Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA was a pioneer of feminist standpoint theory in the Department of Education and the Department of Women and Gender Studies
UCLA Distinguished Research Professor Sandra G. Harding died at 89 in North Amherst, Massachusetts. A scholar on topics in feminist and postcolonial epistemology, philosophy of science, and methodology, Harding was a faculty member in the Social Research Methodology and Social Sciences and Comparative Education divisions in the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies and in the UCLA Department of Gender Studies.
“Sandra was a thought leader, wonderful colleague, and friend,” says Wasserman Dean Christina Christie. “We will miss her and her powerful contributions to our work. She was a force of nature.”
Harding’s first faculty appointment was at SUNY-Albany’s Allen Center, where she began work on feminist standpoint theory. She later accepted a position at the University of Delaware, because of its active philosophy department, which included a master’s program and a focus area on the philosophy of science. While there, Professor Harding began expanding feminist standpoint theory to incorporate perspectives from the feminisms of women of color and was a visiting professor of women’s studies and philosophy at UCLA.
After a period of splitting her time between the University of Delaware and UCLA, Professor Harding accepted a full-time appointment at what was then UCLA’s Graduate School of Education in 1995, after serving as an adjunct faculty member for two years. From 1995 to 2000, she directed the UCLA Center for the Study of Women.
An international scholar, Harding was a visiting professor of sociology and gender studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (1993); Distinguished Part-time Visiting Professor of Education and Women’s Studies at Michigan State University (2010 -2014); and the Diane Middlebrook and Carl Djerassi Distinguished Visiting Professor of Gender Studies at Cambridge University (2017).
In 2019, Harding was interviewed in a three-part series by the Science History Institute. Throughout this multi-session interview, Harding often reflects on the influence of social justice movements—the women’s movement, the civil rights movement, and the independence and post-colonial movements in nations around the world—on her work, and her steadfast commitment to producing work that furthers those movements. She emphasizes the practical and managerial approach she has taken towards her writing, teaching and mentorship of students. She describes herself as a “rogue philosopher,” and delights in Sharon Traweek’s characterization of her as someone who “plants herself on the borders of institutions and refuses to go away.” You can listen to listen to her interview here.
The prolific author of 17 books and special journal issues, Professor Harding served on the founding editorial team and international advisory board for the journal, Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society. In addition, she was co-editor of Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, from 2000 to 2005.
Professor Harding’s books include “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); and “Objectivity and Diversity: Another Logic of Scientific Research” (2015). Harding’s book, “The Racial Economy of Science” (1993) was recognized by the American Educational Studies Association with the Critic’s Choice Award in 1994 and the Outstanding Book Award in 1995.
Professor Harding was honored with the John Desmond Bernal Prize from the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) in 2013; the American Education Research Association (AERA) Award for Distinguished Contributions to Gender Equity in Education Research in 2009; and the Woman Philosopher of the Year Award from the Eastern Society for Women in Philosophy in 1990. She served as a Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar for 2007-2008 and was elected to membership in Sigma Xi in 1989 and The Douglass (College) Society in 2007.
“Sandra was a vibrant person who lived a full life,” says Gail Kligman, Distinguished Professor of Sociology. “She pushed intellectual boundaries in and across a number of fields of knowledge, shaping and provoking debate as well as controversy. She was an engaged scholar in every sense: research, mentorship, and service. Her embrace of standpoint theory culminated in the realization of Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology, and Society. Her legacies will endure.”
Sandra G. Harding was born in San Francisco, the eldest of five children born to Lloyd and Constance Harding. During the Depression, the family moved to Los Angeles, and then to the East Coast, where her father had a civil service position. In the oral history by the Science History Institute, Harding recalled experiencing sexism in her elementary and secondary schooling, although her parents provided a loving family environment, where four daughters and a son were equally encouraged to pursue their educational aspirations.
Professor Harding received her undergraduate degree from Douglass College of Rutgers University in 1956. After 12 years as a legal researcher, editor, and 5th grade math teacher in New York, she earned her doctorate from the Department of Philosophy at New York University in 1973.
Harding is survived by her daughters Dorian and Emily, her beloved granddaughter Eva, and sisters Constance Joy and Victoria. A celebration of her life will be held later in 2025.
For more about Sandra G. Harding, visit these links: