Sexuality Wmn's & Gndr Studies 410 - Epidemics and Society

This seminar explores the AIDS and Ebola epidemics in the U.S. and globally, and the role of socio-economic, political and biological factors in the shaping of the epidemics. The course encourages students to think about AIDS, Ebola and other diseases politically, while remaining attentive to their bodily and health effects. We will engage with AIDS and Ebola on various scales, from the virus and immune cells to the transnational pharmaceutical industry, and from physical human contact to the political economies of health care. We will examine the racialization of the epidemics and study the processes by which some groups of people become more vulnerable to the epidemics than others. We will also explore the gender dimension of these epidemics, particularly the AIDS epidemic, from intimate sexual relations and power dynamics involved in negotiations over condom use, to global processes such as the feminization of poverty, the neoliberal economic restructuring of health systems, and the politics of scientific and medical research on AIDS. In addition, we will examine the role of social movements in responding to these epidemics.

Limited to 15 students. Fall semester. Professor Sadjadi.