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Wayne Morse Center talk by Folklore and Public Culture Prof. Leah Lowthorp, 2020-21 Wayne Morse Center Resident Scholar

Friday, Oct. 15, noon
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The recent rise of direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry testing has had profound implications for identity. This project considers one genre of identity performance: the genetic ancestry test “reveal” on YouTube. It explores these performances by asking questions about the authority performers grant test results to inform racial and/or ethnic identities, the hierarchies of knowledge created when test results contradict family histories, and what these performances reveal about conceptions of biological determinism today. At a moment that elevates the technological over other forms of knowledge, this project considers online identity performance as part of the folklore of a post-genomic age.

DNA Identities: Narrative and Authority in Genetic Ancestry Performance on YouTube featuring Leah Lowthorp, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and 2020-21 Wayne Morse Center Resident Scholar