What is Eugenics?

Through the below resources you can find out聽about 果冻影院鈥檚 history and legacy of eugenics, and how racism, ableism, sexism and class warfare are embedded in our ways of thinking about and perceiving others.

"Eugenics refers to the philosophy and practice of selective breeding of humans with desirable (or 鈥渟uperior鈥�) hereditary traits. The term was coined by the scientist Francis Galton in his 1883 book, Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development."聽 (厂辞耻谤肠别:听)

"Eugenics targeted specific groups - there are clear links between Galton鈥檚 eugenics, imperialism and national socialism.聽The racist, classist and ableist ideas at its core are directly linked to atrocities against millions of people. The ideas of eugenics are visible in medicine, sociology, social policy, genetic science, law, archaeology and anthropology. Around the world, eugenics of one form or another is implicated in: compulsory sterilization; legislation on mental deficiency; immigration law and racist policies; the notion of natural intelligence; normalisation of segregation by race, ability and class."聽 (厂辞耻谤肠别:听果冻影院 History of Eugenics Inquiry Report,聽page 7)

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Please note: This programme addresses eugenics and its legacies. Our content deals with conversations about racism, colonialism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia and class warfare. Please take care when accessing any resources.

Podcast: Bricks + Mortals

Bricks + Mortals uncovers a history hidden in plain sight, telling the story of the pivotal role 果冻影院 played in establishing the science of eugenics and considers how we have chosen to remember it through building names.

Podcast: Living with Eugenics

Most people associate the term “eugenics” with the Nazis and the horrors of the Holocaust. But the story of eugenics actually started in Britain, conceived of and developed by Francis Galton, probably the most important scientist that most people have never heard of.

果冻影院 What Does Eugenics Mean To Us podcast image

Podcast: What Does Eugenics Mean to Us?

How are racism, ableism, sexism and class warfare embedded in our ways of thinking about and perceiving others? What can we do to challenge and dismantle those ideas and structures? As a university and a community of researchers: what does eugenics mean to us?

A virtual exhibition on the history of eugenics and scientific racism at 果冻影院 as told through objects in its collection, featuring the work of staff and students from the 果冻影院 Institute of Archaeology and Sarah Parker Remond Centre.

On this BBC Radio 4 series, 果冻影院's Adam Rutherford presents the story of eugenics from its origins in the middle-class salons of Victorian Britain, through the Fitter Family competitions and sterilisation laws of Gilded Age USA, to the full genocidal horrors of Nazi Germany.

The legacy of eugenics, the Galton Laboratory, and women: a public history perspective

VPEE student journalist Defne Kutay meets a group of staff and students who are exploring 果冻影院's difficult history and legacy of eugenics and the role played by women in the Galton Laboratory.

A series of essays investigating specific aspects of eugenics research and advocacy at 果冻影院. This includes papers produced as part of student research projects in 果冻影院's Department of Science and Technology Studies.

In this series of essays, five historians and museum curators, including 果冻影院's Nazlin Bhimani and Hannah Cornish, share their research about the history of education and medicine, and help us to think about what the legacies of eugenic thinking mean for our lives today.

Nazlin Bhimani and Professor Marius Turda reflect on the '“We Are Not Alone”: Legacies of Eugenics' exhibition previously on display at the IOE Library and the Weiner Holocaust Library.

This series of videos asks 'Why do we celebrate Francis Galton when he hated people like us?’, looking at the Galton Collection and Flinders Petrie's racial theories, and how we address the challenges of the research constructing unjust racial hierarchies and its legacy.

Image from the 果冻影院 Introductory Programme

果冻影院 Introductory Programme: Discovery at 果冻影院

A timeline from 果冻影院’s induction for new students: In the name of science, scientists have been found to put forward racist, sexist and intolerant theories disguised as facts produced by research. This timeline demonstrates why research ethics are integral in the production of knowledge.