Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 April 16, 1997 EUGENE--Scholars who insist that intuition and emotion have no place in the world of science will get a wake up call this week at the University of Oregon. A UO conference on "enGendering Rationalities" will challenge the way the framework for scientific and scholarly thought elevates logic and rationality above traditionally feminine ways of thinking. Panel members will explore ways to legitimize feminist issues by changing that approach. The conference, sponsored by the UO Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS), will open at 9 a.m. Friday, April 18, in the Alumni Lounge in Gerlinger Hall, 1468 University St. Gerlinger Hall, the Erb Memorial Union, 1222 E. 13th Ave., and several other campus locations are sites for the three-day event, which includes 35 panel discussions. The conference concludes Sunday, April 20. "By defining rationality as pure analysis and logic, we not only make women feel less welcome in the field of scientific research, but we also unconsciously limit our understanding of what knowledge is," says conference co-organizer Sandra Morgen. "The time was clearly at hand for this kind of national and international gathering to take a serious look at how to expand the ways we learn and produce knowledge," says Morgen, CSWS director and associate professor of sociology. "The fact that so many scholars are coming from all over the U.S. and from as far away as Sweden, Canada, Australia and Israel is a testament to the importance of the conference. I am delighted that the Center for the Study of Women in Society and the University of Oregon were far-sighted enough to support this idea," Morgen adds. Barbara Ehrenreich, 1997 occupant of the Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics, is a featured speaker. Panelists are noted feminist thinkers Lorraine Code, professor of philosophy, York University, Toronto, Canada; Naomi Scheman, professor of philosophy, University of Minnesota; Maria Lugones, professor of philosophy and womens studies, State University of New York at Binghamton; and Anne Waters, professor of philosophy, Albuquerque Community College. UO philosophy professor Nancy Tuana, conference co-director, received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to host a month-long institute on this topic last July. The idea for this conference came out of the excitement generated among participants at that event. There is no fee for the "enGendering Rationalities" conference, but only registered participants may attend. For more information, contact Roxanne Livingston at (541) 346-5015. Further information is available on the Internet at <http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~csws/enGender/>. -30- #P-6068/Local, OrDailies