Welcome

“We are a narrative species,” wrote Roger Rosenblatt in “I am Writing Blindly” (2000). “So enduring is this storytelling need that it shapes nearly every human endeavor.”

I came across Rosenblatt’s essay today as I sat down to write the initial posting for this new Narrative Genetics blog. What are the stories we tell about our genes? And how have these stories impacted the way we live our lives as individuals, families, and societies? Our historical narratives of race and genetics sometimes are glaring and foreshadow genocidal violence at home or abroad. Or sometimes they appear beneficent as shorthand for the disparities we seek to end. And today the metaphor of mapping with its glimmering Human Genome Project as standard bearer has given rise to industries of story-making to create entertainment, to create identity, to create hope.

This blog extends and expands the conversations we have been having at the Narrative Genetics seminar at ISERP, Columbia University, an outgrowth of some collaborative work by my colleagues in Narrative Medicine at Columbia, and in Human Genetics at Sarah Lawrence College. A few months ago Felice Aull invited me to blog about Narrative Genetics on the NYU Literature, Arts and Medicine site. Blogging makes us think in terms of stories, and I found myself remembering my own genetic family stories, as well as searching out others. This blog will give us all a chance to think in an interconnected way about genetics, stories and society, and to share this thinking with each other. For those of you who find this blog and are not able to attend our seminars, you can find some seminar resources and readings on the corresponding Google Site. We will also share with you some of the discussions that begin in the seminar. This is a field that is very much a multidisciplinary exploration. We hope others will join us in the journey.