Document Type

Syllabus

Publication Date

Fall 2023

Course Description

This course examines the social and cultural constructions of reproduction, and how power in everyday life shapes reproductive behavior and its cross cultural meanings. It is positioned using a hemispheric approach that seeks to unpack the complex relationships across northern and southern hemispheres through a deliberate focus on the Americas. In this class we will use an anthropological lens to explore the how and why of birth practices, state intervention in fertility, the politics of fetal personhood, and cultural variation in ideas about surrogacy and prenatal diagnosis, among others.

Student Outcomes

In this Anthropology of Reproduction in the Americas class, students will be able to: ● Engage with cultural differences by developing an awareness of how people with different cultural backgrounds make meaning of the world differently. ● Identify and analyze structures and institutions that create and sustain inequality and marginalization now and in the past. ● Develop an ability to appreciate diverse worldwide perspectives through the examination of cultural customs and traditions, all while contemplating their own personal values and traditions.

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