Commemoration for service in the Great War, 1914-1919, University College London (UCL) | ProfJoeCain
Blog

Lessons About Renaming University Buildings

Summary: The argument builds on several steps. First, naming is a commemorative act. These acts support heritage stories. Conflicts over renaming really are conflicts between heritage stories. These conflicts cannot be resolved by appealing to […]

Charles Darwin Blue Plaque on Gower Street London WC1 | ProfJoeCain
Blog

Darwinian Heritage on Gower Street at UCL

English Heritage commemorates Charles Darwin with a blue plaque located on Gower Street in Bloomsbury, central London. The “Darwin plaque” is fixed to the Darwin Building, one of the substantial science buildings of University College […]

University College London (UCL) Wilkins Building at night | ProfJoeCain
UCL Eugenics Inquiry

Terms of Reference for UCL’s Eugenics Inquiry

The “Inquiry into the History of Eugenics at UCL,” also referred to as the “Eugenics Inquiry,” and the “Eugenics Investigation” operated at University College London (UCL) between November 2018 and February 2020. It was a university […]

Legacies of Eugenics project website December 2019
Blog

Launching the Legacies of Eugenics project

The subject of eugenics is back on the agenda for historians of science. I’ve been involved in the UCL Inquiry on the history and legacies of eugenics within that institution. My academic department has reviewed […]