What’s Biology Got to Do with It? The Social Life of Genetics

What’s Biology Got to Do with It? The Social Life of Genetics

Brooklyn Historical Society
Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations
Saturday, 2013-11-16, 15:00-18:00 EST (Local Time)

Part One of the reading series Quantifying Bloodlines

  • What do we learn about ourselves through genetics and genealogy?
  • How does DNA connect with what we know about our family’s ancestry and cultural heritage?

Join anthropologist, Jennifer Scott in conversation with sociologist Ann Morning, author of The Nature of Race: How Scientists Think and Teach about Human Difference (2011), for a discussion examining the social life of DNA.

Having read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, we will explore the tremendous social impact of one woman’s cellular legacy upon the world. We will discuss the impact on her direct descendants as Henrietta Lacks’ family discovers how their genes were used to make unprecedented medical advancements and enormous profits without their consent. Looking at the connections between biology and culture, this discussion session will explore the meanings of heredity, inheritance, and questions of bioethics.

Please plan to have read the book prior to our meeting.

This reading and discussion group is co-sponsored by MixedRaceStudies.org

For more information, click here.

Tags: , , , ,