Dr. Phyllis Van Slyck
Department of English
LaGuardia Community College
The
focus of our Seminar will be Eugenics, specifically, case studies of eugenics
in America. We will examine how a
belief in creating more “perfect” humans came to be, what sociological and
scientific beliefs in the 19th century promoted this kind of
thinking and the inherent dangers of eugenics for human rights, freedom,
autonomy. Readings, videos and
film screenings will look both backwards and forwards and we will be discussing
not only the negative eugenics of the early twentieth century but also whether
or not “designer babies” or “genetic enhancements” have the potential to be a
form of eugenics. On this blog you
will find course documents, websites and a space for your own reflections.
eu·gen·ics
yo͞oˈjeniks/
noun
The science of improving a human population by controlled
breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics.
Eugenics (/juːˈdʒɛnɪks/; from Greek eu, meaning
"good/well", and -genēs, meaning "born") is the belief and practice of improving the
genetic quality of the human population. It is a social philosophy advocating the
improvement of human genetic traits
through the promotion of higher reproduction of people with desired traits
(positive eugenics), and reduced reproduction of people with less-desired or
undesired traits (negative eugenics).
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