SOC GEN 121Race, Science, and Citizenship
Society and Genetics · 4 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)
Early development of scientific method and systematic exclusion of those in subordinate social groups from scientific practice. Interrogation of binaries that prop up scientific knowledge construction, and consideration of how norms and values embedded in Western science compare with indigenous or local knowledge systems. How medical research is motivated by competing assumptions of racial hierarchy and equality. Examination of governments’ use of science to classify racially inferior and contaminated foreigners as threats to socionatural order. Exploration of how people use knowledge about their embodied experiences to demand rights and accept responsibility for their own health and vitality, either in opposition to or alliance with scientific experts. How contemporary developments in science and technology bring to light some central concerns of social and political theory.
Letter grading.
When it runs
Not on the schedule for any of Fall 2025 through Spring 2027. UCLA publishes only that window, so this does not mean the course is gone — check the official listing.
Requisites
UCLA lists no requisites for this course.
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
Nothing — this is an entry point.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
No course in the catalog lists this as a requisite.