A lecture and book talk with Sebastián Gil-Riaño, Associate Professor of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania 

Thursday, October 1, 2026 
5:30–7 p.m. 
Charles Library Event Space 
In person; registration required 

How did a postwar campaign against racial prejudice also help normalize the erasure of Indigenous peoples? 

Drawing from his book, The Remnants of Race Science: UNESCO and Economic Development in the Global South, and his current research, Sebastián Gil-Riaño examines the politics of antiracism developed by liberal internationalists affiliated with UNESCO after 1945. These experts opposed racial determinism while promoting economic development through the assimilation of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. 

Gil-Riaño will explore how this influential framework—created in response to the Holocaust—normalized violence against Indigenous communities. He will also discuss how Indigenous activists and radical anthropologists challenged liberal antiracism during the 1970s, identifying its assimilationist policies as a form of violence they called “ethnocide.” 

A light reception featuring Latino snacks will precede the talk. 

About the speaker 

Sebastián Gil-Riaño is an associate professor of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Born in Colombia and raised in Canada, he is a historian of science whose research examines transnational scientific conceptions of race, culture, and Indigeneity in the 20th century. His first book, The Remnants of Race Science: UNESCO and Economic Development in the Global South, was published by Columbia University Press in 2023. 

This Hispanic Heritage Month program is presented by the Klein College and CLA-Klein Latino Initiative Committee