Women,Gender,Sexuality Studies 393M - S-Everything to Expect/Expctng

Pregnancy losses are generally resigned to silence. They are not publicly discussed and do not constitute a standard part of pregnancy education. Moreover, different kinds of pregnancy loss are siloed from each other. Within public discourse and political activism, "induced" pregnancy loss (abortion) is treated separately from "involuntary" loss (miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and stillbirth). Within this course, we will hold all forms of pregnancy loss within a common frame. We will think collectively about how we might reimagine and treat reproductive losses - and indeed, reproduction itself - as existing on a spectrum of experiences, and will approach reproduction as a simultaneously biological, social, cultural, political, economic, and subjective phenomenon. Grounded in an approach informed by reproductive justice, and specifically birth justice, this course will draw upon interdisciplinary scholarship and guest talks by academics, activists, care providers, and support group leaders. Learning objectives include (among others): historicizing experiences and conceptualizations of pregnancy losses; interrogating the relationship between pregnancy and childbearing; identifying how (and why) federal and state laws criminalize pregnancy losses; analyzing how pregnancy loss experiences vary based on race, class, gender, sexuality, and nature of loss; and examining how both the women's health movement and medical science have addressed forms of loss.