The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations and Reconciliation after the Genome Presented by Dr. Alondra Nelson

The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations and Reconciliation after the Genome

Presented by Dr. Alondra Nelson

Join us for a discussion with Dr. Alondra Nelson about her book, The Social Life of DNA, as she discusses genetic genealogy and its potential for addressing social issues around race, including grappling with the unfinished business of slavery, establishing ties with African ancestral homelands, and making legal claims for slavery reparations.

Alondra Nelson is president of the Social Science Research Council and professor of sociology at Columbia University. An award-winning scholar of science, medicine, and social inequality, her recent books include The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome, Genetics and the Unsettled Past: The Collision of DNA, Race, and History, and Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight Against Medical Discrimination. Alondra has contributed to national policy discussions on inequality, and about the social implications of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, big data, direct-to-consumer genetics, and human gene-editing. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Data & Society Research Institute. Alondra is chair of the American Sociological Association Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology and is an elected member of the Sociological Research Association.

Lunch provided.