The Alumnae Association invites you to a virtual back-to-class with Dr. Leslie Sandra Jones ’77, associate professor of biology at Valdosta State University.

In many situations, separation of the influence of nature and nurture is difficult, if not impossible. However, this is not the case with respect to the division of humans into racial categories. Skin color, which has always been the primary marker of human difference, is now understood to be the product of natural selection under geographically different levels of ultraviolet radiation. Genomic studies have established, beyond doubt, that humans do not differ biologically according to the artificial categories that are called “races.” Yet despite this, racism, that is rooted in fallacious and erroneous assumptions of real genetic difference, continues to be a destructive misconception held by many people. This will be a comprehensible science lesson that assumes long-overdue social responsibility to provide current scientific information demonstrating how “race” is a cultural but not a valid biological concept.

Dr. Leslie Sandra Jones is an associate professor of biology at Valdosta State University in Georgia. Her biological research was in equine reproductive physiology before she became interested in the ways social issues impact science education. She has worked extensively on addressing the evolution/creationism controversy as well as the development of antiracist approaches to biological science. She includes antiracist lessons in every biology course she teaches. As a teacher educator, she wants the students in her education content classes to understand and be prepared to handle the racism they will see in schools.