Subject Guides: Day of Common Learning 2016: Tracing Our Roots, Telling Our Stories: Get Started

Get Started

*This guide was created to address topics related to SPU's 2016 Day of Common Learning and is no longer being updated.*

The purpose of this guide is to provide readings which introduce students, especially those in their first year at SPU, to the intersections of genetics, racial identity, reparations, and racial reconciliation.

These readings are intended to be readily available and highly accessible.

Day of Common Learning

Wednesday October 26, 2016

Tracing Our Roots, Telling Our Stories

Our keynote speaker is Dr. Alondra Nelson, Dean of Social Science at Columbia University. She will be discussing material from her recent book, The Social Life of DNA, which examines genetic genealogy as a new tool for addressing old and enduring issues of social inequality.

Looking for more?

Interviews, book reviews, and articles:

Bio Science: Genetic Genealogy Testing and the Pursuit of African Ancestry
This paper considers the extent to which the geneticization of 'race' and ethnicity is the prevailing outcome of genetic testing for genealogical purposes.
Discussing Root-seeking at the White House
The White House will host a day-long exploration of how we find our American stories along with a screening of History Channel’s “Roots”.
Interview with NPR's Michael Martin about The Social Life of DNA
Author and Columbia sociology professor Alondra Nelson's new book The Social Life Of DNA looks at the interest in genetic ancestry tracing from the African-American community. In an interview with NPR's Michel Martin, Nelson considers how this technology is changing the way many African-Americans see themselves and their place in the American story.

This guide only highlights a fraction of the materials available through SPU and beyond. If you're looking for additional materials, here are a few keywords/phrases that might be useful:

Reparations

Race Relations

Racism

Racial Reparations

Slavery

Slavery and Reparations

Maafa

Transatlantic Slave Trade

Middle Passage