{"id":212918,"date":"2016-11-01T13:30:50","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T17:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=212918"},"modified":"2016-11-01T15:59:04","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T19:59:04","slug":"tanner-lecture-professor-dorothy-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/11\/tanner-lecture-professor-dorothy-roberts\/","title":{"rendered":"The shifting landscape in biosocial science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tScience & Tech\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t

\n\t\tThe shifting landscape in biosocial science\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
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\n\t\tBrett Milano\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHarvard Correspondent\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tIn Tanner Lectures, professor will examine how society leaned on flawed judgments about race, and how they're changing\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\t\t

Professor Dorothy E. Roberts <\/a>of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a leading scholar on legal and biosocial theory, will present this year\u2019s Tanner Lectures<\/a> at Harvard on Wednesday and Thursday. Her two-part talk will examine a profound shift in biosocial science<\/a>, and its effects on theories of race and social inequality.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1978, the Tanner Lectures focus on human values. \u201cThose values of course change historically and even geographically in different phases,\u201d said Homi K. Bhabha, <\/a>director of the Mahindra Humanities Center. \u201cWe bring to our campus speakers who, from their different disciplinary perspectives, have something to say about the transformation in cultural and ethical values around a particular topic. Roberts brings together a wide range of expertise, and also a range of perspectives that makes her work transdisciplinary. And it speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reached before her Harvard visit, Roberts, J.D. ’80, explained the focus of her talk. \u201cWhat I\u2019ll be doing is looking at the ethics of biosocial science \u2014 which as I define it is science that investigates the relationship between biology and society,\u201d she said. \u201cI point out that there is a difference between science that claims that biological difference produces social inequalities, and science that claims social inequalities produce biological differences. That is the distinction I\u2019m making between the old and new theories.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first lecture, \u201cThe Old Biosocial and the Legacy of Unethical Science,\u201d she\u2019ll examine how science was affected by outdated \u2014 and sometimes preposterous \u2014 theories about race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI point out that race is an invented category that was promoted by scientists in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They invented the concept of race as a biological difference in human beings, and this happened before scientists even knew anything about genes. This was inherited and passed down from one generation to the next. And the claim that race is a biological trait, rather than a political division, justified the enslavement of Africans in a nation that was based on the radical commitment to liberty and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t

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Chair of the Harvard Tanner Committee Homi K. Bhabha said Roberts was chosen as lecturer for her transdisciplinary knowledge that "speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d File photo by Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n

Even after slavery ended, the idea persisted that some humans could be genetically inferior. As Roberts pointed out, the 1927 Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell put that theory into high relief. \u201cThe case considered the constitutionality of the compulsory eugenics sterilization law that allowed the government to sterilize people against their will, if they were found to be feeble-minded. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion upholding the law, based on eugenicist science. He thought it would be better if these feeble-minded people were sterilized, rather than having to execute their children for their crimes. The children were thought to damage the stock of the nation and make it a weaker society. And the difference was then linked to whole groups of people who were seen to be genetically inferior.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her second lecture, \u201cThe New Biosocial and the Future of Ethical Science,\u201d will examine the thinking since then, as eugenics have generally been discredited. One key discovery, she said, is that genes may actually react to the environment \u2014 that a parent\u2019s living conditions may determine her child\u2019s genetic makeup. The new science of epigenetics investigates how body cells function, and the effect that physical surroundings may have.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe revolution in biosocial science is that the distinction between nature and nurture isn\u2019t tenable anymore, because scientists are learning that genes don\u2019t operate by themselves, they respond to the environment. And that absolutely includes where you live, the toxins you breathe in, the stress that you experience, your diet. All of this affects the epigenetic process in your cells.