The History of Science and the Origins of Race
SS 490.01
Meeting: Library Alumni Reading Room
Pratt Institute
Spring 2005
B. Ricardo Brown, Ph.D.
Department of Social Science & Cultural
Studies
Office:
Dekalb 419
Office
Phone: 1.718.636.3567, ext. 2709
Office
Hours: Monday 1:00pm-1:55pm and 4:30pm-5:30pm,
Tuesday 1:00pm-1:55pm
and
by appointment
Email:
brbrowniii@earthlink.com
URL:
http://www.oocities.org/brbgc
Blog: http://node801.blogspot.com
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_____________________________________________________________________
Course
Description
We
often try to understand race as it confronts us today, either as a
source of diversity and multiculturalism or as a social problem.
This is not surprising given the fact that racism is a historical
production and so today we still exist amidst its' vast accumulation.
But racism presupposes the existence of Race,
of something so essential to us that it is visibly manifested by our
bodies, and these manifestations fall into a limited number of
scientifically defined types. Race began as a scientific concept
within the discourse of Natural History, but with far reaching
connections to nationalism, sexuality, industrialism, and
authoritarianism. To place our contemporary discussion of human
variety into a historical context, this class will investigate the
history of scientific discourses on race from Blumenbach’s
classification of humanity into the five familiar races, to
Gobineau’s Essay of
the Inequality of Human Races,
the Social Darwinists, and Dugdale’s classic study of degeneration
The Jukes.
Along the way, we will examine the debate on the origin of species,
whether races represent different species of humans (the
monogenesis/polygenesis dispute in Antebellum America), phrenology,
intelligence testing, criminal anthropology, the culture of poverty,
and degeneration. Throughout the semester, we will apply what we are
learning to the discussion of contemporary ideas and conflicts
regarding race and racism.
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Course
Requirements
Presentations
and Commentaries
Students
are expected to give at least one presentation during the semester on
the readings for the class. One person per required reading. The
presenter will prepare a two page typed commentary (approximately 650
– 700 words), which will be read or summarized in class. Copies
will be distributed at the beginning of class (those presenting must
see me immediately before class so that copies can be prepared (or
bring your own copies to class). Those not presenting should prepare
their comments after the class, including a commentary on the
presentations for the week (three pages or approximately 1000 words).
At the end of the semester, each student should have a collection of
12 weeks of readings (approximately 39 pages) and 1 three page
presentation. The commentaries will be collected 3 times during the
semester.
Or
to put it another way:
If
you are presenting a commentary:
Prepare
two typed pages to be read or summarized to the class (650 -700
words).
Meet
me in my office immediately before class in order to make copies for
the class.
If
you are not presenting a commentary:
Prepare
a 2-3 page (approximately 1000 words) commentary on the reading and
the inclass commentary on the reading.
The
presentations and commentaries will account for 40 percent.
Short
Essay
A
short essay (5-10 pages) will be due at the end of the course. The
essay question will be distributed at the final class.
Class
Participation
Education
is not a one way street and we can not expect to simply passively
receive knowledge unless we expect to live a passive life.
Participation is mandatory and will be factored into the final grade.
Absences
and Lateness
Persistent
absences or lateness will result in a reduction of your final grade.
Incompletes
Incompletes
will be granted only in accordance with the established policy of the
college. The request must be made in advance of the last week of
class. It must be made in writing. An
incomplete is “available only if the student has been in regular
attendance, has satisfied all but the final requirements of the
course, and has furnished satisfactory proof that the work was not
completed because of illness or other circumstances beyond control”
(Pratt Institute
Bulletin). If
you do not turn in your paper on time, and you do not have an
approved incomplete, you will fail the course. If
you do not complete your work be the beginning of the next semester,
I will not issue a change of grade except under the most
extraordinary circumstances.
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Readings
The
readings for the class will be drawn from a wide variety of sources.
The primary texts that you will want to purchase for this course are:
Gossett,
Thomas. 1963. Race:
the History of an Idea in America.
Dallas: Southern Methodist University.
Gould,
Stephen Jay. 1996. The
Mismeasure of Man.
2nd.
Revised Edition. New York, W.W. Norton.
Mosse,
George L. 1985. Toward the Final Solution: A History of European
Racism. New York: Howard Fertig.
