by “The Fake Philosopher,” Malaysia Johnson Racial identity has been used to a great extent in biomedicine, forensic anthropology, law enforcement, etc. It has been a common variable in studies of human difference through the ages, particularly physiognomy—the art of deciphering a person’s character from her appearance—in the classical and medieval periods, and human evolution […]
In November 2015, English 291 students were asked to consider the history of physiognomy—the premodern science of deciphering a person’s character based on her appearance, including facial attributes, skin color, hair color, hairiness, motions, etc. For example, in the image above from Johann Caspar Lavater’s late 18th-century Essays on Physiognomy, Designed to Promote the Knowledge […]
Welcome to What Is Racial Difference? This is a site for asking what race consists of: is it color? culture? geography? This is a site for asking what race does: does it produce division and strife? define and maintain communities? create and uphold structures of inequality? provide a platform for passing down rituals and values? This is […]
