How philosophers have influenced the way you think about race

Suitable for 14-19-year olds (secondary and high schools, and college), this article and accompanying activity sheet can be used in the classroom, STEM clubs and at home.

This resource links to KS4 and KS5 science, philosophy and history.

It can also be used as a careers resource and links to Gatsby Benchmarks:
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers

• This teaching resource explains the work of Dr Jennifer Mensch and Dr Michael Olson who study the history and philosophy of science. They are creating an anthology of key texts from 18th-century life sciences and philosophy to assess the history of the concept of race.

• This resource also contains an interview with Jennifer and Michael and offers an insight into careers in philosophy. If your students have questions for Jennifer and Michael, they can send them to them online. All they need to do is to go to the article online (see the Futurum link below), scroll down to the end and type in the question(s). Jennifer and Michael will reply!

• The activity sheet provides ‘talking points’ (based on Bloom’s Taxonomy) to prompt students to reflect on Jennifer and Michael’s research and challenges them to explore the impacts of philosophers on society.

• In the accompanying podcast, Jennifer and Michael discuss their work and the importance of philosophy in the modern world. There is a PowerPoint presentation that accompanies the podcast, containing questions that prompt students to reflect on what Jennifer and Michael say, and a downloadable transcript of the podcast conversation.

This resource was first published on Futurum Careers, a free online resource and magazine aimed at encouraging 14-19-year-olds worldwide to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, maths, medicine (STEM) and social sciences, humanities and the arts for people and the economy (SHAPE).

If you like these free resources – or have suggestions for improvements –, please let us know and leave us some feedback. Thank you!