Special issue to showcase the winning and shortlisted entries for the first Annual Essay Competition run by the Women's Studies Network Association (WSN) in 2002. The WSN wants to promote women's studies, feminist research and teaching both nationally and internationally. In this special issue on New Writings in Women's Studies the following articles: 'An Exploration of Quaker Women's Writing Between 1650 and 1700' by Caroline Baker : 'In spite of challenges by 'black' and 'third world' women, do mainstream feminist theories still reflect the concerns of white women?' by Sherry Chopra : 'The Prisoner of Gender: Foucault and the Disciplining of the Female Body' by Angela King : 'An Illimitable Field: A Practice-based Investigation into the Writing Process' by Julie Mellor and 'My, is that Cyborg a little bit Queer?' by Esperanza Miyake.
Special issue on women in science. Erica Meiners and Laurie Fuller examine a project funded by a federal government to increase the technological literacy levels of women, especially women of color. Laura McCullough questions whether gender-biased contexts in a particular physics assessment, like the Force Concept Inventory, could contribute to gender gaps in performance. Dianne Newell explores the contributions of two American writers Judith Merril and Rachel Carson. Ingrid Bartsch examines the boundaries between natural and social science education by analyzing both the forms and processes of resistance.