Information and syllabus for the Spring course "Social Issues in Biology" (Microbiology 213) is below (and attached).
Interested students should contact Jon Beckwith at jon_beckwith@hms.harvard.edu.
A Reading/Discussion Course
Microbiology 213: Social Issues in Biology. Instructors: J. Beckwith, R. Born, N. Krieger, S. Lory, A. De Pace, D. Glass, C. Wu and J. Kung are mostly faculty from the HMS Basic Science Departments. For each session, students can obtain readings and associated questions at the My.Harvard.edu course website. The book, “Mismeasure of Man” by Stephen Gould, for the second session can be obtained at The Harvard Coop in Harvard Square. The course is limited to 18 students. Contact Jon Beckwith before starting date atjon_beckwith@hms.harvard.edu. The first meeting will be on Thursday, February 7 from 2-5 PM at HMS NRB833 and continue for the remaining Thursdays of the class. There will be a session on the very first day (February 7) so students should obtain the reading available on the course Website before the first session.
February 7 Nancy Krieger Why epidemiologists must reckon with racism
February 14 Steve Lory Eugenics, past, present and future
February 21 Rick Born Probability, statistics and “truth” in science
February 28 Jon Beckwith Gould’s book: Mismeasure of Man: on Louis Agassiz, Samuel Morton’s skulls and 168 years of scientific controversy. Bias in science?
March 7 Angela DePace Responsible communication to the public : how population genetics misinterpretation supports racist attitudes
March 14 Angela DePace Activism in the university on gender and racial bias: Work of Nancy Hopkins, Ed Kravitz, etc.
March 21 David Glass Reproducibility in science as an ethical issue
March 28 Steve Lory The use and misuse of forensic DNA profiling
April 4 David Glass Past silencing of minority voices: Rosalind Franklin and E.E. Just; Implications for today
April 11 Chao Ting Wu, Johnny Kung , and the pgEd team: Engaging diverse publics on issues in genetics
April 18 Rick Born When social issues distort scientific discourse
April 25 Jon Beckwith Scientist activists re: science in warfare science, promoting the teaching of evolution, for diversity in the university; debunking genetic determinism