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Staff and students in the UCL community are engaging with the institution’s eugenics legacy in positive and creative ways. Discover their stories paired with our striking artwork.
On this page: Story 4 - Confronting legacies with object-based learning | Meet the artists |
Other content: Read Story 1 | Read Story 2 | Read Story 3
Story 4 - Confronting legacies with object-based learning
How can object-based learning lessons help us understand UCL’s eugenics legacy?
(Main illustration by Weihong ‘Clover’ Tang)
Sixteen eyes in a wooden box stare blankly at thirty students in a UCL classroom. The eyes are glass, they have never blinked or shed a tear, but they are undeniably part of a troubling story.
Amy Unsworth has packed a lot into her career and you can tell instantly that she is passionate about teaching. She currently leads the “Science and Society” module on UCL’s Natural Sciences programme (the 2024/25 cohort), as well as two other NatSci modules and is also the EDI lead for her division.
She has a background in molecular biology but found that she enjoyed talking about science more than doing experiments. The impact of science and technology on society is her area of interest, in particular, considering how to make science more accessible. It is no surprise that she is a good communicator; her career shift led to a post grad diploma in science communication and took her to leading organisations such as the Science Museum before she joined the UCL staff roster.
When Amy began her current teaching post at UCL, she was keen to incorporate object-based learning (OBL) into her teaching programme, especially with her museums background. OBL allows students to engage with historic objects that are mediums for learning and opens up new possibilities for critical reflection. Reflection is certainly needed for UCL’s eugenics legacy which is unknown to most staff and students when they join the university. On 7 January 2021, UCL issued a formal public apology for its history and legacy of eugenics, and work continues to build on this past wrong with new positive action. One of these projects is the Eugenics Legacy Education Project (ELEP). The three year project is an opportunity to actively engage with UCL’s eugenics legacy in relevant educational activities and to develop knowledge and critical thinking skills around working with other difficult and/or sensitive curriculum areas.
I was schooled in this uncritical assumption that science automatically brings progress, that science is just kind of inherently good. By studying science communication I started to unpick those assumptions (Amy Unsworth)“I was schooled in this uncritical assumption that science automatically brings progress, that science is just kind of inherently good. By studying science communication I started to unpick those assumptionsI was schooled in this uncritical assumption that science automatically brings progress, that science is just kind of inherently good. By studying science communication I started to unpick those assumptionsI was schooled in this uncritical assumption that science automatically brings progress, that science is just kind of inherently good. By studying science communication I started to unpick those assumptions
Amy was able to engage with OBL thanks to some dedicated colleagues and the fact that UCL has a specially designed OBL classroom. Her department, UCL MAPS is well served for OBL with several experts in this pedagogy. After being introduced to this teaching technique through a colleague, her interest grew in using OBL to explore UCL’s association with 20th century eugenics, a topic that she had already looked at in the context of contemporary gene editing for a role, that didn’t materalise with UCL’s STS department.
Amy was introduced to ELEP’s academic lead Helen Knowler through a colleague and there was an interest to learn from each other in teaching methods. Helen and Amy agreed that ELEP would study her module as an example of teaching eugenics and its legacy to UCL students using OBL. This involved her/ELEP team members observing classes and reflecting together on what worked well and what could be improved. Amy is particularly interested in how OBL can help spark conversations on contemporary resonances amongst her diverse student cohort, sparking a curiosity in scientific ethics that was not always present in past teaching.
In some disciplines OBL has always been an integral part of teaching, there is that vision of medical students peering over a dusty skeleton that sticks in the mind. For many students though this is a new and exciting way of learning. Amy feels that there is something special about the atmosphere in an OBL session – it is calm and contemplative and of all her lectures it is the one class she stresses to the students to not miss!
I’m trying to provide a space for students to take a step back from learning all of the really complex, really fascinating technical detail and look at the bigger picture (Amy Unsworth)
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OBL is however resource intensive to run. There is a need for smaller groups, so Amy runs six sessions in a week to include all 150 students, albeit with in-person support from the excellent LCCOS curators and the resources of UCL’s OBL laboratory. But the value of these classes is there to see, playing an important part in UCL’s move to more inclusive pedagogies. But although Amy is an advocate of OBL, her colleague Professor Joe Cain, a UCL expert on OBL is upfront about the barriers of implementing OBL into teaching plans. "OBL is a tough sell. Most tutors have strong incentives to not change their curriculum. Demands on our time are crushing… Time spent on curriculum re-design is time away from other things that are better rewarded."
Of all the objects Amy teaches with, she thinks that the eye gauges is one item that fascinates students and often confuses them at first. They will learn during the lesson that UCL eugenicist Karl Pearson's “Rudolf Martin Eye Colour Gauge” was used in eugenics research on Jewish school boys in London in the 1920s. This research featured in Pearson and Moul's paper "The Problem of Alien Immigration into Great Britain, Illustrated by an Examination of Russian and Polish Jewish Children.” Using objects to build context is very important for Amy and the OBL sessions are preceded by a content warning but very little other information and followed up with a lecture on eugenics.
Amy will continue to advocate for OBL to be a key part of teaching programmes at UCL. She hopes to collaborate with ELEP’s Helen Knowler on future research into this valuable pedagogy.
Meet the artist
Hello! My name is Weihong Tang, also known as Clover. I used to be a communication designer, and I am currently studying for a Master’s degree in Education and Technology at UCL. My interests focus on the application of tools and media production in educational settings. I am passionate about discovering innovative ways to inspire learners and enhance learning experiences.
