Body Politics: Women and Health in America

Catalog description

This course takes a topical, intersectional approach to the history of U.S. women's health in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is less about governmental politics, although we do some of that. Rather, it sees bodies as cultural texts through which power is built and contested. The course covers topics such as the history of anatomy, menstruation, reproductive rights, body image, mental health, sexuality, violence, childbirth, and menopause. We explore how science and American culture both have constructed these issues over time (some of it is super whacky!), while also examining women's organizing around them. This course is open to all students and majors alike, and it also satisfies one of the core requirements for the Gender Studies minor. Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/history/