ANTHROPOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Upper-Level

This course examines a variety of issues related to reproduction. Using a cross-cultural and critical approach, we will analyze how social negotiations over biological processes bring reproduction to the center of social theory. We will explore a variety of topics, such as pregnancy, prenatal testing and childbirth, reproductive rights, kinship and belonging, the use of new reproductive technologies, and the politics of the nation-state as they affect women’s and men’s reproductive lives. Ethnographic readings and examples from around the world will illustrate our discussions and enable students to gain an understanding of the complex intersection of local and global politics regarding reproductive experiences and choices. Recommended Prerequisite(s): ANTH 381