Advanced Gender and Reproduction

Catalog description

This course examines biocultural variation in reproductive health and birth practices. Human reproductive events like childbirth, contraception, abortion, surrogacy, fertility treatment, and conception, are not only biological in nature, but are also shaped by cultural beliefs and social, medical, and political institutions. Through cross-cultural case studies, we will examine how reproductive experiences are impacted by health-related ideas and medical technologies, and by national and international population policies. We will explore how pregnancy, menstruation, birth, menopause, and fertility control provide sites for gender formation, the reproduction of social inequalities, and state regulation of national populations.