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Washington University in St. Louis News & Information > Faculty Experts at Washington University in St. Louis >
Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences
Expertise: eugenics, history, history of evolution, history of genetics, history of sciene, philosophy and sociology of biology
Bio:
Allen is a historian of science. The major focus of his present research is on the history of genetics and its relationship to eugenics and agriculture in the United States between 1900 and 1950. In addition to an interest in Mendelian genetics, agriculturists and eugenicists also believed that the principles of animal and plant breeding could be applied to managing human evolution. Allen is exploring the funding and institutional base for eugenics: who paid for it, what were their motives, and what was the sort of scientific (genetic) basis for eugenic arguments. The major goal of this work is to place eugenics in its historical context, and to explore its implications for society today.
WUSTL Contact Information:
| Work: | (314) 935-6808 |
| Fax: | (314) 935-4434 |
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Education:
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Ph.D. at Harvard University
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M.A. at Harvard University
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B.A. at University of Louisville
| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing 3 Stories.
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British scholar Janet Browne explores Darwin
British scholar Janet Browne explores Charles Darwin and the economy of nature for the Assembly Series
Nov. 5,
2007 -- British historian of science Janet Browne continues to explore Darwin's evolutionary idea.
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Burkhardt speaks on ethology
Historian Richard Burkhardt to speak on the modern development of ethology for the Assembly Series
Oct. 17,
2005 -- Richard Burkhardt will examine the scientific, social and political aspects in the development of ethology as a modern science in his Thomas Hall Lecture at 4 p.m. on October 25. He teaches history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and specializes in the history of evolutionary theory and ethology, which is the study of animal behavior by means of comparative zoological methods.
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Climate is right for 're-packaged' eugenics
Social problems such as obesity can't be solved through genetics alone, warns biologist
May 4,
2004 --
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| Photo courtesy University of Iowa |
| Could there be a link between the obesity epidemic and eugenic thinking? A historian of science at Washington University in St. Louis poses the question. |
As obesity rates continue to grow in the United States, threatening the health of millions of Americans, a historian of science warns that social problems such as this cannot be solved through science, especially genetics, alone. In this new "gene age" in which large amounts of research funds are used for studies on the genetics of such complex social traits as alcoholism, criminality or obesity, for example, Garland E. Allen, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, says the climate is ripe for a "re-packaged" eugenics in American society. Allen points out that 100 years ago, eugenics, a movement that claimed many social, personality and mental traits were hereditary, was emerging as a major social movement in Europe and the United States. His concern: it might well still be with us today.
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