Lecture | Oliver Rollins | "Towards an Anti-Racist Neuroscience: Possibilities and Problematics with Scientific Progress"

Oliver Rollins | American Ethnic Studies / African American Studies / Sociology, University of Washington"Towards an Anti-Racist Neuroscience: Possibilities and Problematics with Scientific Progress" Alongside the deadly COVID-19 outbreak, the biomedical and health sciences have been altered by the continued challenge of racism. Major academic science journals (e.g., Nature, Science, and JAMA) have responded with calls to better recognize and combat the latent harms of (systemic) racism. Yet, it is still unclear what this new confrontation with scientific racism will look like or accomplish. In this talk, I will try to outline what is at stake; that is, both the social and ethical implications of dealing with the effects of racism in/through the (neuro)sciences. Emphasizing the ways in which racial inequality is reinforced through neuroscientific and technological practices, I hope to show how the haunting presence of race/racism in neuroscience research is a generative manifestation of the routine, obscure, and normative nature of systemic racism in larger US society. My goal is to convince us to think more critically and creatively about how to truly envision and enact an “anti-racist” (neuro)science of the future. If you would like to become an AFFILIATE of the Center, please let us know.Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get updates on our latest videos.Follow along with us on Instagram |  Facebook NOTE:  The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those held by the Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture or Emory University.