History of Evolution and Heredity in Brazil

This group examines the history of the evolutionary synthesis of genetics and natural selection, and its impact upon agriculture, and theories of race and eugenics.
 
Meetings are held in Portuguese.

Please set your timezone at https://www.chstm.org/user

Consortium Respectful Behavior Policy

Participants at Consortium activities will treat each other with respect and consideration to create a collegial, inclusive, and professional environment that is free from any form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.

Participants will avoid any inappropriate actions or statements based on individual characteristics such as age, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, nationality, political affiliation, ability status, educational background, or any other characteristic protected by law. Disruptive or harassing behavior of any kind will not be tolerated. Harassment includes but is not limited to inappropriate or intimidating behavior and language, unwelcome jokes or comments, unwanted touching or attention, offensive images, photography without permission, and stalking.

Participants may send reports or concerns about violations of this policy to conduct@chstm.org.

Upcoming Meetings

  • Friday, April 19, 2024 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm EDT

    Speaker:
    Dr. Mércio Pereira Gomes (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
    Anthropologist, Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Brazil.

    Former President of Funai (National Indigenous People Foundation) from 2003 to 2007.

     
    Presentation:
    “Genética: a última fronteira para se entender os povos indígenas e sua mestiçagem no Brasil".
     
    [Genetics: The Final Frontier in Understanding Indigenous Peoples and Their Miscegenation in Brazil].”
     
    Suggested Readings:
     
    1—Gomes, M. P. (2019). O Brasil Inevitável: Ética, Mestiçagem e Borogodó. Topbooks. Read Book.
     
    2—Gomes, M. P. (2012). Índios no Brasil. Contexto. Read Book.
     
    Explore Previous Works:
    To learn more about Dr. Gomes, please click here.
     
     
    Join us for this engaging discussion!
     

     

     


  • Friday, May 17, 2024 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm EDT

    TBA


  • Friday, June 21, 2024 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm EDT

    TBA


  • Friday, July 19, 2024 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm EDT

    TBA


  • Friday, August 16, 2024 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm EDT

    TBA



Past Meetings

  • March 15, 2024

    Speaker:
    Dr. Ilana Löwy (Paris, France)
    Emerita Senior Research Fellow at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research.
     
    Presentation:
    “Zika e a questão complexa do aborto 'eugênico' por indicação fetal. [Zika and the tangled issue of an 'eugenic' abortion for fetal indication].”
     
    New book by the author: Löwy, I. (2024). Viruses and Reproductive Injustice. Johns Hopkins University Press. Please access more information about the book here.
     

    Suggested Readings:
     
    1—Löwy, I. (2020). Abortion for fetal anomaly: how to speak about a difficult topic. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 36. Read Article.
     
    2—Paul, D. Β., & Löwy, I. (2018). On Objectivity in Prenatal Genetic Care. OBM Genetics, 2(2), 1–1. Read Article.
     
    3—Löwy, I. (2024). Chapter Two (Fetuses: Women, Doctors, and the Law) from 'Viruses and Reproductive Injustice: Zika in Brazil'. Johns Hopkins University Press. (Attached on our website).
     

    Explore Previous Works:
    To learn more about Dr. Löwy, please click here.
     
    Join us for this engaging discussion!


  • February 16, 2024

    Speaker: 
    M.Sc. Alexandre Verçosa Greco (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).
    Master's graduate (2023) from the Graduate Program in History of Sciences and Health at Casa de Oswaldo Cruz/Fiocruz. 
    Professor at the Department of Education of the State of Rio de Janeiro, SEEDUC/RJ.
     
    Presentation:
    “O médico Mário Victor de Assis Pacheco no debate sobre o controle populacional (1968-1985)” [Doctor Mário Victor de Assis Pacheco in the debate on population control (1968-1985)].

     
    Explore Previous Works:
    To learn more about Mr. Greco, please click here to access his Master's thesis.
     
    Join us for this engaging discussion!
     


  • January 19, 2024

    Speakers: 
    Dr. Rosanna Dent
    New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, United States.
     
    Dr. Ana Carolina Vimieiro Gomes
    Federal University of Minas Gerais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
     
    Presentation: “Listening Party: Trabalho de Campo por um Geneticista e um Técnico” [Fieldwork by a Geneticist and a Technician].
     
    See Website: https://hogenetica.org/
     
    *The speakers recommend that group members familiarize themselves with the website and listen to interviews they find interesting before the session.
     
