Come to this exciting lecture by a recent Whitman alumna who studied both philosophy and biology and went on to integrate those through work in bioethics and the philosophy of genetics.  Lauren Wilson presents, "Should the Study of Behavior Be Different: The Curious Case of Behavioral Genetics".

A summary of the lecture follows:

Behavioral Genetics (BG) has faced persistent criticisms from scientists, historians, and philosophers. However, these criticisms have primarily revolved around a narrow set of conceptual issues in human research contexts, such as the heritability of IQ and its consequences for race and intelligence. Very little philosophical work has concentrated on epistemic issues in BG research with non-human organisms, which is curious given their role in other areas of
investigation (e.g., the study of conserved molecular mechanisms in biomedicine). I argue that if non-human model organisms provide experimental traction for research in human contexts, then the same strategy ought to apply to BG. Consequently, new issues emerge, such as how approaches differ when examining behavioral traits seen as closer to biology than culture or how available methodologies in BG differ in their epistemic limitations. These issues call into question recent claims that BG “can help create a more just and equal society."