Complementing the academic networking promoted by Working Group on the History of Race and Eugenics (HRE) at Oxford Brookes University, the book series with CEU Press strives to encourage original works of comprehensive synthesis as well as those innovatively expanding upon current definitions of the history of eugenics, race and medicine, theoretically and analytically. It is our conviction that this series will serve to further familiarise specialists and the general public alike with a new range of topics within an ever growing field.
History of Race and Eugenics (HRE)
Group Leader(s): Professor Marius Turda
Contact: mturda@brookes.ac.uk +44 (0)18653698
About us
The Working Group in the History of Race and Eugenics (HRE) was established in 2006. Its main aim is to foster collaboration among scholars and networks of scholars working on the history of eugenics and its contemporary relevance.
HRE aims to innovate and improve upon existing scholarship through a truly international transfer of knowledge is not only evident in the broad geographical diversity of its participants, but the intensity and frequency of scholarly interactions it continuously promotes. The research group aims to build an encompassing framework of interpretation that transcends national boundaries that can serve to strengthen academic collaborations between various countries in Europe, the USA and South America.
Research impact
The popularity of anthropology, biopolitics and eugenics during the interwar and Second World War periods is beyond question, but its wider scientific and political impact, and its lingering effects in collective behaviour (particularly towards the Roma), remains to be examined. These are some example of HRE activities:
- Two exhibitions on the history of anthropology, biopolitics and eugenics in Romania between 2018 and 2020 (see video opposite)
- Podcasts on the contemporary relevance of eugenics
- A Cultural History of Race, published by Bloomsbury (2021)
- Centre for the Study of Eugenics and Racism at the Romanian Academy’s Institute of History in Cluj
- “We are not Alone: Legacies of Eugenics” exhibition, Wiener Library London, 21-30 September 2021 London
Leadership
Professor Marius Turda
Professor in 20th Century Central and Eastern European Biomedicine
Projects
The HRE's public engagement activities include a seminar series, public lectures, conferences and workshops. For example:
- 23 September 2021: "Unearthing the Roots of Eugenics" public lecture with speaker Prof Marius Turda at the Royal Institutions of Great Britain
- 27 September-2 October 2021: "Dismantling Eugenics: Legacies, Reckonings, Futures" virtual conference hosted by the Public History Project, New York
- 2-3 December 2021: "The Meaning of Eugenics: Historical and Present-Day Discussions of Eugenics and Scientific Racism" virtual conference hosted by the National Human Genome Research Institute, Bethesda, MD
Previous events include:
- 'Race Science and Eugenics in Historical and Contemporary Context' (22 July 2020), Wiener Holocaust Library, London Seminars
- 'From Defective to Damaged: Race, Poverty, and the Politics of Childhood in the USA, c. 1950-1970' (18 October 2019), with speaker Prof Molly Ladd-Taylor (York University, Canada)
- 'Newborn Italians: Education, Training, and Professionalisation of Midwives from Unification to Fascism' (31 January 2019), with speaker Dr Alessandra Gissi (Università degli Studi di Napoli L'Orientale)