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts cited the higher rates of low birth weight and cardiovascular disease among African-Americans. \u201cThere were assumptions that there was a genetic predisposition causing that. But epigenetic scientists have now shown that the stress of various aspects of racial inequality \u2014 segregated neighborhoods, lower incomes, and even the stress of discrimination experienced by a black mother \u2014 can have an impact on the fetus and cause them to have smaller babies. And these babies grow up to have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. This is not because of the gene structure, but the way these adverse environments affect pregnant African-American women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eugenics still has its proponents, so the new science hasn\u2019t completely replaced the old. Roberts said there was no particular event that led to a scientific shift, but \u201cI could definitely name some of the influences, though. For one thing, after the Holocaust there was a global rejection of eugenicist thinking, because of the realization that attributing group inequality to innate differences could lead to horrific government actions. Another factor was the development of science \u2014 particularly neuroscience, which examines how social environment affects the actual anatomy of the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the final part of her lecture, Roberts will look at how biosocial science is likely to evolve. \u201cThis research I\u2019m talking about is still relatively new. What\u2019s controversial with human beings is how durable and transgenerational these effects are. We start by looking at the old science, aspects of which are perceived as unethical. But what was unethical about it: That it led to sterilization of groups of people? Yes, but there was also something flawed in the scientists themselves \u2014 not that the science fell into the wrong hands, but that the science itself was unethical. It\u2019s a demonstration of the power and the violence that it takes to hold unequal social hierarchies. There is potential for the new science to be more ethical than the old. Part of my lecture is to point out how radical this new science is, but also how it incorporates some of the flaws of the old.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if there was a particular moment when biosocial science took a leap forward, she said, \u201cI think we\u2019re seeing that moment right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Tanner Lectures<\/a> will take place Wednesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Lowell Lecture Hall. Dorothy\u00a0Roberts\u00a0will be introduced at the first lecture by Harvard President Drew Faust and then by Law School Dean Martha Minow, who co-authored \u201cWomen and the Law\u201d with Roberts.<\/em><\/p>\n

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During Tanner Lectures, Professor Dorothy E. 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class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tBrett Milano\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Correspondent\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2016-11-01\">\n\t\t\tNovember 1, 2016\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t6 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tIn Tanner Lectures, professor will examine how society leaned on flawed judgments about race, and how they're changing\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.upenn.edu\/cf\/faculty\/roberts1\/\">Dorothy E. Roberts <\/a>of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a leading scholar on legal and biosocial theory, will present this year\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/tanner-lectures\">Tanner Lectures<\/a> at Harvard on Wednesday and Thursday. Her two-part talk will examine a profound shift in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/journal-of-biosocial-science\">biosocial science<\/a>, and its effects on theories of race and social inequality.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1978, the Tanner Lectures focus on human values. \u201cThose values of course change historically and even geographically in different phases,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fas.harvard.edu\/~humcentr\/about\/homi.shtml\">Homi K. Bhabha, <\/a>director of the Mahindra Humanities Center. \u201cWe bring to our campus speakers who, from their different disciplinary perspectives, have something to say about the transformation in cultural and ethical values around a particular topic. Roberts brings together a wide range of expertise, and also a range of perspectives that makes her work transdisciplinary. And it speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reached before her Harvard visit, Roberts, J.D. '80, explained the focus of her talk. \u201cWhat I\u2019ll be doing is looking at the ethics of biosocial science \u2014 which as I define it is science that investigates the relationship between biology and society,\u201d she said. \u201cI point out that there is a difference between science that claims that biological difference produces social inequalities, and science that claims social inequalities produce biological differences. That is the distinction I\u2019m making between the old and new theories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the first lecture, \u201cThe Old Biosocial and the Legacy of Unethical Science,\u201d she\u2019ll examine how science was affected by outdated \u2014 and sometimes preposterous \u2014 theories about race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI point out that race is an invented category that was promoted by scientists in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They invented the concept of race as a biological difference in human beings, and this happened before scientists even knew anything about genes. This was inherited and passed down from one generation to the next. And the claim that race is a biological trait, rather than a political division, justified the enslavement of Africans in a nation that was based on the radical commitment to liberty and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.upenn.edu\/cf\/faculty\/roberts1\/\">Dorothy E. Roberts <\/a>of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a leading scholar on legal and biosocial theory, will present this year\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/tanner-lectures\">Tanner Lectures<\/a> at Harvard on Wednesday and Thursday. Her two-part talk will examine a profound shift in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/journal-of-biosocial-science\">biosocial science<\/a>, and its effects on theories of race and social inequality.