Gender, Race, and Medicine in the Americas

Catalog description

This course examines the relationships among sex, gender, race, disease and modern medicine in the Americas. Together, we will explore ways of thinking about disease and public health as topics of historical inquiry, and examine how health politics have been shaped by processes of imperialism, sexuality, and racial inequality. From nineteenth-century obstetrical experiments on enslaved women, to more recent debates over the disease threat posed by Haitians during the HIV/AIDS pandemic, race and sexuality have both shaped the development of medical knowledge and been used to isolate certain groups as threats. Social concerns over women’s bodies and reproductive capacities have also shaped medical research and public health policy across the hemisphere. Through shared readings and guided independent research, this course gives students an opportunity to explore a wide variety of topics related to the history of medicine, race, and gender.