Eugenics and the University: The History of Higher Education's "War on the Weak"

Catalog description

This course examines the origins and impact of eugenics -- the pursuit of "improving" humanity through the elimination of "undesirable" populations -- on people with disabilities. In particular it looks at the history of higher education and many of its academic disciplines in order to understand the origins of eugenic thinking, research, and advocacy, the prominence that these notorious and ugly beliefs had within the highest rungs of the highly educated elite, and the efforts of people with disability to resist eugenics. In this course students use the tools of history to grapple with a difficult question: how did so many seemingly "good" people that we associate with enlightenment, learning, and good works, fail to recognize the evil of their eugenicist assumptions, research, and public health recommendations? How can our historical study of persons with disability and their efforts to challenge ableism in the past guide our thinking and practice in the present?