We're still actively developing this site. If you encounter any issues, please report them! - Report an issue

CHILDBIRTH IN THE UNITED STATES

GEN&WS/HISTSCI 537
Course Description

Using a reproductive justice framework, analyze contexts, experiences, practices, ideologies, and historiographies of childbirth in the United States from roughly the 17th century to the present, with the heaviest emphasis on the 20th and 21st century. Examines the ways that colonization, genocide, enslavement, racism, capitalism, heterosexism, patriarchy, and ableism have shaped all of these aspects of childbirth. Inquire how key movements and groups resisting some of these forms of oppression have had the power to reshape birth, as well as locating in birth a source of transformational power.

Prerequisties

Sophomore standing

Satisfies

This course does not satisfy any prerequisites.

Credits

Not Reported

Offered

Not Reported

Grade Point Average
4

1.3% from Historical

Completion Rate
100%

1.3% from Historical

A Rate
100%

1.3% from Historical

Class Size
40

2.56% from Historical

Instructors (2025 Fall)

Sorted by ratings from Rate My Professors

Similar Courses

THE SCIENCE AND POLITICS OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

GEN&WS 529

Explores the contemporary science and politics of reproductive health in North America. Taught from a reproductive justice (RJ) perspective, a framework for analysis and action developed by Black women health organizers and scholars. Examines several aspects and applications of the reproductive justice framework itself; RJ approaches to pregnancy and birth; RJ as a diagnosis and refusal of eugenics; and RJ and abortion. Engages with case studies, scholarship, and theory from a variety of literatures relevant to public health: epidemiology, feminist and queer theory, critical race studies, gender/sexuality studies, activist and policy analyses, and historical and contemporary primary sources. Explores a variety of experiences and meanings of reproductive health and illness, as well as the relationships between health/disease and racism, poverty, sexism, hetero- and cis- normativity, colonization, incarceration, and environmental degradation.

WOMEN AND HEALTH IN AMERICAN HISTORY

GEN&WS/HISTSCI/MEDHIST 531

Women as patients and as health professionals in America from the colonial period to the present.

THE RHETORIC OF REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

COMARTS 315

Study the history of reproductive justice activism in the United States. Consider the legal basis for reproductive rights and key Supreme Court decisions relating to birth control and abortion. Examine core questions: how have reproductive rights been defined differently in different historical moments? What are rights in the context of reproduction? Who has reproductive freedom, and whose reproduction has been controlled? What role does race play in the history of reproductive justice? How does class influence people's access to reproductive healthcare? How does analyzing gender help us understand the history of reproductive justice?

RACE IN AMERICAN OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY

OBS&GYN 917

Survey the history of race in American obstetrics and gynecology. Gain understanding of how race and theories of racial difference informed the development of the field and justified the treatment of Black, indigenous and immigrant patients. Understand the vital contributions of Black enslaved women, other women of color, and Irish immigrants to obstetrics and gynecology. Make connections between racialized historical practices and contemporary norms in reproductive healthcare.

WOMEN AND GENDER IN THE U.S. TO 1870

GEN&WS/HISTORY 353

An advanced and comparative study of the roles of gender, class, and race in American history and historiography. Themes include women as agents of social change and as builders of community.