    Explore Previous Works: To learn more about Dr. Gomes, please click here. For more information about Dr. Dent, click here
     
    Join us for this engaging discussion!
     
     


  • November 17, 2023

    Guest: Geandra Munareto, Postdoctoral Researcher, State University of Maringá, Brazil.
     
    Presentation: “Raça e eugenia no contexto do pós-segunda guerra: o Pioneer Fund e a Mankind Quarterly como objetos de estudo”
     
    Previous works/Website: https://tede2.pucrs.br/tede2/bitstream/tede/7843/2/Tese%20-%20GEANDRA%20DENARDI%20MUNARETO.pdf (PhD Thesis).
     
    Reading: Article attached. Please log in to access it. Kindly, do not share.

     

     


  • October 20, 2023

    Guest: Alessandra Santana Soares e Barros, Full Professor at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil.
     
    Presentation: “Deficiência, diagnóstico de anomalias fetais e aborto: o caso da Síndrome de Down no Brasil”.
     
    Previous works/Website: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alessandra-Barros-2
     
    Reading: Attached are three texts by Alessandra Barros (please log in to see).


  • September 15, 2023

    NOTE SPECIAL TIME
     
    Guest: Pietra S. Diwan, Ph.D. in History from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (Brazil)
     
    Presentation: “A busca da excelência: eugenia, genética e transhumanismo. Estados Unidos, século XX”.
     
    Previous works/Website: https://pietradiwan.com/bio/
     
    Reading: “Human enhancement, ectogenesis and immortality: Russian cosmism and the archaeology of the transhumanism” (click here).
     
     
     


  • June 16, 2023

    Guests: 
    Ana Carolina Vimieiro Gomes, Professor of History of Sciences at the Department of History at the Federal University of Minas Gerais.
    Rosanna Dent, Assistant Professor, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
    Presentation: “Explorando a história oral na história da genética humana no Brasil.”
     
    Reading: soon.
     
    Previous works: Please click here (Gomes) e and here (Dent).


  • May 19, 2023

     
    Guest: Vedran Duančić, PhD in History and Civilization from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy 
     
    Presentation: “Lysenkoism in Socialist Yugoslavia: Science and Politics across the Iron Curtain”
     
    Reading: soon.
     
    Previous works: Please click here.
     


  • March 17, 2023

    Guest: Marisa Adriana Miranda, CONICET Principal Investigator and Full Professor at the National University of La Plata, Argentina 
     
    Presentation: "Eugenesia or eugenesias. Argentina and its hybrid versions."
     
    Reading: attached.

    Previous Works: Please click here.


  • February 17, 2023

    Guest: Jorge Quetzal Argueta Prado, México. 
     
    Title of the presentation: El cultivo del maíz en México en la primera mitad del siglo XX: modernizaciones contenciosas y reflexividades ambientales.
     
    Reading: attached.
    Previous Works:
    >Intersecting perspectives on Mexican maize landscapes. Farmers’ strategies for crop diversity management. Revue d’ethnoécologie, n. Supplément 2, 2021
    >Historia de la agroecología en México. Agroecología, v. 10, n. 2, p. 9–17, 2015

    >The multiplicities of maize. Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society.

     
     

     

     
     


Group Conveners

  • William.deJong-Lambert's picture

    William deJong-Lambert

    William deJong-Lambert is a Professor of History at Bronx Community College, CUNY who will be spending the spring semester 2025 teaching at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul as a Fulbright scholar while researching a biography of Theodosius Dobzhansky.  

     

  • PaulaHabib's picture

    Paula Habib

    Paula Habib is a Professor of History at the Federal University Fluminense (UFF/Brazil). Habib´s research specializes in history of agriculture, genetics, history of biology and eugenics during the first decades of the 20 th century. She holds a Ph.D. in History of Science and Health by Oswaldo Cruz Foundation/Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

     

  • marcelo.loreto@gmail.com's picture

    Marcelo Lima Loreto

    Visiting Scholar at Columbia University (Institute of Latin American Studies), United
    States. 2022-2023.

     
    Science journalist working for Folha de São Paulo and other media.
     
    Research fellow at the Consortium for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. 2021-2022. Project, here.
     
    Ph.D. in History of Science by the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 2019, Brazil. 
    Dissertation thesis, here.
     

     

109 Members