Barbara F. Sloat
Lecturer in Biology RC Department: Science, Technology, and Society Phone: (734) 746 4424 bsloat@umich.edu
Office: 216 Tyler Office hours: By appointment
Barbara Furin Sloat is a cell biologist who has taught in the Residential College since 1984. In addition to seminars in the area of biology, her courses have included “The Immune System: Science & Societal Issues”; “Gender & Science”; “Western and Non-Western Medicine,” co-taught with Professor Max Heirich. She also co-teaches a seminar, “Understandings of Health and Disease in the Classical Medical Systems of India and Tibet,” at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Barbara’s research and publications have focused on cellular morphogenesis in yeast, multiple forms of lysosomal enzymes in mammalian cells, and on the recruitment and retention of women in the sciences. She was founding director of the UM’s Women in Science and Engineering Program (WISE) and has also served as Associate Director of the LS&A Honors Program. She is a recipient of the Sarah Goddard Power Award for “distinguised service, scholarship, and commitment to the betterment of women” at the U-M, and the Grace Lyon Alumnae Award from Denison University for “her outstanding contributions to the advancement of women in science.”
She has made three treks to Tibet, a month-long medical expedition in Nepal, and two trips to India, most recently in 2008. Her Himalayan experiences led her to study Tibetan Medicine, concepts of which she incorporates into her current RC and Medical School seminars.
Recent Courses
Medicine & Health: West & East
Western and Non-Western Medicine
Gender & Science