Course Details

The 10-week, 5-credit course/seminar is designed for all students but particularly those interested in health, race and society. The journalistic inquiry taken by author Rebecca Skloot of patient Henrietta Lacks, the impoverished African American woman whose cells were removed without permission by medical doctors, frames the historical context for exploring societal and institutional racism in this intense and interactive course/seminar. Starting with America’s Jim Crow Era, we trace societal and institutional attitudes and practices reflective of racial discrimination and the commodification of human tissues in the research establishment. The social versus biological construction of “race” is addressed. The purpose Institutional Review Boards charged with the protection of human subjects is questioned. Inadequate racial representation with in higher education and hence, within research studies institutions, is deemed as having nurtured the unethical research climate that exploited Henrietta Lacks and her family. Contemporary implications for public health and medical research are addressed.

Course Requirements: A complete and critical reading of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Crown, 2010), by Rebecca Skloot, is required. Each student must be fully prepared to engage in a thorough and informed discussion at every class meeting. Students, and less the instructor, are the voice of this course/seminar. We speak with and not at each other to enable a deeper understanding of those societal and institutional actors that framed the medical exploitation of Henrietta Lacks and her family. Having read the entire book before class begins is recommended though a guided week-by-week discussion supplemented by Powerpoint, selected handouts, and a guest-lecture on cell biology, is employed. Full attendance is required. There is no mid-term. A final 5-7 page paper with bibliography is required. This paper will draw from major themes and more than 100 questions stated in the syllabus. Full Participation is worth 40% and the paper is worth 60% of the final grade.