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1978, the Tanner Lectures focus on human values. \u201cThose values of course change historically and even geographically in different phases,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fas.harvard.edu\/~humcentr\/about\/homi.shtml\">Homi K. Bhabha, <\/a>director of the Mahindra Humanities Center. \u201cWe bring to our campus speakers who, from their different disciplinary perspectives, have something to say about the transformation in cultural and ethical values around a particular topic. Roberts brings together a wide range of expertise, and also a range of perspectives that makes her work transdisciplinary. And it speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reached before her Harvard visit, Roberts, J.D. '80, explained the focus of her talk. \u201cWhat I\u2019ll be doing is looking at the ethics of biosocial science \u2014 which as I define it is science that investigates the relationship between biology and society,\u201d she said. \u201cI point out that there is a difference between science that claims that biological difference produces social inequalities, and science that claims social inequalities produce biological differences. That is the distinction I\u2019m making between the old and new theories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the first lecture, \u201cThe Old Biosocial and the Legacy of Unethical Science,\u201d she\u2019ll examine how science was affected by outdated \u2014 and sometimes preposterous \u2014 theories about race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI point out that race is an invented category that was promoted by scientists in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They invented the concept of race as a biological difference in human beings, and this happened before scientists even knew anything about genes. This was inherited and passed down from one generation to the next. And the claim that race is a biological trait, rather than a political division, justified the enslavement of Africans in a nation that was based on the radical commitment to liberty and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.upenn.edu\/cf\/faculty\/roberts1\/\">Dorothy E. Roberts <\/a>of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a leading scholar on legal and biosocial theory, will present this year\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/tanner-lectures\">Tanner Lectures<\/a> at Harvard on Wednesday and Thursday. Her two-part talk will examine a profound shift in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/journal-of-biosocial-science\">biosocial science<\/a>, and its effects on theories of race and social inequality.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1978, the Tanner Lectures focus on human values. \u201cThose values of course change historically and even geographically in different phases,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fas.harvard.edu\/~humcentr\/about\/homi.shtml\">Homi K. Bhabha, <\/a>director of the Mahindra Humanities Center. \u201cWe bring to our campus speakers who, from their different disciplinary perspectives, have something to say about the transformation in cultural and ethical values around a particular topic. Roberts brings together a wide range of expertise, and also a range of perspectives that makes her work transdisciplinary. And it speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reached before her Harvard visit, Roberts, J.D. '80, explained the focus of her talk. \u201cWhat I\u2019ll be doing is looking at the ethics of biosocial science \u2014 which as I define it is science that investigates the relationship between biology and society,\u201d she said. \u201cI point out that there is a difference between science that claims that biological difference produces social inequalities, and science that claims social inequalities produce biological differences. That is the distinction I\u2019m making between the old and new theories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the first lecture, \u201cThe Old Biosocial and the Legacy of Unethical Science,\u201d she\u2019ll examine how science was affected by outdated \u2014 and sometimes preposterous \u2014 theories about race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI point out that race is an invented category that was promoted by scientists in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They invented the concept of race as a biological difference in human beings, and this happened before scientists even knew anything about genes. This was inherited and passed down from one generation to the next. And the claim that race is a biological trait, rather than a political division, justified the enslavement of Africans in a nation that was based on the radical commitment to liberty and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/image","attrs":{"sizeSlug":"full","align":"none","id":212928,"caption":"Chair of the Harvard Tanner Committee Homi K. Bhabha said Roberts was chosen as lecturer for her transdisciplinary knowledge that \"speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d File photo by Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer","blob":"","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/031516_bhabha_homi_203_605.jpg","alt":"","lightbox":[],"title":"","href":"","rel":"","linkClass":"","width":"","height":"","aspectRatio":"","scale":"","linkDestination":"","linkTarget":"","lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":"","style":[],"borderColor":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/031516_bhabha_homi_203_605.