March 2025 SHC Lecture to Feature Mia Levenson, PhD

Join us for the March 2025 Student History Club (SHC) Lecture for a talk by Dr. Mia Levenson on how physicians served as a conduit for the early 20th century eugenics movement’s aims of promoting reproduction among those perceived as eugenically fit, and forcibly ceasing reproduction among the supposedly unfit. Looking at the American Eugenics Society's open competitions, in particular the sermon contests and Fitter Family Contests, this talk explores how physicians used their professional status to translate eugenics research to the interested public. This talk argues that the resonances of physicians' influence on the movement can be seen across popular media, literature, and theatre. The SHC Noon Lectures are free and open to anyone interested in the history of the health sciences. It will be held Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at 12:00pm on Zoom.

Dr. Mia Levenson is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Medicine and the Center for Medical Humanities & Social Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Her research examines how theatrical and performance cultures produced, proliferated, and circulated biomedical science as well as how these performances contributed to the formation of racial, national, and ethnic identities in the United States. She received her PhD in Theatre & Performance Studies from Tufts University. Her forthcoming book project explores how eugenics spread through early twentieth-century popular performances of scientific progress. For more information, visit MiaLevenson.com.

This event is open to the public. Virtual seating is limited and registration is required by Monday, March 10, 2025, at 6 PM to reserve your seat and to receive login information.