Fractured Circles of Race: A Heuristic Model for Teaching about Racial Categorization in Anthropological and Historical Perspective

Authors

Robert Shanafelt, Georgia Southern University

Abstract

This paper presents a heuristic model for teaching about human variation and transformations of concepts of race over time. It suggests that key aspects of the complexities related to the topic can be fruitfully discussed by making use of the image of a feedback loop between folk models and scientific models of human kinds and human variations. In order to elucidate this discussion, a brief review of the history of racial thinking and some current ideas about race, genetics, and biomedicine are also presented.

Relational Format

journal article

Accessibility Status

Searchable text

Recommended Citation

Shanafelt, Robert (2010) "Fractured Circles of Race: A Heuristic Model for Teaching about Racial Categorization in Anthropological and Historical Perspective," Southern Anthropologist: Vol. 35: No. 1, Article 2.
Available at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/southern_anthropologist/vol35/iss1/2