Swarthmore Women in Astronomy and Physics (SWAP)

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Swarthmore Women in Astronomy and Physics is a resource for Swarthmore students interested in physics, astronomy, and astrophysics.

SWAP aims to provide mentoring, discussion forums, colloquia, and fun events for students. Through these efforts SWAP strives to encourage physics students (male and female alike) to socialize, form supportive connections between students in different classes, learn about support offered by faculty, and discover what it may be like to study science beyond Swarthmore.

This organization sponsors a peer mentorship program that pairs majors with students trying physics, schedules social events including liquid nitrogen ice cream parties and meetings for students to converse informally with professors, invites successful female scientists to give colloquia and chat with students, and develops connections with professors and students at Bryn Mawr College and the University of Pennsylvania. Encouraging physics students through SWAP, I see the incredible benefits a support network can have for students in this field.

On this page: Why SWAP? Mentorship Meetings Events Leadership History Women in Science Beyond Swarthmore Astro/Physics Clinic Colloquia Contacts
	Happy SWAPpies during their meeting in Sharples.

• REUs and Summer Research
• Post-Swat Plans for Swarthmore Astro/Physics Students (NEW!)

Why SWAP?

Women in physics and astronomy are often isolated from one another by virtue of their small numbers. SWAP aims to provide these students with the opportunity to meet each other to form friendships, study groups, and support networks. We hope that SWAP will benefit all students interested in physics and astro at Swat, but our efforts are particularly aimed at reaching out to first and second year students still choosing a major. We want to see you become scientists!

While many formal research studies have focused on women in physical sciences, there is some evidence that personality rather than gender is the major factor influencing the level of support needed by students pursuing studies in physics and astronomy. For this reason, SWAP resources are open to any interested physics and astronomy students, male and female alike. The main goal is creating a network of students who support each other in pursuing physics and astronomy. Any student who feels able to offer and benefit from such support is welcome to participate in SWAP.

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Colloquia

Discussion forums currently exist in the form of informal (free!) Tarble lunches with colloquium speakers. Sign up in the department office about a week before the scheduled colloquium, and meet there at noon the day of a colloquium. Several speakers in Fall 2002 discussed gender issues in physical sciences with interested students over lunch, even if their colloquia talks are on different subjects. Colloquia commence at 4:30 and are preceded by refreshments at 4 pm. All interested in astro/physics are encouraged to attend! See the Colloquium Links from the Physics department homepage for abstracts.

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Mentorship

The mentorship program is the most dynamic and integral of SWAP's missions. On a voluntary basis, junior and senior majors/minors will be matched with several first and second year students considering majoring/minoring in physics and astronomy. Because we will attempt to group students who share similar course interests beyond physics, we will ask all those interested in the mentorship program to complete a short questionnaire.

The mentor will meet with mentees approximately once a week for an hour or so at times and places convenient for all involved. No agenda is set for these meetings, as those involved can best determine the most beneficial uses of this time given the following goals and suggested activities.

Goals:

The mentor serves as a resource for the underclass women by acquainting them with people and programs in the department: faculty advisors, lab instructors, colloquia, physics clinic, tutoring, poster sessions, summer research opportunities, etc.

The mentor provides encouragement and advice to the mentees when their classes seem frightening, overwhelming, or impossible. This is the most important goal of the mentorship program. While mentors do not provide explicit assistance on particular physics assignments, research studies have shown that peer and faculty support plays an integral role in underclass student's decision to continue studying physics and astronomy.

The mentor facilitates mentees in getting to know each other, with the aim of forming study groups and friendships. Again, research has shown that women greatly benefit from having female peers in physics and astronomy classes with whom they feel comfortable studying and interacting regularly.

We are looking for new mentors and mentees at any point in the semester. Email jgersh1 to sign up, or come to meeting or an event to find out more.

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Meetings

SWAP dinners take place each Friday at dinner in Sharples Room 4. Anyone interested in SWAP is welcome to attend.

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Leadership

Being part of the SWAP leadership can involve:

• getting the mentorship program underway,
• maintaining/updating/improving the SWAP website,
• fixing up the SWAP board outside the department office (currently not up, since the department moved),
• publicizing events,
• planning events associated with SWAP and physics colloquia (see David Cohen),
• thinking up and planning other SWAP events,
• networking with the Swat Women in Engineering, Math, and CS groups,
• forming connections with similar groups at nearby colleges (already underway with Bryn Mawr College!),
• maybe asking the physics department for events funding (mainly for food),
• chartering our group so we can participate officially in the activity fair next fall,
• getting whatever official status is need to apply for SBC funds,
• helping bio and chem start women's groups.

We definitely welcome any help you'd like to offer! Email jgersh1 if interested.

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Events

Fun events will take place several times each semester (approximately monthly). Everyone connected with physics and astronomy (both men and women students, professors, and support staff) is invited.

Past Events:

• Post-Swat plans. Presentations by seniors and alums. April 20, 2005 at 4:30pm in Sci 199.
• Third Annual Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Party. October 2004.
• Physics and Astro Research overview talk, given by Prof. Catherine Crouch and Prof. David Cohen. David Cohen has made a page of student research resources.
• SWAP movie: Contact, in SCI 101 on Jan 24, 2003.

