Politics of the Species: The Human Body as Global Public Good"

When we think of our bodies we imagine that we own them but in fact the conditions of our ownership are quite uncertain. For example, we have a very limited ability to sell our body parts (even after our deaths) and yet we are permit to donate them to organ banks, etc. And yet at the same time scientists and biotech companies are allowed to patent certain cell types that they harvest from our bodies and sell them on the open market. Professor Kaufmann will discuss these question drawing on several of his publications (available in German) and consider the argument for treating such material as public (and therefore not patentable) goods.The department's Research Workshop Program encourages scholarly discussion of works-in-progress by faculty, outside speakers, and graduate students, including dissertation prospectuses. While the requirements for workshop participation vary across subfields, students are encouraged to attend workshops in their major field of study on a regular basis throughout their residency in the graduate program. Contact Ruth Grant grant@duke.edu or Michael Gillespie mgillesp@duke.edu if you have any questions.