Eugenics: A Social History of A Pseudo-Science (HyFlex: In-person)

Eugenics: A Social History of A Pseudo-Science (HyFlex: In-person)

Summer (1.5 to 2.5 hrs) | Registration opens Monday, May 18, 2026 12:00 AM EDT

One Court Street Lebanon, NH 03766 United States
Room 3A - 3rd Flr - Suite 380
8/21/2026 (one day)
1:00 PM-3:00 PM EDT on Fri
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$30.00

Eugenics: A Social History of A Pseudo-Science (HyFlex: In-person)

Summer (1.5 to 2.5 hrs) | Registration opens Monday, May 18, 2026 12:00 AM EDT

This is the in-person registration option for this course.
Eugenics is a discredited yet still powerful belief that promotes improving human genetic quality by encouraging reproduction of people with “desirable traits” and/or reducing reproduction of people with “undesirable traits.” It has been at the heart of discriminatory social and immigration policies. Carried to extremes, it has been at the heart of genocide. We will examine the history of this belief, how it grew in global acceptance yet then rejected after WWII, and how we might see its ascendance again as technology is bringing us closer to being able to change and purposefully direct genetic content.

This course will combine lecture with class discussion.


  • There are no required books for this course.


Etkind, Paul
Paul Etkind

Paul Etkind is a retired applied epidemiologist in infectious diseases with degrees in Biology (Clark University), Medical Entomology, and Epidemiology (Yale). The author of more than fifty peer-reviewed articles, he has worked at local, state, and national levels. Dr. Etkind has been both a Study Leader and learner in a number of Osher courses.