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-212928\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chair of the Harvard Tanner Committee Homi K. Bhabha said Roberts was chosen as lecturer for her transdisciplinary knowledge that "speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d File photo by Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t","innerContent":["\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/031516_bhabha_homi_203_605.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-212928\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chair of the Harvard Tanner Committee Homi K. Bhabha said Roberts was chosen as lecturer for her transdisciplinary knowledge that "speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d File photo by Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"],"rendered":"\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/031516_bhabha_homi_203_605.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-212928\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chair of the Harvard Tanner Committee Homi K. Bhabha said Roberts was chosen as lecturer for her transdisciplinary knowledge that "speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d File photo by Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Even after slavery ended, the idea persisted that some humans could be genetically inferior. As Roberts pointed out, the 1927 Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell put that theory into high relief. \u201cThe case considered the constitutionality of the compulsory eugenics sterilization law that allowed the government to sterilize people against their will, if they were found to be feeble-minded. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion upholding the law, based on eugenicist science. He thought it would be better if these feeble-minded people were sterilized, rather than having to execute their children for their crimes. The children were thought to damage the stock of the nation and make it a weaker society. And the difference was then linked to whole groups of people who were seen to be genetically inferior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her second lecture, \u201cThe New Biosocial and the Future of Ethical Science,\u201d will examine the thinking since then, as eugenics have generally been discredited. One key discovery, she said, is that genes may actually react to the environment \u2014 that a parent\u2019s living conditions may determine her child\u2019s genetic makeup. The new science of epigenetics investigates how body cells function, and the effect that physical surroundings may have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe revolution in biosocial science is that the distinction between nature and nurture isn\u2019t tenable anymore, because scientists are learning that genes don\u2019t operate by themselves, they respond to the environment. And that absolutely includes where you live, the toxins you breathe in, the stress that you experience, your diet. All of this affects the epigenetic process in your cells.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roberts cited the higher rates of low birth weight and cardiovascular disease among African-Americans. \u201cThere were assumptions that there was a genetic predisposition causing that. But epigenetic scientists have now shown that the stress of various aspects of racial inequality \u2014 segregated neighborhoods, lower incomes, and even the stress of discrimination experienced by a black mother \u2014 can have an impact on the fetus and cause them to have smaller babies. And these babies grow up to have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. This is not because of the gene structure, but the way these adverse environments affect pregnant African-American women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eugenics still has its proponents, so the new science hasn\u2019t completely replaced the old. Roberts said there was no particular event that led to a scientific shift, but \u201cI could definitely name some of the influences, though. For one thing, after the Holocaust there was a global rejection of eugenicist thinking, because of the realization that attributing group inequality to innate differences could lead to horrific government actions. Another factor was the development of science \u2014 particularly neuroscience, which examines how social environment affects the actual anatomy of the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the final part of her lecture, Roberts will look at how biosocial science is likely to evolve. \u201cThis research I\u2019m talking about is still relatively new. What\u2019s controversial with human beings is how durable and transgenerational these effects are. We start by looking at the old science, aspects of which are perceived as unethical. But what was unethical about it: That it led to sterilization of groups of people? Yes, but there was also something flawed in the scientists themselves \u2014 not that the science fell into the wrong hands, but that the science itself was unethical. It\u2019s a demonstration of the power and the violence that it takes to hold unequal social hierarchies. There is potential for the new science to be more ethical than the old. Part of my lecture is to point out how radical this new science is, but also how it incorporates some of the flaws of the old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked if there was a particular