Global Histories of Race in Science and Medicine

Why do we call a white person “Caucasian”? Why is affirmative action in present-day Brazil based on racial classification? In this course, we will explore the ways in which government officials, doctors, and scientists have studied and theorized human variation from the 18th century onward. We will start with colonial Mexico’s casta system and Linnaeus’s racial classification, then move to the anthropological study of skulls and bones and the creation of caste hierarchies in colonial India. We will then analyze the 20th century study of genetic human variation in the Global South and end with present-day race correcting clinical algorithms. How have practices and theories of studying human diversity changed and persisted over time? How have people around the world understood “race”? Students will learn why and how “race” is a social construct but repeatedly made into something biological by medicine, science, and society. The course will also highlight the problematic and contentious nature of scientific “race” studies by analyzing their colonial contexts, the UNESCO critiques after World War II, and current-day comments on race and science in newspaper articles and podcasts (transcripts available on course website). Together, we will reflect on how historical knowledge can assist in tackling complex issues surrounding race, science, and bias in global societies past and present.

Notes

Online registration closes June 4 at 5 pm CT.

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