Eugenics: A Social History of A Pseudo-Science (HyFlex: In-person)
Summer (1.5 to 2.5 hrs) | Available (Membership Required)
This is the in-person registration option for this course.
Eugenics is a discredited yet still powerful belief that promotes improving human genetic quality by encouraging reproduction of people with “desirable traits” and/or reducing reproduction of people with “undesirable traits.” It has been at the heart of discriminatory social and immigration policies. Carried to extremes, it has been at the heart of genocide. We will examine the history of this belief, how it grew in global acceptance yet then rejected after WWII, and how we might see its ascendance again as technology is bringing us closer to being able to change and purposefully direct genetic content.
This course will combine lecture with class discussion.
Paul Etkind
I am a retired public health epidemiologist who concentrated primarily on infectious disease prevention and control. I worked at the local, state, and national levels, and was active in professional organizations. My academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in biology from Clark University in Worcester, MA and master’s and doctoral degrees from the School of Public Health at Yale University.