Race, Genetics, and History

This talk looks at the intersections between DNA and History with a particular focus on the ways in which debates about Race have been reinvigorated and reconfigured over the past decade. The genetics revolution of the past 20 years, and in particular work on Ancient DNA, has transformed the data available for thinking about the human in history. It has also contributed to discourses of race and ethnicity. I will look at the ways in which genetics is imagined through an analysis of a variety of media and texts, including work by Kendrick Lamar and Ali Smith, to look at the ways in which a new genetic imaginary is being constructed, and how artists are resisting this. 

Jerome De Groot is Professor of Literature and Culture at the University of Manchester (UK) and currently a Visiting Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (Uppsala). He is the author, most recently, of Double Helix History (Routledge, 2023).