Tuesday May 7, 2019
Talk by
Lisa Gannett
(Saint Mary’s University, Halifax)
Room Valentin, 454A
University Paris Diderot, Building Condorcet, 75013 Paris *
Genome-wide studies of human population structure find that patterns of genetic variation correlate with self-reported national, ethnic, and racial differences. As these studies proliferate, so too does the direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic ancestry tests, thereby fueling the public perception that truths about our origins, about who we really are, are inscribed in our DNA. However, an examination of the epistemic status of group categories in genomics shows that these categories are mired in historical and geographical constructions of race and nation and cannot provide the authoritatively scientific and empirically objective foundations sought for them.
Lisa Gannett is a historian and philosopher of science, a specialist in the genetics of human populations, genetic ancestry and the notion of "race" in biology. She is currently staying as a visiting professor at SPHERE.
University Paris Diderot – CNRS
Laboratoire SPHERE - UMR 7219
Building Condorcet, 4, rue Elsa Morante
75013 Paris
Metro line 14 & RER C / Stop : Bibliothèque François Mitterrand
Metro line 6 / Stop : Quai de la Gare
Bus 62 & 89 / Stop:Bibliothèque rue Mann
Bus 64 / Stop : Tolbiac-Bibliothèque François Mitterrand
Bus 325 / Stop : Watt
