Illinois Biology and Politics Summer Institute

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

A new field of study has emerged very recently linking biology and politics. Scholars are investigating the ways in which human DNA affects the workings of the brain, and how the brain then affects political attitudes and behaviors. They are also analyzing and evaluating the ethical, legal, and social implications arising from the knowledge being generated by this research. This project will establish a one-week program on biology and politics. Graduate students and junior faculty will be invited to the program to receive training in this developing area of scholarship. Natural science and social science enrollees will work side-by-side under the direction of faculty experts who have made responsible for making the biology and politics connection a reality. Armed with these multidisciplinary skills, they will return to their home campuses and establish their own teaching initiatives and enhance the flow of research productivity. The broader impacts of this project will include providing graduate students and junior faculty with a unique opportunity to gain training in a cutting edge area of research. In addition, the training institute will serve as a foundation for organizing a graduate curriculum focusing on the new biology and politics linkage.