Distinguished Speaker Series: Featuring Dr. Anita Foeman

Ancestry DNA and Impact on Our Modern Society

Dr. Anita Foeman is an internationally recognized researcher and scholar on the study of ancestry DNA and how it has resulted in the racial makeup of our modern society. For the past two decades, Dr. Foeman’s research has examined identity based on ancestry DNA data. Her work includes the testing of over three thousand individuals and is the most extensive project of its type.

Dr. Foeman will conduct a very engaging presentation on where our ancestors came from and how that has impacted our own DNA composition. Bryn Athyn College have retained Dr. Foeman to advise on how to speak to the diverse needs of our students, faculty, and employees. She has a worked with other colleges in this area and will share a positive message on how we can manage through the challenges of respecting and caring for all individuals.

Dr. Foeman is Professor Emeritus of the Communication and Media Department at West Chester University where she taught for 40 years. She received her Ph.D. from Temple University in Communications with a concentration in Organizational Communication. She was one of the first in her field to publish on diversity in the workplace as a positive development. Her work includes over 30 years of ongoing diversity and leadership consulting for educational, government and private agencies.

This event will also be livestreamed.

More about Dr. Foeman:

Dr. Anita Foeman is Professor Emeritus of the Communication and Media Department at West Chester University where she taught for 40 years.  Dr. Foeman received her PhD from Temple University in 1982 in Communication with a concentration in Organizational Communication. She was one of the first in her field to publish on diversity in the workplace as a positive development. Her co-authored article “Ethnic Culture and Corporate Culture” published in 1987 was one of the first to articulate a positive image of workplace diversity.  Dr. Foeman’s ongoing scholarship and training explores diversity in society including multicultural organizations, families, and people. Her work includes over 30 years of ongoing diversity and leadership consulting for educational, government, and private agencies from Haverford College and Princeton University to the Chester County FoodBank. Her orientation has always been optimistic and inclusive.  

For the past two decades, Dr. Foeman’s research has examined identity based on ancestry DNA data. This project has tested over 3000 individuals and is the most extensive project of its type. Her first publication on this work was “Science and Magic: DNA and the Racial Narratives that Shape the Social Construction of Race in the USA” published in 2006. This work has been followed by a series of articles and professional presentations including publications in Communication Monographs, Communication Quarterly, the journal Identity and the open access journal Genealogy. Her work has received coverage in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Here & Now on NPR, the BBC News Hour, National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic Explorer, and NOVA. Her coauthored book Who Am I? Identity in the Age of Consumer DNA Testing was released in February 2021 and received an award for Most Promising Textbook from Textbook and Academic Authors Association in 2022. She just competed a 12-part series for the Great Course organization (now Wondrium) entitled Identity in the Age of Ancestry DNA released in August 2021. She has another course in process currently. Her collaborative work is now exploring the experience of people having a non-parental event (finding their parents we not the person they thought).