Past Events from Fall, 2003: Second Annual Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Party, Oct 29, 2003. Take a look at the Photos! Star Party in 9:30 at Sproul Observatory, Sept 10, 2003. 2001: A Space Odyssey, showing in the SCI 101, Sept 13, 2003.
	Chris Burns explains the cosmos to SWAPpies at the Star Party

Past Events from 2002-03:

• Graduate school information sessions May 2002 (thanks to Lisa Larrimore '02) and 2003.
• Tours of research labs including Carl Grossman's Non-linear optics and Doc Brown's SSX given by research students.
• Liquid nitrogen ice cream party from 1 October 2002, with pictures here.
• A star party at Sproul observatory hosted by astrophysics major and SWAP mentor Roban Kramer.
• October 8, 2002: Priscilla Auchincloss, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester Women, Difference, and Change in Science
• September 23, 2002. Informal lunchtime talk with Kristine Lang, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley. Promoting Women in Physics-A Successful Prototype Program at UC Berkeley

Possible Future events:

We hope to have a cookie-baking party to bake yummy cookies for Physics 7/8 students to enjoy after their exams. Several more events connected with colloquia are also expected. Suggestions of interesting, fun, or useful events are welcome. If you are interested in coordinating a particular event, please let Jessica know. Event announcements will be sent by email to those interested. Email jgersh1 with suggestions or requests to be added to the announcement list.

If you are interested in another SWAP movie night, please email jgersh1.

We are hoping to have a Saturday trip to Dorney Park, an amusement park with water rides. All astro/physics people and their friends will be invited.

Weekly SWAP meetings take place in Sharples Room 4 during Friday dinners. Come as often as you can! All interested in SWAP are welcome.

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SWAP History

A SWAP organizational meeting was held Wednesday, May 8, 2002 at 4:30 pm in DuPont 133 for professors, instructors, and female astro/physics students. Kate Baker's transcript of the meeting is available. It was decided that most SWAP meetings should be open to all astro/physics students (male and female) as well as professors and instructors.

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Women in Science

Swarthmore has a chapter of the Society of Women Engineers as well as a Women in CS organization. We hope to organize fun events for women taking courses in any of these four departments. See the contacts information below for names of students and professors involved in this effort.

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Beyond Swarthmore

Building a network between astro/physics students in the same classes and in different years as well as with other science majors at Swat develops supportive relationships instrumental in the success of students in undergraduate science. This network can be strengthened by reaching out to form connections with astro/physics majors at other colleges and universities through their SWAP-like organizations or helping them to start mentorship programs like ours. We begin pursuing this long-term goal by learning about Kristine Lang's Society for Women in the Physical Sciences at Berkeley.

You can subscribe to the WIPHYS (Women in Physics) newsgroup by emailing a request to wiphys@aps.org, and you can subscribe to the AAS Women (Women in Astronomy) newsgroup by emailing a request to aaswomen@wellesley.edu.

Help from anyone interested in contacting astro/physics students at other schools, perhaps starting locally with those at Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Penn with whom we could hold group events, is greatly appreciated!

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Astro/Physics Clinic

Astro/Physics clinic is open Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings from 8 to 10pm in Science Center L26. While primarily aimed at aiding students in Astro 1 and 3, Physics 3, 4, 7, 8, 14, and 50, any students looking for assistance or collaboration on astro and physics assignments may attend. Discussion of lecture notes, labwork, lab reports, and test preparation strategies is welcome. While astro/physics clinic is not sponsored by SWAP, the two organizations work closely to ensure the existence of an effective and supportive clinic environment.

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Contacts

All email addresses are at-swarthmore-dot-edu.

Professors involved in SWAP:

• David Cohen, dcohen1, astro prof and SWAP advisor
• Catherine Crouch, ccrouch1, physics prof and SWAP advisor
• Amy Bug, abug1, physics prof and SWAP advisor (on leave 2003-04)
• John Boccio, boccio, physics prof
• Peter Collings, pcollin1, physics prof and department chair

Students involved in SWAP:

• Jessica Gersh '06, SWAP co-president
• Viva Horowitz '05, SWAP co-president
• Robin Smith '03, SWAP founder and alum coordinator
• Lisa Larrimore '02, physics grad student at Cornell

Other professor contacts:

• Deborah Bergstrand, dbergst1, math prof interested in Women in Math/Stat
• Cheryl Grood, cgrood1, math prof interested in Women in Math/Stat
• Lisa Meeden, meeden@cs, CS prof and coordinator of Women in CS
• Tia Newhall, newhall@cs, CS prof and coordinator of Women in CS

Other student contacts:

• Jiwon Shin '05, SWE member
• Rachel Thomas '05, interested in Women in Math/Stat

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Website updated October 28, 2004

Viva Horowitz, vhorowi1-at-swarthmore-dot-edu, webmaster

Thank you to Prof. John Boccio, Bo Hu '05, Saurav Dhital '06, Matt Landreman '03, Kelsey Hollenback '06, Viva Horowitz '05, and Robin Smith '03 for work on this webpage.

This site design is based on that of the Society for Women in the Physical Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley: http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~swps.