Christa Kuljian, the author of the acclaimed Darwin’s Hunch: Science, Race and the Search for Human Origins will be in discussion with Hlonipha Mokoena on Wednesday 17 May, at Wits University’s WiSER Seminar Room. The discussion will be chaired by Sarah Nutall.
Scientists and their research are often shaped by the prevailing social and political context. Darwin’s Hunch, recently shortlisted for the prestigious 2017 Alan Paton Award for Non-Fiction, explores this trend, and provides fresh insight on the search for human origins in South Africa over the past century.
Kuljian asks “What impact did colonialism have on the views of scientists studying human evolution in the early twentieth century? What influence did apartheid have on the search? How have the changing scientific views about race, and racism, affected efforts to understand human evolution?”
Darwin’s Hunch was published in November 2016. We will take a close and sustained look at the arguments Kuljian makes, the pressures that her book puts on the scientific community in South Africa, the implications of publishing this book at this time, and the outcomes and challenges, political and social, of what we now know, through this detailed and meticulous research.
Professor Mokoena will engage Christa Kuljian in bold, outspoken and forthright discussion on this complicated and contested topic.
Event Details
- Date: Thursday, 18 May 2017
- Time: 5:30 PM for 6:00 PM
- Venue: WiSER Seminar Room 6th Floor, Richard Ward Building East Campus, Wits University, 1 Jan Smuts Ave, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2000 | Map
- Guest Speaker: Hlonipha Mokoena
- RSVP: Najibha.Deshmukh@wits.ac.za
Book Details
![Darwin's Hunch: Science, Race and the Search for Human Origins]()
- Darwin’s Hunch: Science, Race and the Search for Human Origins by Christa Kuljian
EAN: 9781431424252
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- Darwin’s Hunch: Science, Race and the Search for Human Origins by Christa Kuljian
