History of Eugenics and Scientific Racism

Catalog description

This course explores the history and legacy of eugenics, the scientific field that sought to divide people into superior and inferior groups, and to manage human reproduction efficiently by encouraging the production of superior babies and reducing or even eliminating the production of inferior ones. We will begin in the 19th century and follow the trajectory of eugenics, and its close cousin, scientific racism, to the present day. We will explore how and why eugenics and race science emerged and became a dominant force in public policy debates around the world in the first half of the 20th century (underwriting severe immigration restriction, mass sterilization, and mass extermination campaigns in its most extreme form), how the field was formally discredited in the wake of the Holocaust and was re-christened human genetics, as well as how eugenic ideals continue to live on today in science, medicine, politics, public policy, and popular culture. The course examines the complex relationship between science and society, specifically by: identifying how society impacts the development of scientific theories, research programs, and knowledge production; how science in turn influences social discourse and public policy; how past ideas and theoretical frameworks have remarkable endurance in human societies even when it seems like we've outgrown them; and how scientific communities often seek to move past embarrassing moments and research programs without fully confronting or abandoning the core principles that precipitated them; as well as what it might look like to actually come to terms with the more nefarious side of science. This course meets the Dietrich Gen Ed "Scientific Inquiry" requirement.