3 credits
Fall 2026 Lecture Upper Division
This course explores the pre-history and history of American eugenics, as well as its afterlives. It analyzes how Americans have used scientific ideas to grapple with questions of heredity and human worth from the Early Republic to the present. We will explore the social and political uses of phrenology, physiognomy, and eugenics, and consider how those scientifically discredited ideas do and do not shape modern studies in demography, genetics, social work, and genetic engineering.
Learning Outcomes1Read and discuss primary sources.
2Interpret how scientific knowledge has been applied in human lives and society from the 18th century to the present.
3Analyze major themes in the history of eugenics.
4Investigate how and why specific ideas about human value and genetic worth arise in specific historical contexts.
5Critique the extent to which scientifically discredited ideas do and do not shape modern studies in demography, genetics, social work, and genetic engineering.
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