Student Research Projects
Student Research Projects
SocGen 108 (HBS Major)
This course combines lectures, readings, and discussion with the development of a collaborative culminating project. Students work in groups on research projects that map and stage contemporary controversies at the intersections of human biology, genetics, and society. The course requires engagement with a large volume of material in order to understand both scientific concepts and their social and political implications. Emphasis is placed on original research, critical synthesis, and collaborative inquiry. A final group project and presentation are required.
SocGen 191S (Society & Genetics Minor)
This course examines the relationship between genetics and society from a historical perspective, emphasizing how the science of genetics is itself deeply social. It explores how biologists and anthropologists have conceptualized the relationship between genes and the social environment, and how these ideas have shifted over time. Students read and discuss influential accounts of human nature, human flourishing, and dignity that privilege nature as a guide for ethical thought and action. The course considers how such accounts may encourage or discourage efforts to manipulate human genetic inheritance. Attention is given to questions about responsibility, limits, and values embedded in scientific and ethical frameworks. The seminar also addresses what is genuinely new about the “new genetics,” including emerging forms of knowledge and intervention. Contemporary discussions of the promises and perils of genetics in relation to society provide a foundation for critical analysis and debate throughout the course.