Course Details

In 2022, the Dobbs Decision made abortion access illegal in many U.S. states, ushering a post-Roe reality where the Constitution no longer protects the fundamental right of bodily autonomy. But what if some communities were already living in a post-Roe environment, long before 2022? What if the fundamental promise of Roe v. Wade was actualized for some communities at the exclusion of others, specifically Black, Indigenous and People of Color?

This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the history and contemporary politics of reproduction. We will explore how the focus on abortion and care as the most significant determining factors of reproductive rights has silenced the reproductive histories and experiences of communities furthest away from justice. We will examine how reproductive justice as a framework and a movement repositions reproductive rights in a political context of intersecting race, gender, class, and other forms of oppression. Live, in-person dialogues with contemporary community organizers and reproductive justice leaders will enrich our learning.

Course Goals
Students in this course will gain broad exposure to a number of intersecting reproductive health and social justice issues. Our examination of these issues is centered on the interdisciplinary theorizing of feminist, social scientist, and public health scholars among others with the lived experiences of belonging to and working with communities most impacted by reproductive health inequities.

Learning Outcomes
You will learn to:
1) Apply a reproductive justice lens to identify an array of intersecting reproductive health and social justice issues
2) Explain the historical and contemporary root causes of reproductive health inequities
3) Recognize factors that maintain and exacerbate reproductive health inequities among BIPOC and other communities furthest from justice
4) Describe how communities are organizing to uproot inequities at the core of reproductive health disparities
5) The ability to easily and openly discuss issues of reproductive justice, power, and marginality
6) Recognize your role, responsibility, and opportunities to take action in advancing reproductive justice