moment when biosocial science took a leap forward, she said, \u201cI think we\u2019re seeing that moment right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/tanner-lectures\">Tanner Lectures<\/a> will take place Wednesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Lowell Lecture Hall. Dorothy\u00a0Roberts\u00a0will be introduced at the first lecture by Harvard President Drew Faust and then by Law School Dean Martha Minow, who co-authored \u201cWomen and the Law\u201d with Roberts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Even after slavery ended, the idea persisted that some humans could be genetically inferior. As Roberts pointed out, the 1927 Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell put that theory into high relief. \u201cThe case considered the constitutionality of the compulsory eugenics sterilization law that allowed the government to sterilize people against their will, if they were found to be feeble-minded. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion upholding the law, based on eugenicist science. He thought it would be better if these feeble-minded people were sterilized, rather than having to execute their children for their crimes. The children were thought to damage the stock of the nation and make it a weaker society. And the difference was then linked to whole groups of people who were seen to be genetically inferior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her second lecture, \u201cThe New Biosocial and the Future of Ethical Science,\u201d will examine the thinking since then, as eugenics have generally been discredited. One key discovery, she said, is that genes may actually react to the environment \u2014 that a parent\u2019s living conditions may determine her child\u2019s genetic makeup. The new science of epigenetics investigates how body cells function, and the effect that physical surroundings may have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe revolution in biosocial science is that the distinction between nature and nurture isn\u2019t tenable anymore, because scientists are learning that genes don\u2019t operate by themselves, they respond to the environment. And that absolutely includes where you live, the toxins you breathe in, the stress that you experience, your diet. All of this affects the epigenetic process in your cells.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roberts cited the higher rates of low birth weight and cardiovascular disease among African-Americans. \u201cThere were assumptions that there was a genetic predisposition causing that. But epigenetic scientists have now shown that the stress of various aspects of racial inequality \u2014 segregated neighborhoods, lower incomes, and even the stress of discrimination experienced by a black mother \u2014 can have an impact on the fetus and cause them to have smaller babies. And these babies grow up to have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. This is not because of the gene structure, but the way these adverse environments affect pregnant African-American women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eugenics still has its proponents, so the new science hasn\u2019t completely replaced the old. Roberts said there was no particular event that led to a scientific shift, but \u201cI could definitely name some of the influences, though. For one thing, after the Holocaust there was a global rejection of eugenicist thinking, because of the realization that attributing group inequality to innate differences could lead to horrific government actions. Another factor was the development of science \u2014 particularly neuroscience, which examines how social environment affects the actual anatomy of the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the final part of her lecture, Roberts will look at how biosocial science is likely to evolve. \u201cThis research I\u2019m talking about is still relatively new. What\u2019s controversial with human beings is how durable and transgenerational these effects are. We start by looking at the old science, aspects of which are perceived as unethical. But what was unethical about it: That it led to sterilization of groups of people? Yes, but there was also something flawed in the scientists themselves \u2014 not that the science fell into the wrong hands, but that the science itself was unethical. It\u2019s a demonstration of the power and the violence that it takes to hold unequal social hierarchies. There is potential for the new science to be more ethical than the old. Part of my lecture is to point out how radical this new science is, but also how it incorporates some of the flaws of the old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked if there was a particular moment when biosocial science took a leap forward, she said, \u201cI think we\u2019re seeing that moment right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/tanner-lectures\">Tanner Lectures<\/a> will take place Wednesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Lowell Lecture Hall. Dorothy\u00a0Roberts\u00a0will be introduced at the first lecture by Harvard President Drew Faust and then by Law School Dean Martha Minow, who co-authored \u201cWomen and the Law\u201d with Roberts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Even after slavery ended, the idea persisted that some humans could be genetically inferior. As Roberts pointed out, the 1927 Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell put that theory into high relief. \u201cThe case considered the constitutionality of the compulsory eugenics sterilization law that allowed the government to sterilize people against their will, if they were found to be feeble-minded. