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Our Mission

The Program on Race, Science and Society (PRSS) is an initiative at the University of Pennslyvania devoted to transformative and interdisciplinary approaches to the role of race in scientific research and biotechnological innovations, aiming both to promote social justice and to dispel the myth that race is a natural division of human beings.

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Upcoming Events



The Holmesburg Prison Experiments and the Call for Restorative Justice

A Panel Hosted by the Jones Foundation for Returning Citizens
- | | Penn Carey Law
3501 Sansom Street
Fitts Auditorium

Join us for a panel hosted by the Jones Foundation for Returning Citizens, as we discuss the legacy, human rights violations, and impact of the prison experiments that late Penn dermatologist Albert Kligman conducted…



Beyond Salvage: Development and Ethnocide in the Scientific Study of Indigenous Groups in Cold War Paraguay with Dr. Sebastián Gil-Riano

Faculty Working Group Meeting and Colloquium
Dr. Sebastián Gil-Riano
- | | Center for Africana Studies | Max Kade Room
3401 Walnut Street, Room 331A

Dr. Sebastián Gil-Riano is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and…

PRSS Videos

PRSS Director Dorothy Roberts discusses the history, myths, and harms of race-based medicine in herTEDTalk: The Problem with Race-based Medicine, November 20, 2015. The talk was part of the 2015 TEDMED session called “Who Cares for Health Care?” that highlighted surprising perspectives and under-appreciated challenges facing our health care system. 

Click here to view the video of this talk and videos of other PRSS events
Penn Medicine and The Afterlives of Slavery Project

Given that Penn Medical School was the first of its kind in colonial America, the University of Pennslyvania has a special responsibility to not only uncover its relationship to enslavement but to lead other institutions in similar efforts. 

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