Free Virtual Book Presentation & Conversation

Sarah Richardson, Professor of the History of Science and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University in conversation with Emily Oster, Professor of Economics, Brown University

Advance Registration Required.

At the turn of the twentieth century, any notion that a pregnant woman could alter her offspring’s physical and behavioral traits was dismissed as it was believed that a child’s fate was set by its genes and upbringing. Today, a wide body of interdisciplinary research argues that a woman’s experiences, behaviors, and physiology can have life-altering effects on offspring development. Drawing on her new book, The Maternal Imprint, (University of Chicago Press, 2021), leading gender and science scholar Sarah Richardson will examine how our ideas about heredity and maternal-fetal effects have evolved over the last fifty years. A conversation with economist and best-selling author Emily Oster will follow.

To join the program, you will need to download the free Zoom app in advance. If you already have Zoom, you do not need to download it again. For details on how to improve your Zoom experience, visit the How to Attend an HMSC Program webpage.