The Fall 2017 Global Inequality Research Institute (GIRI) Seminar, "Examining Neuroscience, Genetics and Inequality", explored controversial and important issues related to race, genetics and inequality, how they are studied, and whether (and how) such studies should inform medical practice, criminal and other legal actions, personal identity claims, health disparities, and social policy.

The course interrogated the following questions:

• Should we phase out the use of racial terminology in biological sciences?
• If so, will the conventional terminology be replaced by new language that preserves the same ideas? And are those ideas actually incorrect?
• If we deem illegitimate genetic explanations for differences in group-based behaviors and outcomes, is there still a space for genetic explanations for differences in individual behaviors and outcomes?

The course used various resources, including:

• Race in a Bottle: The Story of BiDil and Racialized Medicine in a Post-Genomic Age – Jonathan Kahn (2014)
• Medicating Race – Anne Pollock? (2012)

Capstone Event

Leading scholars and students enrolled in the Global Inequality Research Initiative (GIRI) seminar gathered to explore important issues related to race, genetics and inequality, how they are studied, and whether (and how) such studies should inform medical practice, criminal and other legal actions, personal identity claims, health disparities, and social policy.

The “Examining Neuroscience, Genetics and Inequality” capstone conference featured a keynote address by Dr. Joseph L. Graves Jr., an expert panel including Dr. Brenda Reddix-Smalls and Dr. Misha Angrist, and student presentations.

View photos from the capstone!