Deirdre Cooper Owens is a historian of medicine working at the intersection of science, race, and gender. She is the Charles and Linda Wilson Professor in the History of Medicine and director of the Humanities in Medicine program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, as well as a distinguished lecturer for the Organization of American Historians (OAH).

Cooper Owens also serves as director of the Program in African American History at the Library Company of Philadelphia, the oldest cultural institution in the United States. Her first book, Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology (University of Georgia Press, 2017) won the 2018 Darlene Clark Hine Book Award in African American women’s and gender history.


Cooper Owens’s Lunchtime Lecture is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the Institute’s Innate: How Science Invented the Myth of Race project.

About the Series

Our virtual Lunchtime Lecture Series is for scholars and anyone curious about the history of science, technology, and medicine. Topics range from rigorous to entertaining, and help expand perceptions of the nature of science and how it’s done.

More events

a museum educator explains what a flowerpot is to a fireworks exhibition visitor at the Science History Institute
May 14, 2026
Museum Programs & Activities

Educator Night: Flash! Bang! Boom!

Join us for a special evening just for educators, with an in-depth look at the science, history, and spectacle behind fireworks!

advertisement featuring a uniformed woman with a lunchbox
May 16, 2026
For Families

Stories of Science: Chemistry of Common Things

Join us in our museum EVERY SATURDAY for a family-friendly program that highlights strange and surprising stories from the history of science!

A colorful firework display, illustrating the history of fireworks.
May 16, 2026
Free

APS Neighborhood Fun Day

Stop by our table to see examples of the fine art featured in our fireworks exhibition, then partake in hands-on activities, games, and snacks!

    Republish

    Copy the above HTML to republish this content. We have formatted the material to follow our guidelines, which include our credit requirements. Please review our full list of guidelines for more information. By republishing this content, you agree to our republication requirements.