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion upholding the law, based on eugenicist science. He thought it would be better if these feeble-minded people were sterilized, rather than having to execute their children for their crimes. The children were thought to damage the stock of the nation and make it a weaker society. And the difference was then linked to whole groups of people who were seen to be genetically inferior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her second lecture, \u201cThe New Biosocial and the Future of Ethical Science,\u201d will examine the thinking since then, as eugenics have generally been discredited. One key discovery, she said, is that genes may actually react to the environment \u2014 that a parent\u2019s living conditions may determine her child\u2019s genetic makeup. The new science of epigenetics investigates how body cells function, and the effect that physical surroundings may have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe revolution in biosocial science is that the distinction between nature and nurture isn\u2019t tenable anymore, because scientists are learning that genes don\u2019t operate by themselves, they respond to the environment. And that absolutely includes where you live, the toxins you breathe in, the stress that you experience, your diet. All of this affects the epigenetic process in your cells.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roberts cited the higher rates of low birth weight and cardiovascular disease among African-Americans. \u201cThere were assumptions that there was a genetic predisposition causing that. But epigenetic scientists have now shown that the stress of various aspects of racial inequality \u2014 segregated neighborhoods, lower incomes, and even the stress of discrimination experienced by a black mother \u2014 can have an impact on the fetus and cause them to have smaller babies. And these babies grow up to have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. This is not because of the gene structure, but the way these adverse environments affect pregnant African-American women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eugenics still has its proponents, so the new science hasn\u2019t completely replaced the old. Roberts said there was no particular event that led to a scientific shift, but \u201cI could definitely name some of the influences, though. For one thing, after the Holocaust there was a global rejection of eugenicist thinking, because of the realization that attributing group inequality to innate differences could lead to horrific government actions. Another factor was the development of science \u2014 particularly neuroscience, which examines how social environment affects the actual anatomy of the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the final part of her lecture, Roberts will look at how biosocial science is likely to evolve. \u201cThis research I\u2019m talking about is still relatively new. What\u2019s controversial with human beings is how durable and transgenerational these effects are. We start by looking at the old science, aspects of which are perceived as unethical. But what was unethical about it: That it led to sterilization of groups of people? Yes, but there was also something flawed in the scientists themselves \u2014 not that the science fell into the wrong hands, but that the science itself was unethical. It\u2019s a demonstration of the power and the violence that it takes to hold unequal social hierarchies. There is potential for the new science to be more ethical than the old. Part of my lecture is to point out how radical this new science is, but also how it incorporates some of the flaws of the old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked if there was a particular moment when biosocial science took a leap forward, she said, \u201cI think we\u2019re seeing that moment right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/tanner-lectures\">Tanner Lectures<\/a> will take place Wednesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Lowell Lecture Hall. Dorothy\u00a0Roberts\u00a0will be introduced at the first lecture by Harvard President Drew Faust and then by Law School Dean Martha Minow, who co-authored \u201cWomen and the Law\u201d with Roberts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\t\n\t\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n\t","\n\t\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>Professor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.upenn.edu\/cf\/faculty\/roberts1\/\">Dorothy E. Roberts <\/a>of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a leading scholar on legal and biosocial theory, will present this year\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/tanner-lectures\">Tanner Lectures<\/a> at Harvard on Wednesday and Thursday. Her two-part talk will examine a profound shift in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/journals\/journal-of-biosocial-science\">biosocial science<\/a>, and its effects on theories of race and social inequality.<\/p>\n<p>Founded in 1978, the Tanner Lectures focus on human values. \u201cThose values of course change historically and even geographically in different phases,\u201d said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fas.harvard.edu\/~humcentr\/about\/homi.shtml\">Homi K. Bhabha, <\/a>director of the Mahindra Humanities Center. \u201cWe bring to our campus speakers who, from their different disciplinary perspectives, have something to say about the transformation in cultural and ethical values around a particular topic. Roberts brings together a wide range of expertise, and also a range of perspectives that makes her work transdisciplinary. And it speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reached before her Harvard visit, Roberts, J.D. '80, explained the focus of her talk. \u201cWhat I\u2019ll be doing is looking at the ethics of biosocial science \u2014 which as I define it is science that investigates the relationship between biology and society,\u201d she said. \u201cI point out that there is a difference between science that claims that biological difference produces social inequalities, and science that claims social inequalities produce biological differences. That is the distinction I\u2019m making between the old and new theories.