The Institute for Historical Biology provides a space where the relationships of human biology and culture can be examined in new ways. The Institute encourages research that departs from the tendency toward biological reductionism which characterizes much of the history of science, in order to consider the organic influences of the learned relations of society. We ask, how diverse social and economic conditions have produced differences in the physiological, developmental, pathological, morphological, and genetic characteristics of human populations; and how ideology has influenced the way we conceptualize biology. These are some of the broad, theoretical issues addressed with the resources of the institute. The Institute houses a library of works of scientific racism for critical study in the classroom and is continuously developing a comparative bioarchaeological database that includes the massive records of the New York African Burial Ground for educational and research use. The biological reflections of social history can raise unexpected questions, fill gaps in historical information, or strengthen the documentary and archaeological record by the peculiar authority of biological evidence.

The Center for Conservation Biology is an organization dedicated to discovering innovative solutions to environmental problems that are both scientifically sound and practical within today's social context.