HIST 4080 Social Darwinism to the Bell Curve

This seminar explores the history of ideas and practices generated from a biocentric or biology-centered worldview. In particular, the course is primarily concerned with the use of this worldview as an explanation for socio-human phenomena. These phenomena include social Darwinism, the eugenics movement, race, the search for crime genes, hereditarian theories of IQ, and controversies over the human genome project and cloning. The course primarily focuses on the history of these intellectual and social practicies within the United States, but insights from other Western contexts are also explored when deemed appropriate. Prerequisite(s): HIST 2600
Credits: 3.0