state of ID/TD in Paris! (short answer: it’s really complicated.) I visited CRI (Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires) close by the Sorbonne, to meet with Tamara Milosevic, the curriculum designer of CRI. … Continue reading

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Take a break, have a laugh

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An overview of broader impacts

July 1, 2013 Bianca has been working on a website that will introduce her team’s research to people who are unfamiliar with microbiology. I am contributing by writing the section entitled Broader Impacts. I got excited when writing the abstract (it … Continue reading

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Questions everywhere in science

June 30, 2013 Today am I going to outline the wide range of philosophic questions that I have come across in the first month of my internship. I have categorized them into communication, epistemology and ethics. Keep in mind that … Continue reading

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Back to the lab

June 25, 2013 Today I am back in the lab at Cachan. This morning we had a group meeting so that one of the students could practice presenting her research. Tomorrow is her dissertation defense! Her presentation and the critique of her … Continue reading

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The constancy of change

June 25, 2013 Bonjour! Today I really want to understand the historical narrative of disciplinary education in Europe and America, so I re-read and took extensive notes on Disciplinarity: An Introduction by David R. Shumway and Ellen Messer-Davidow. It outlines … Continue reading

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A day of my moveable feast

June 24, 2013 Hello! I am starting the beginning of my fourth week of my internship here in Paris! Wow, time goes by very quickly. Today I read a great article called Disciplinarity: An Introduction by David R. Shumway and … Continue reading

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The silent philosopher

June 23, 2013 So how should I act in the lab? There are many ways to interact with scientists, but are some better than others? One can look back on past philosophers to classify typical ways that they have interacted … Continue reading

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A little bit of science, a little bit of thinking

Hello! It is la fête de la musique here in France! There are instruments everywhere, and concerts on every corner of Paris until 6am in the morning. Unfortunately it has rained all week, and I don’t know how well a … Continue reading

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The idea

As I mentioned in my last post I have found a new focus for the philosophical part of my internship: the state of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity both in Paris and in Bianca’s lab. Now, yes this is an impossible task. For one, I … Continue reading

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A review of the week part 2

Alright so what did I do this week? What did I learn? How should I focus this post? Well, as you know from my first post, my internship has two main parts: one is my work in the microbiology lab … Continue reading

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A review of the week

Good morning! It looks like it will be a cloudy day here in Paris. Today I indulged and slept in until 10:30am, and had a slow breakfast. I am living in the 8th arrondissement with a host family who I … Continue reading

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Unsuccessful lab results

Hello again! Today I spent my morning and afternoon in the lab. I ran a PCR, and analyzed the sample. It did not work. Eliza, the kind graduate student who is teaching me each experiment, said that these results never … Continue reading

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