Dorothy Roberts to Present ‘Fatal Invention: Re-creating Race in the Genomic Era’

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Dorothy Roberts, an internationally recognized scholar, public intellectual and social justice advocate, will present "Fatal Invention: Re-creating Race in the Genomic Era" on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 4:30 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge, Student Union.

The talk is part of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences’ “Social Science Matters” lecture series.

Roberts is the 14th Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and George A. Weiss University Professor of Law & Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, with joint appointments in the departments of Africana studies and sociology and the Law School, where she is the inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights.

In this talk, Roberts will discuss how genetic understanding of race masks the continuing impact of racism in a supposedly post-racial society. She will argue that this calls instead for affirming our common humanity by working to end the social inequalities that truly divide us.

“We are absolutely delighted to have Dr. Roberts as one of our featured Social Science Matters speakers this year,” says Jennifer Lundquist, associate dean of research and faculty development. “She is in extremely high demand for her path-breaking work on race, reproduction and biosocial science, which has made a rare impact on not just one, but dozens of different academic disciplines spanning from the social sciences through the natural sciences.

Roberts is the founding director of the Penn Program on Race, Science, and Society. She has written and lectured extensively on the interplay of gender, race and class in legal issues and has been a leader in transforming public thinking and policy on reproductive health, child welfare and bioethics.

Recent recognitions for her scholarship and public service include a 2016 Society of Family Planning Lifetime Achievement Award, selection among Harvard Women’s Law Association 2016 “Women Inspiring Change,” and an American Psychiatric Association 2015 Solomon Carter Fuller Award.

This event is sponsored by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Office of the Chancellor.

Learn more about Roberts’ talk and her accomplishments here.