Race, Membership, and Eugenics

Catalog description

The link between race and intelligence has been a subject of discussion and debate in academic research since the creation and distribution of intelligence quotient (IQ) testing in the early 20th century. There is no widely accepted formal definition of either race or intelligence in academia. Discussions connecting race and intelligence involve studies from multiple disciplines, including psychology, anthropology, biology, and sociology. Techniques have been employed to support and justify beliefs in racism, racial inferiority, and racial superiority. Human populations have been classified into physically discrete human races that supposedly separate the superior and inferior. This course will examine race, membership, and eugenics and the impact on American society, as well as explore the scientific and social trends that supported the eugenics movement. Course restricted to University Honors Program students; others by permission of the UHP.