HI2H5-15 Race and Science: Histories and Legacies
Introductory description
Why do many European and American museums contain large collections of human skulls? Why are some diseases associated with particular ethnic groups? And why does facial recognition software perform significantly worse when trying to identify people of African descent? In this course, we explore these questions through the long history of the relationship between race and science. We begin in the seventeenth century, with the rise of Atlantic slavery, and move right through to the present. In the process, we explore the historical development of various racial sciences, from anatomy and psychology through to anthropology and genetics. Throughout the course, there is an emphasis on exploring the relationship between race and science as part of a global history. We cover the history of racial science, not just in Europe and the United States, but also in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Pacific. Reflecting recent developments in the field, this course emphasises the agency of colonised, enslaved, and indigenous people in resisting and reworking the relationship between science and race, both in the past and present. This course also confronts the legacies of racial science, questioning how society could better respond to these histories today. Finally, this course draws on best practices in terms of anti-racist pedagogy, both in teaching and assessment. Please note: ‘race’ in this course is treated as a social construction, not a biological fact. Indeed, in this course we explore the very history of how race came to be seen as first biological and then social.
Module aims
This course will introduce students to the scholarship on the history of racial science. The module is designed to engage students by getting them to reflect on the legacies of these histories, both in the teaching and assessment. Each week, the lecture and seminar readings will explore how the history of racial science still has an impact on the present. This is also reflected in the assessment, which includes an applied policy task.
The principal modules aims are therefore: to introduce students to the history of racial science, to introduce this history through anti-racist pedagogy, ensuring material is treated with sensitivity, to highlight the role that enslaved, colonised and indigenous people have played in challenging racial science, and to explore the legacies of these histories today for policy and politics.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Weeks:
- Medicalising Blackness
- Skull Collectors
- People on Display
- Colonial Anthropology
- Sciences of Settler Colonialism
- Reading Week
- Eugenic Empires
- Racial Science and the End of Empire
- Genetic Nationalism
- Algorithms of Oppression
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the methods of the history of race and science, and to understand the connections between the history of race and the history of science
- Communicate ideas and findings, adapting to a range of situations, audiences and degrees of complexity.
- Generate ideas through the analysis of a broad range of primary and secondary source material related to the history of racial science.
- Analyse and evaluate the contributions made by existing scholarship.
- Act with limited supervision and direction within defined guidelines, accepting responsibility for achieving deadlines.
Indicative reading list
Generic Reading lists can be found in Talis
Subject specific skills
See learning outcomes.
Transferable skills
See learning outcomes.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 9 sessions of 1 hour (6%) |
| Seminars | 9 sessions of 1 hour (6%) |
| Tutorials | 1 session of 1 hour (1%) |
| Private study | 131 hours (87%) |
| Total | 150 hours |
Private study description
History modules require students to undertake extensive independent research and reading to prepare for seminars and assessments. As a rough guide, students will be expected to read and prepare to comment on three substantial texts (articles or book chapters) for each seminar taking approximately 3 hours. Each assessment requires independent research, reading around 6-10 texts and writing and presenting the outcomes of this preparation in an essay, review, presentation or other related task.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
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| Seminar contribution | 10% | No | |
Reassessment component |
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| 1000 word reflection | Yes (extension) | ||
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A reflective piece on seminar contribution. |
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Assessment component |
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| 1500 word applied task (policy document) | 40% | Yes (extension) | |
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The applied task will be to write a policy document on the legacies of a particular racial science or collection or institution, suggesting how these legacies should be addressed alongside the historical detail to make the case. The model will be that of a History & Policy website piece. (I will give students a list of current issues and topics to choose from, such as the collection of the Edinburgh Anatomy Museum, or the report of the Royal Society on race and racism in scientific institutions. Students will also be allowed and encouraged to pick their own case studies for a policy report.) |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Assessment component |
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| 3000 word essay | 50% | Yes (extension) | |
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A historical essay based on both secondary and primary sources. Students will be given a list of essay titles or allowed to pick their own in consultation with the convenor (if confirmed in writing in advance). |
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Reassessment component is the same |
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Feedback on assessment
- written feedback on essay and exam cover sheets- student/tutor dialogues in one-to-one tutorials
Courses
This module is Optional for:
- Year 2 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History
This module is Option list B for:
- Year 2 of UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History