Past Events

Aug 18, 2012 | The Black Panther Party and The Fight Against Medical Discrimination

Alondra Nelson (Colombia, Sociology) Monday March 12, 2012 College 8, 301 Time: 12:30-2:00PM Between its founding in 1966 and its formal end in 1980, the Black Panther Party blazed a distinctive trail in American political culture. The Black Panthers are most often remembered for their revolutionary rhetoric and militant action. Here Alondra Nelson deftly recovers… Continue Reading Aug 18, 2012 | The Black Panther Party and The Fight Against Medical Discrimination

May 22, 2012 | Authority, Expertise and Power in Mexican Forests: A Discussion with Andrew Mathews

Tuesday May 22, 2012 4-6:00 PM Engineering 2, 599 Join us for a discussion of Science & Justice member Andrew Matthew’s recently released book, Instituting Nature: Authority, Expertise and Power in Mexican Forests (MIT Press). Greater knowledge and transparency are often promoted as the keys to solving a wide array of governance problems. In Instituting… Continue Reading May 22, 2012 | Authority, Expertise and Power in Mexican Forests: A Discussion with Andrew Mathews

May 08, 2012 | Are You My Data? Symposium

With a human genome sequenced and a map of variable sites in that genome created, governments and many other public and private actors now seek to make genomic data relevant to health, medicine and the society. However, to do so they must navigate the conjunction of two different approaches to data. Within the biomedical domain there are important, well-articulated infrastructures and commitments arising out of concerns about individual rights, patient privacy and the doctor-patient relationship that limit access to biomedical data. This stands in stark contrast to the culture of open access forged by those who worked on the Human Genome Project, and that has continued to be a central commitment of ongoing Human Genome research. Thus, architects of the genomic revolution face competing, complex technical and ethical challenges that arise from this meeting of these domains with substantially different ethos. Additionally, the rise of social media has led to a broad and contested discussion about the proper relationship between persons and data and who profits through access to it. Continue Reading May 08, 2012 | Are You My Data? Symposium

Mar 13, 2012 | Can Science Have Progressive Goals? A Discussion with Alondra Nelson

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 4-6:00 PM in Engineering 2, 599 Narratives of scientific progress are often paired with narratives about political progress, suggesting that the expansion of scientific knowledge always—or at least generally—leads to the betterment of humankind as a whole. But many socially disadvantaged and oppressed peoples contend that such “progress” is distributed unevenly… Continue Reading Mar 13, 2012 | Can Science Have Progressive Goals? A Discussion with Alondra Nelson

Feb 06, 2012 | Cells, Race and Stories: A Discussion with Priscilla Wald about Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa Cell Line

Priscilla Wald (Duke, English and the Center for Genome Ethics, Law and Policy)Monday, February 6, 2012Engineering 2, 5994:00-6:00 PMThis event is co-sponsored with Cultural Studies, Center for Biomolecular Sciences and Engineering—Research Mentoring Institute, and the Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology Department. Priscilla Wald, “Cells, Race and Stories: A Discussion about Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa… Continue Reading Feb 06, 2012 | Cells, Race and Stories: A Discussion with Priscilla Wald about Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa Cell Line

Jan 31, 2012 | Scientific Research on Ayahuasca and Health

Bia LabateTuesday, January 31, 2012, 4-6pmEngineering 2, 599Beatriz Labate has studied the scientific and social features of psychoactive substances for over 15 years. In this meeting we will discuss the situation surrounding the compound ayahuasca, a psychedelic used in both medical and spiritual contexts throughout the Americas. By exploring the frontiers and limits between “therapeutic”… Continue Reading Jan 31, 2012 | Scientific Research on Ayahuasca and Health

Jan 26, 2012 | Eating Information? Food and Metabolism in Epigenetic Perspective

Hannah Landecker (UCLA Center for Genetics and Society) Thursday January 26, 2012, 3:00-5:00 PM Engineering 2, Room 399 Epigenetics has turned food and its metabolism into a problem that is not just about how the body turns food its basic components–carbohydrates, fat, protein-but how food acts as a signal of the environment–both biological and political.… Continue Reading Jan 26, 2012 | Eating Information? Food and Metabolism in Epigenetic Perspective

Jan 26, 2012 | Eating Information? Food and Metabolism in Epigenetic Perspective

Hannah Landecker (UCLA Center for Genetics and Society) January 26, 2012, 3:00-5:00 PM Engineering 2, Room 399 Epigenetics has turned food and its metabolism into a problem that is not just about how the body turns food its basic components–carbohydrates, fat, protein-but how food acts as a signal of the environment–both biological and political. Hannah… Continue Reading Jan 26, 2012 | Eating Information? Food and Metabolism in Epigenetic Perspective