College Faculty Members, Graduate Student to Present Research Related to Discrimination in Eugenics Program

Communication studies faculty members Daniel Grano and Margaret Quinlan and graduate student Elliot Hamer  presented “Did Race and Money Matter? Discrimination in the N.C. Eugenics Program” at 8 a.m., on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at the YWCA Central Carolinas, 3420 Park Road.

They focused on how the state’s failure to compensate victims of the sterilization program was based upon the idea that the past cannot be repaired by those living in the present. The talk also addressed how this idea undermines efforts to address public and moral obligations to past injustices and how it disproportionately affects women, people of color and people who are poor and disabled. The United Church of Christ sponsored the event. Tweets about the event can be found at hashtag eugencistalk (#eugenicstalk) on Twitter.

Grano teaches graduate and undergraduate courses within his interest areas, including Rhetorical Theory, Political Communication and Cultural Studies. His research focuses on how power shapes moral judgment, especially surrounding issues of race. He has published in various journals within the communication studies discipline, including the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Critical Studies in Media Communication, Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, and The Southern Communication Journal.

Quinlan teaches undergraduate and graduate courses within her interest areas, including health, gender and disability communication. Her research explores and critiques existing power structures and works towards the empowerment of groups marginalized in society. Her research relates primarily to issues of equality and to the structures that constrain and empower all who are involved in giving and receiving care within and outside the U.S. medical establishment. She has published in various journals within the communication studies discipline, including Health Communication, Text & Performance Quarterly, Disability Studies Quarterly and Sex Education.

Hamer is expected to complete his master’s degree in communication studies this spring.  As an undergraduate he majored in communication studies at UNC Charlotte with a concentration in mass media and a minor in film studies. In his studies he focuses on the organizing power of language, and especially how it pertains to tension with new media. He works in the department as a graduate assistant where he helps teach large lecture courses and assists professors with research.