Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
In his 2022 book A Voice in the Wilderness, evolutionary biologist Joseph L. Graves Jr. showed how science debunks rather than reinforces racism, and why that matters to the future of our species. In the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing's 12th Patrusky Lecture, Graves expanded on this message by bringing together personal experience, the writings of W. E. B. Du Bois, and the scientific evidence that powerfully undergirds the fight for a more just society. Du Bois' 1933 classic The Education of Black People included an essay, "The Field and Function of the Negro College," laying out the argument that minority-serving institutions are essential to advancing training in science and technology. As an HBCU faculty member who has trained PhD students for decades despite tattered infrastructure and persistent underfunding, Graves believes Du Bois' arguments are more salient than ever today. Success in meeting today's dire crises, he says, requires deploying an accurate understanding of human evolution and natural selection and training diverse thinkers and investigators.
The 12th Patrusky Lecture was presented at the Raleigh Convention Center Nov. 9, 2024 as part of the ScienceWriters2024 conference. Joseph L. Graves Jr. is Mackenzie Scott Endowed Professor of Biology at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and a principal investigator of the PreMiEr NSF (Generation Four) Engineering Research Center.
In his 2022 book A Voice in the Wilderness, evolutionary biologist Joseph L. Graves Jr. showed how science debunks rather than reinforces racism, and why that matters to the future of our species. In the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing's 12th Patrusky Lecture, Graves expanded on this message by bringing together personal experience, the writings of W. E. B. Du Bois, and the scientific evidence that powerfully undergirds the fight for a more just society. Du Bois' 1933 classic The Education of Black People included an essay, "The Field and Function of the Negro College," laying out the argument that minority-serving institutions are essential to advancing training in science and technology. As an HBCU faculty member who has trained PhD students for decades despite tattered infrastructure and persistent underfunding, Graves believes Du Bois' arguments are more salient than ever today. Success in meeting today's dire crises, he says, requires deploying an accurate understanding of human evolution and natural selection and training diverse thinkers and investigators.
The 12th Patrusky Lecture was presented at the Raleigh Convention Center Nov. 9, 2024 as part of the ScienceWriters2024 conference. Joseph L. Graves Jr. is Mackenzie Scott Endowed Professor of Biology at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University and a principal investigator of the PreMiEr NSF (Generation Four) Engineering Research Center.
