Cultural & Biological Perspectives of Pregnancy & Childbirth

This course seeks to understand cultural and biological aspects of pregnancy and childbirth. We will study reproductive biology, the biological and psychological changes people experience during pregnancy and childbirth, the development of the fetus, and the evolution of pregnancy and childbirth. We will pay special attention to the ways American medicine has viewed and treated childbirth, and will explore the recent changes in American childbirth practices including a comparison of the midwifery model of care and the medical model. Other topics will include assisted reproductive technologies and a cross-cultural perspective on pregnancy and birth. Students will participate in a quarter-long "pregnancy game" in which they will manage a fictional pregnancy. Students will research and make and explain decisions based on complications or situations that arise in their pregnancies.

Texts: Sandra Steingraber: Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood Tina Cassidy: Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born Julia Chinyere Oparah & Alicia D. Bonaparte: Birthing Justice Dorothy Roberts: Killing the Black Body Additional reading will be assigned from various sources.

Requirements for credits and criteria for evaluation: Regular attendance in class, informed participation in class discussions, weekly "pregnancy game" report and/or written reflections to class readings, and 2 drafts of a 2500-page research paper.