The history of behavior genetics is inextricably linked with eugenics and racism. We will discuss the historical and current ways in which behavior genetics has been used to support white supremacy, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism. The use of behavior genetics research and principles to support racism and other forms of discrimination is based on (often willful) misinterpretation of the underlying statistical models on which the science relies. There are reasonable questions to be asked about whether it is possible to conduct behavior genetics research without doing harm to marginalized people. One goal of this course is to understand the forms of knowledge production that are used within behavior genetics, interrogate the limits of that knowledge, and consider how behavior genetics has been/is/will be used (and misused) to impact the lives of real people.

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