It
is suggested that you also purchase:
Appleman,
Philip, ed. 1979. Darwin: A Norton Critical Edition. New
York: W.W. Norton.
The
books may be purchased from the Pratt Bookstore, as well as many
other bookstores in the city, including St. Marks Books, Barnes and
Nobles, Amazon.com, Powells, etc., and
Advanced
Book Exchange (Hundreds of book dealers around the country)
http://www.abebooks.com
These
are some additional sources for the texts:
The
Strand 12th street and Broadway
www.strandbooks.com
Hoboken
Books
720
Monroe St. Suite E-201, Hoboken NJ 07030
hobbooks@panix.com
Blake's
Books
in
Boston, http://www.blakesbooks.com
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Outline of the
Course of Study
Week
I. Introduction to the Course
Week
II. Race before Enlightenment: Natural History and the
Classification of Nature
Thomas
Gossett, 1963. “Early Race Theories” from
Race: the History of an Idea in America,
pgs.3- 17.
George
Mosse, Toward the Final Solution, pgs. Xxv-50.
Week
III. The Question Concerning the Origin of Species and the “Regular
Gradation in Man”
Gavin
De Beer. “Biology before Darwin” in Appleman, pgs. 3-10.
Charles
Darwin. “An Historical Sketch of the Progress of Opinion on The
Origin of Species, Previously to the Publication of This Work” in
Appleman, pgs. 19-27.
Stephen
J. Gould.”Age-old fallacies of thinking and stinking,” from The
Mismeasure of Man, pgs.391-399.
Stephen
J. Gould. “Racial geometry,” and “The moral state of Tahiti –
and of Darwin,” from The Mismeasure of Man, pgs.
401-412
Week
IV. The Question Concerning the Origin of Species: The American
School Monogenesis vs. Polygenesis
Stephen
J. Gould. American Polygeny and Craniometry before Darwin, from The
Mismeasure of Man,
pgs. 62-104.
Thomas
Gossett. 1963, “Nineteenth Century Anthropology” from
Race: the History of an Idea in America
Week
V. The Origin Of Species and The Descent of Man
Charles
Darwin. “Recapitulation and Conclusions” from The
Origin of Species, and
The Dissent of Man
in Appleman, pgs. 43-88, 108-131, 187-210.
Week
VI. The Sciences of Life and Man
Thomas
Gossett. “Race and Social Darwinism” from
Race: the History of an Idea in America,
pgs. 144-175.
Inherit
the Wind
Richard Hofstadter. “The Vogue
of Spencer” from Social Darwinism in American Thought,
pgs. 389-398.
Week
VII. Degeneracy
Max Nordau. 1892. Degeneration,
pgs. 1-40.
Degenerate
Art (Documentary Film in
class)
Week
VIII. Criminal Anthropology
Stephen
J. Gould. “Measuring Bodies: Two Case Studies on the Apishness of
Undesirables” from
The Mismeasure of Man,
pgs. 141-175.
Stephen
J. Gould. “Pervasive Influence” from Ontogeny
and Phylogeny, pgs.
115-165.
Week
IX.
Thomas Gossett. “Teutonic
Origins Theory,” and “Study of Language and Literature,” from
Race, the History of an Idea, pgs. 84-143.
Ferdinand de Saussure. 1986
[1916],“Linguistic evidence in anthropology and prehistory,”
from Course in General Linguistics, pgs. 219-230
Week
X.
George Mosse. 1985. “The
Science of Race,” and “The Mystery of Race,” from Toward
the Final Solution, pgs77-93.
The
Anthropologist (Documentary
Film in class)
Week
XI.
Hitler's
Search for the Holy Grail (Documentary
Film in class)
Week
XII. The Germ-Plasm and Racial Destiny
George
Canguilhem. 1988 [1977]. “On the History of the Life Sciences Since
Darwin,” from Ideology
and Rationality in the History of the Life Sciences,
pgs. 103-124.
Week
XIII. Eugenics
Daniel
J. Kevles. 1995, In
the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity,
pgs. 3-20, 70-112, 129-148
Week
XIV. The
Floating Signifier
Stuart
Hall. Race, the
Floating Signifier.
Video Lecture
Week
XV. Review
Commentaries
Due
Essay
Question Distributed
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