The concept and definition of 'race' is still a contentious subject in science, society and popular culture. From a scientific view, some argue that 'race' is a social construct with no biological meaning. In part this has to do with labelling people as 'black' or 'white' is reductionist and does not explain the complexity of humans. Furthermore, attaching certain attributes to certain races is both flimsy science and dangerous. To a certain extent this is where science and society have intersected to the great embarrassment of science. In the 19th century individuals such as Samuel George Morton and Paul Broca put forward 'scientific' research that correlated brain size with intellectual capacity. A large brain and high intellectual capacity and a small skull indicated a decreased intellectual capacity. He then took this to create a hierarchy of skulls putting Caucasians at the top of intellectual ladder whilst people of colour were at the lowest point, promoting the idea of 'superior' and 'inferior' human races. Additionally, previously the classification of 'race' has been so reliant on the use of one sense - sight. It makes sense to take the cognitive leap of relating features and colour of skin to a specific 'race'. Nowadays genetic analysis allows us to determine out geographic ancestry pinpointing the migrational history of our ancestors, and by inference the 'probable racial category'.

However, it is important to remind ourselves that there is a complex relation between our genetic make up, ancestry and phenotypes - and there aren't any specific genes that can be used to determine an individuals race.

In 2009, a research article by Clarence Gravlee stated that biomedical research often takes health inequality patterns such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, certain cancers, birthweight, preterm delivery and others as evidence of fundamental genetic differences between 'races'. However in his paper he collates a growing body of evidence suggesting that social inequalities are the origin of the racial health disparities, and instead argues that racial inequality becomes embodied in the biological well-being of racialised groups. This indicates that the genetic vs social construct conversation needs to be revised once more.

From a societal and cultural perspective, race is an issue of politics, human rights, and prejudice, and it thus often considered a difficult subject to speak about. However, via migration, communication and changing family structures, as well as through our everyday consumption of popular culture, via series, films and other visual representations, our understanding of 'race' is changing.

We will be joined by Brett St Louis, Senior Lecturer of Sociology at Goldsmiths University, with a research and teaching focus on Race, Racism, Social Theory, Politics and Ethics.