News/Research

News

After a DNA test, he told a stranger: 'I think you might be my father'

latimes.com/ 8/1/2021

America’s Brutal Racial History Is Written All Over Our Genes

nytimes.com/ 2/16/2021

We Can't Breathe, America! Dialogues for Change

https://www.truecolorscast.com/ 6/1/2020

Dealing With Unexpected Discoveries After DNA Tests

NBCPhiladelphia.com 11/24/19

'I Was Numb': Family Secrets Come to Light as DNA Testing Gains Popularity

NBCPhiladelphia.com 11/4/19

Humanities for All

humanitiesforall.org, 10/21/19

What is race? It isn’t skin color, as some young people are learning

WHYY.org, 7/30/19

Who Do You Think You Are?

WHYY.org, 6/7/19

Se O Seu DNA Falasse

Galileu, 3/27/19

Sigrid Johnson Was Black. A DNA Test Said She Wasn’t.

nytimes.com, 11/19/18

The Media Moment

div46amplifier.com, 6/21/18

For National Geographic, an Exploration of Race (and Commercial Opportunity)

Undark.org, 4/9/18

The Blurring of Racial Lines won't save America. Why 'racial fluidity' is a con

CNN.com, 3/9/18

Questioning Race

Natcom.org, 3/8/18

There’s No Scientific Basis for Race—It's a Made-Up Label

NationalGeographic.com, 18'

They considered themselves white, but DNA tests told a more complex story

WashingtonPost.com, 2/6/18

African Americans Connect with Roots Through DNA

VOANews.com, 12/12/17

NPR Interview - Who's Your Great-Great-Great-Great Granddaddy?

NPR Code Switch - one.npr.org, 8/9/17

"What does our DNA tell us"

The Breaking Free Show with Marilyn Shannon, 5/15/17

"DNA Tests, and Sometimes Surprising Results"

The NY Times, 4/20/17

Radio Times - Genetic Ancestry Testing

Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane - whyy.org, 1/25/17

  • NPR Interview - Anita Foeman: DNA Discussion Project

NPR Here & Now - NPR.org, 1/4/17

“Exploring Our Roots (January Issue, pg.31)“

issuu.com - The WC Press, 1/1/17

  • BBC Interview - Anita Foeman: DNA Discussion Project

BBC Outside Source - BBC.co.uk, 12/30/16

“To bring a divided country together, start with a little spit“

WashingtonPost.com, 12/24/16

"Our Common Core: Ancestry DNA-Hope for Humanity"

TED X Talks - youtube.com, 12/21/16

“Exploring genetic roots to help students understand race, themselves“

Newsworks.org, 11/5/15

“West Chester DNA project to show one community, ancestry”

Daily Local News, 8/2/15

“In West Chester, DNA becomes a building block for race debate”

Philly.com

Scholarly Work

  • Foeman, A. (2009). Science and magic: Using DNA data to examine the social construction of race. Journal of Intercultural Communication Studies, 18(2), 14–25.
  • Foeman, A. (2010, April). Advanced intercultural communication project exploring the relationship among DNA ancestry profiles. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Eastern Communication Association, Baltimore, MD.
  • Foeman, A. (2012). An intercultural project exploring the relationship among DNA ancestry profiles, family narrative, and the social construction of race. Journal of Negro Education, 81, 307–318.
  • Foeman, A. (2013). Social construction of race. In A. Kurylo (Ed.) Inter/cultural communication:
    Representation and construction of culture (pp. 17–18). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Foeman, A., & Lawton, B. (June, 2013) Exploring global identity in education: Ancestry DNA and diversity training as classroom approaches for creating awareness of a global community. Frederick Douglass Institute and Ghana Interdisciplinary Conference on Diversity and Multiculturalism Cape Coast, Ghana.
  • Foeman, A., Adams, J., Gongole, K., Guare, S., Jones, M., Liu, O., Sainju, S., Sanders, R., Lawton, B. (November 2013). Toward a New View of Race: Exploring the Implications of Ancestry DNA for Racial Identity. National Communication Association Conference, Washington, DC.
  • Foeman, A. (2014, March). Ancestry synchronicity: Using ancestry DNA and narrative to explore our humanness. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HRTZVVyJC8&noredirect=1
  • Foeman, A. & Howard, A. (2014, October) Experiential learning cycle to the WCU DNA Diversity Project. Paper presented to the Knowledge Crossing Borders conference, Heredia, Costa Rica.
  • Foeman, A., Lawton, B., & Rieger, R. (2014) Questioning race: Ancestry DNA and dialog on race. Communication Monographs, 82(2), 1-20
  • Foeman, A., & Lawton, B. (, November, 2015). The multiethnic-racial experience: Reflections and considerations on identity, family, and community. National Communication Association conference, Las Vegas, NV.
  • Lawton, B. (November, 2016). The role of Ancestry DNA in multiracial individuals’ voices as they construct civic dialogue on race. National Communication Association Conference. Philadelphia, PA.
  • Lawton, B., & Foeman, A. (November, 2016). Ancestry DNA and interracial communication. National Communication Association Conference, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Foeman, A., & Lawton, B. (2016, November). Our Common Core: Ancestry DNA and Hope for Humanity. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfuN89U9fT4
  • Lawton, B., & Foeman, A. (2017). Shifting winds: Using ancestry DNA to explore multiracial individuals’ patterns of articulating racial identity. Identity, 17(2), 69-83. DOI: 10.1080/15283488.2017.1303383
  • Lawton, B. Foeman, A. & Surdel, N Bridging Discussions of Human History: Ancestry DNA and New Roles for Africana Studies, Genealogy 2018, 2(1), 5; doi:10.3390/genealogy2010005
  • Foeman, A. & Lawton, B.(2021). Who am I: Identity in the age of consumer DNA testing. Cognella. San Diego. 
Back to top of page.