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Herman, Ellen, Ph.D.

Ellen Herman, Ph.D., is Professor, Department of History University of Oregon. Dr. Herman is a historian of the modern United States who is especially interested in the human sciences, social engineering, and therapeutic culture. Her most recent book is Kinship by Design: A History of Adoption in the Modern United States (University of Chicago Press, 2008). Dr. Herman also designed and maintains the Web site: The Adoption History Project. Her Web site is devoted to making adoption history accessible and interesting to visitors who may not be aware that adoption has a history at all.  Her latest research project, “Autism, Between Risks and Rights” was supported in 2011-2012 by a Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies.