AN 306 - Anthropology of Reproductive Technologies

Min Units: 3
Max Units: 3
In the course, we will explore the different ways in which “objective” medical technologies and devices become anything but objective as they move throughout the world. We will begin with an introduction to some classics in the anthropology of reproduction, including influential works on medical imaging (ultrasound), infertility, and fetal testing, and then proceed to newer research, including a full-length ethnography, that explores the rapid expansion of these technologies to non-Euro-American contexts. In this way, we will conduct a semester-long conversation about relationships of power, governance, and influence between the global North and South centered on reproductive bodies as commodities, as objects of ideology, as autonomous selves, or combinations of these and other trends. The course will contextualize current debates on access to and coverage for reproductive healthcare services both in the United States and beyond, as well as help us to contextualize access to reproductive technologies and how differential access influences meanings of reproductive choice and quality of life in local contexts. In the course, we will explore the different ways in which “objective” medical technologies and devices become anything but objective as they move throughout the world. We will begin with an introduction to some classics in the anthropology of reproduction, including influential works on medical imaging (ultrasound), infertility, and fetal testing, and then proceed to newer research, including a full-length ethnography, that explores the rapid expansion of these technologies to non-Euro-American contexts. In this way, we will conduct a semester-long conversation about relationships of power, governance, and influence between the global North and South centered on reproductive bodies as commodities, as objects of ideology, as autonomous selves, or combinations of these and other trends. The course will contextualize current debates on access to and coverage for reproductive healthcare services both in the United States and beyond, as well as help us to contextualize access to reproductive technologies and how differential access influences meanings of reproductive choice and quality of life in local contexts. (U) Annually, term varies