Eugenic Iconographies and the Public Imagination

What’s on offer?

Refreshments open at 18:30, followed by a talk and discussion from 19:00 about how eugenics continues to maintain a worrying grasp on the public imagination. 

What’s it about?

Eugenicists were savvy communicators. Across the world they engaged with the public through newspaper articles, popular lectures, fairs, prose, plays, art and design, radio addresses, films and, of course, exhibitions. They understood the impact that visual representations of eugenics through film and photography had on the public imagination. In this talk I suggest that today's social media remains saturated with eugenic messages and that eugenics continues to maintain a grasp on the public imagination. We therefore must be made aware of how legacies of eugenics continue to shape not only our perception of human difference, but also a host of other issues, from marriage and family to the wellbeing of future generations. To educate about eugenics allows us to become more effective in our collective efforts to raise public awareness and to create a more just and equitable society for everyone.

Who’s leading the event?

Professor Marius Turda, Centre for Medical Humanities, Oxford Brookes University

Open to

Age advisory 14+

Of particular interest to

Adults or young people who have an interest in understanding and addressing the roots of injustice arising from eugenicist views.

Scheduling information

Refreshements from 18:30. Talk will begin at 19:00. Event finishes 20:30.