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the first lecture, \u201cThe Old Biosocial and the Legacy of Unethical Science,\u201d she\u2019ll examine how science was affected by outdated \u2014 and sometimes preposterous \u2014 theories about race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI point out that race is an invented category that was promoted by scientists in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They invented the concept of race as a biological difference in human beings, and this happened before scientists even knew anything about genes. This was inherited and passed down from one generation to the next. And the claim that race is a biological trait, rather than a political division, justified the enslavement of Africans in a nation that was based on the radical commitment to liberty and equality.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\t\n\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full is-resized\"><img src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/031516_bhabha_homi_203_605.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-212928\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Chair of the Harvard Tanner Committee Homi K. Bhabha said Roberts was chosen as lecturer for her transdisciplinary knowledge that "speaks to many parts of the campus on issues that are relevant at this point.\u201d File photo by Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\n\t\r\n\n<p>Even after slavery ended, the idea persisted that some humans could be genetically inferior. As Roberts pointed out, the 1927 Supreme Court case of Buck v. Bell put that theory into high relief. \u201cThe case considered the constitutionality of the compulsory eugenics sterilization law that allowed the government to sterilize people against their will, if they were found to be feeble-minded. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the opinion upholding the law, based on eugenicist science. He thought it would be better if these feeble-minded people were sterilized, rather than having to execute their children for their crimes. The children were thought to damage the stock of the nation and make it a weaker society. And the difference was then linked to whole groups of people who were seen to be genetically inferior.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her second lecture, \u201cThe New Biosocial and the Future of Ethical Science,\u201d will examine the thinking since then, as eugenics have generally been discredited. One key discovery, she said, is that genes may actually react to the environment \u2014 that a parent\u2019s living conditions may determine her child\u2019s genetic makeup. The new science of epigenetics investigates how body cells function, and the effect that physical surroundings may have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe revolution in biosocial science is that the distinction between nature and nurture isn\u2019t tenable anymore, because scientists are learning that genes don\u2019t operate by themselves, they respond to the environment. And that absolutely includes where you live, the toxins you breathe in, the stress that you experience, your diet. All of this affects the epigenetic process in your cells.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Roberts cited the higher rates of low birth weight and cardiovascular disease among African-Americans. \u201cThere were assumptions that there was a genetic predisposition causing that. But epigenetic scientists have now shown that the stress of various aspects of racial inequality \u2014 segregated neighborhoods, lower incomes, and even the stress of discrimination experienced by a black mother \u2014 can have an impact on the fetus and cause them to have smaller babies. And these babies grow up to have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease. This is not because of the gene structure, but the way these adverse environments affect pregnant African-American women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eugenics still has its proponents, so the new science hasn\u2019t completely replaced the old. Roberts said there was no particular event that led to a scientific shift, but \u201cI could definitely name some of the influences, though. For one thing, after the Holocaust there was a global rejection of eugenicist thinking, because of the realization that attributing group inequality to innate differences could lead to horrific government actions. Another factor was the development of science \u2014 particularly neuroscience, which examines how social environment affects the actual anatomy of the brain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the final part of her lecture, Roberts will look at how biosocial science is likely to evolve. \u201cThis research I\u2019m talking about is still relatively new. What\u2019s controversial with human beings is how durable and transgenerational these effects are. We start by looking at the old science, aspects of which are perceived as unethical. But what was unethical about it: That it led to sterilization of groups of people? Yes, but there was also something flawed in the scientists themselves \u2014 not that the science fell into the wrong hands, but that the science itself was unethical. It\u2019s a demonstration of the power and the violence that it takes to hold unequal social hierarchies. There is potential for the new science to be more ethical than the old. Part of my lecture is to point out how radical this new science is, but also how it incorporates some of the flaws of the old.