Mixed Race Studies

What’s Biology Got to Do with It? The Social Life of Genetics

Brooklyn Historical Society
Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations
Saturday, 2013-11-16, 15:00-18:00 EST (Local Time)

Part One of the reading series Quantifying Bloodlines

• What do we learn about ourselves through genetics and genealogy?
• How does DNA connect with what we know about our family’s ancestry and cultural heritage?

Join anthropologist, Jennifer Scott in conversation with sociologist Ann Morning, author of The Nature of Race: How Scientists Think and Teach about Human Difference (2011), for a discussion examining the social life of DNA.

Having read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, we will explore the tremendous social impact of one woman’s cellular legacy upon the world. We will discuss the impact on her direct descendants as Henrietta Lacks’ family discovers how their genes were used to make unprecedented medical advancements and enormous profits without their consent. Looking at the connections between biology and culture, this discussion session will explore the meanings of heredity, inheritance, and questions of bioethics.

Please plan to have read the book prior to our meeting.

This reading and discussion group is co-sponsored by MixedRaceStudies.org

For more information, click here.

Reading Series: Quantifying Bloodlines

Brooklyn Historical Society
Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations
Othmer Library
Saturdays, 2013-11-16, 2013-12-07 and 2014-01-25; 15:00-18:00 EST (Local Time)

Quantifying Bloodlines is a monthly reading group organized by anthropologist and oral historian Jennifer Scott.  Join others interested in exploring the relationship between biology and race, as we discuss three widely acclaimed books. Each work offers different examples of tracing family history—through a surname, through biological cells, through a specific geographic locale, through four generations of women’s lives. Through stories, we will discuss how we segment heritage and explain descent, paying close attention to past and existing ideas of purity, racial and economic privilege, and scientific thinking.

All sessions meet in the Othmer Library at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Light refreshments will be provided.

Sign up for individual sessions for $20, or join us for all three at a discounted price of $45! All sessions are available for a sliding scale fee, and no-one will be turned away for lack of funds.

What’s Biology Got to Do with It? The Social Life of Genetics
November 16th, 2013, 3:00 PM
Reading: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Guest Speaker: Sociologist Ann Morning, author of The Nature of Race: How Scientists Think and Teach about Human Difference

What’s Purity Got to Do with It? Searching Family History and Genealogy
December 7th, 2013, 3:00 PM
Reading: The Fiddler on Pantico Run: An African Warrior, His White Descendants, A Search for Family by Joe Mozingo

What’s History Got to Do with It? Evolving Classifications of Race
January 25th, 2014, 3:00 PM
Reading: Cane River by Lalita Tademy

Quantifying Bloodlines Reading and Discussion Series is co-sponsored by MixedRaceStudies.org

For more information, click here.

What’s Purity Got to Do with It? Searching Family History and Genealogy

Brooklyn Historical Society
Crossing Borders, Bridging Generations
Othmer Library
Saturday, 2013-12-07, 15:00-18:00 EST (Local Time)

Part Two of the reading series Quantifying Bloodlines

How do stories help us to understand the ways in which we dissect lineage?

Bring in your own family tree, genealogical research, family photos, or family name origins, while we take a close look at The Fiddler on Pantico Run: An African Warrior, His White Descendants, A Search for Family by Joe Mozingo.  Short multi-media pieces will be screened detailing more about Joe Mozingo’s search for family history through a surname that both haunts, confuses and intrigues him, and unlocks hidden histories about migration and genealogy.

If you are just beginning a search for your family history or have searched for many years, this discussion session with Jennifer Scott, anthropologist and public historian at the New School, will help to illuminate the discovery process about lineage, identity and race.

Please plan to have read the book prior to our meeting.

Session is limited to 15 participants. Active participation is key.

This reading and discussion group is co-sponsored by MixedRaceStudies.org

For more information, click here.