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by Lindsey Grubbs Early in April, Emory University hosted the third iteration of Critical Juncture . This annual(ish) graduate-student-led conference focuses on intersectionality , examining interconnecting dynamics of systems of oppression including racism, sexism, ableism, and classism. This year’s conference, while maintaining a broader focus on the complexities of identity and oppression, took as its theme “representations of the body”: which bodies are, and perhaps more importantly which are not, represented in science, politics, the arts, and the academy, and what forms do these representations take? From its beginning, the conference has links to neuroethics at Emory. One of the co-founders of the conference, Jennifer Sarrett , was a past Neuroethics Scholars Program Fellow. This year, I—one-time managing editor of this blog and current intrepid neuroethics blogger—served as one of the co-organizers. The focus at this year’s conference was on increasing opportunities for in...

By Carlie Hoffman Premature infant, courtesy of Wikipedia “Crack babies,” “crack kids,” and the “ lost generation ” were all terms used by the public and the press in the 1980s and 1990s to describe children born to mothers who used crack-cocaine during pregnancy. Supported and spurred on by the media’s interpretation of preliminary research performed by Dr. Ira Chasnoff , among others, these children were often born prematurely, had tremors and a small head circumference, and, based on their description in the press, were expected to have neurobehavioral deficits, reduced intelligence, and deficits in social skills. These children were also anticipated to cost educational and social systems thousands of dollars as they matured and entered into schools and eventually the workforce. Yet, after additional studies have been conducted and as the “crack babies” have grown into adolescents and young adults, it has been found that the negative outcomes widely described by the media were o...