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Asked if there was a particular moment when biosocial science took a leap forward, she said, \u201cI think we\u2019re seeing that moment right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>The <a href=\"http:\/\/mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu\/content\/tanner-lectures\">Tanner Lectures<\/a> will take place Wednesday and Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Lowell Lecture Hall. Dorothy\u00a0Roberts\u00a0will be introduced at the first lecture by Harvard President Drew Faust and then by Law School Dean Martha Minow, who co-authored \u201cWomen and the Law\u201d with Roberts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;top:620px;left:20px;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"border-radius:2px;text-indent:20px;width:auto;padding:0 4px 0 0;text-align:center;font:bold 11px\/20px 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#ffffff;background:#bd081c no-repeat scroll 3px 50% \/ 14px 14px;position:absolute;opacity:1;z-index:8675309;display:none;cursor:pointer;\">Save<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":356581,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2023\/04\/environmentalist-margaret-redsteer-to-give-tanner-lectures\/","url_meta":{"origin":212918,"position":0},"title":"Combining Earth science, Native knowledge in climate change battle","author":"harvardgazette","date":"April 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Combining Earth science, Native knowledge in climate change battle, Margaret Redsteer will draw on her research on tribal lands to discuss barriers and solutions to adaptation, resilience.","rel":"","context":"In "Arts & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Arts & Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Margaret Hiza Redsteer.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/072421_CLIBRAINDRAIN_JT_25-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/072421_CLIBRAINDRAIN_JT_25-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/072421_CLIBRAINDRAIN_JT_25-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/072421_CLIBRAINDRAIN_JT_25-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137473,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2013\/05\/campaign-finance-within-constitutional-bounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":212918,"position":1},"title":"Citizens United and beyond","author":"harvardgazette","date":"May 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In this year\u2019s Tanner Lectures, Yale Law School Dean Robert C. Post suggested common constitutional ground in the campaign finance reform debate.","rel":"","context":"In "Arts & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Arts & Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/050113_tanner_255_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/050113_tanner_255_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/050113_tanner_255_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32500,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2003\/11\/talking-science-and-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":212918,"position":2},"title":"Talking science and religion","author":"gazetteimport","date":"November 20, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Prior to the beginning of the first of the Tanner Lectures on Human Values, The Science of Religion and the Religion of Science, President Lawrence H. Summers (from left) speaks with Keith DeRose, professor of philosophy at Yale University Tanner lecturer Richard Dawkins, the Charles Simonyi Chair in the Understanding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":219419,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2001\/11\/tanner-lectures-rights-in-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":212918,"position":3},"title":"Tanner Lectures: Rights in crisis","author":"gazetteimport","date":"November 1, 2001","format":false,"excerpt":"Former Harvard Law School Professor Kathleen Sullivan returns to Cambridge Nov. 7, 8, and 9 to deliver the 2001 Tanner Lectures on Human Values.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10231,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2006\/11\/tanner-lecturer-and-geneticist-on-genomics-race-and-medicine\/","url_meta":{"origin":212918,"position":4},"title":"Tanner lecturer and geneticist on ‘Genomics, Race, and Medicine’","author":"gazetteimport","date":"November 9, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Cancer researcher, geneticist, and social activist Mary-Claire King will deliver the 2006-07 Tanner Lectures on Human Values.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43696,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2004\/11\/stephen-g-breyer-associate-justice-of-u-s-supreme-court-is-speaker\/","url_meta":{"origin":212918,"position":5},"title":"Stephen G. Breyer, associate justice of U.S. Supreme Court, is speaker","author":"gazetteimport","date":"November 11, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Stephen G. Breyer, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, will deliver this years Tanner Lectures on Human Values Nov. 17, 18, and 19.","rel":"","context":"In "Campus & Community"","block_context":{"text":"Campus & Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Breyer","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/11\/breyer-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108352576"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212918"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213176,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212918\/revisions\/213176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212918"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=212918"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=212918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}