Vassar College
Reproduction, Families and Social Policy
Political Science/Science, Technology, and Society/Women’s Studies 181
Fall 2014 ProfessorsPokrywka and Shanley
Course Description:
This course studies both social and biological dimensions surrounding family formation in the contemporary United States. Families are undergoing radical transformation as a result of rapid change in scientific knowledge, reproductive technologies and social organization. Our discussions will integrate considerations of science, technology, and cultural practices related to human reproduction. As we explore the ways in which reproductive technologies and changing social norms have affected sexual mores, family formation, and cultural and legal understandings of parenthood, we will examine the ways in which these various frameworks inform and influence each other. We consider how economic and social inequalities affect policy and practices concerning human reproduction, and what action might address those inequalities. Topics may include: contraception, pre-natal testing, birthing technologies, assigning parentage and custody, and social supports for, families in United States society.
Course Requirements:
*Read all assignments and actively participate in class discussion
*Written commentary (2 pages) on one of the readings each week. (What is the main point of the reading, and what are your thoughts about it? You may compare two or more sources, but what is most important arethe ideas you have in response to the reading.) Some weeks we will give you an assigned topic rather than open choice.
*Mid-semester examFinal project
Each component will constitute approximately 1/3 of your grade. In determining your final grade we will also look for evidence of intellectual growth and improvement in your written and oral communication over the semester.
Books:
Scott F. Gilbert, Anna L. Tyler, and Emily J. Zackin, Bioethics and the New Embryology: Springboards for Debate, W H Freeman, 2005
Other readings will be distributed in class.
Syllabus
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September2 (Taconic) or 7 (Sunday—Vassar): Introduction: What is a family?
Janet Dolgin, “Introduction,” Defining the Family: Law, Technology and Reproduction in an Uneasy Age” (NY: NYU Press, 1997): only pp. 1-4.
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September 9:Conception, Implantation, and Fetal Development
Gilbert, Tyler and Zakin (GTZ), Ch. 1, “An Outline of Human Development”, Ch. 2, “Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Arguments”, and pp. 58-59
Images:
Norman Rockwell, “Freedom from Want” (from “The Four Freedoms”) (1943)
Frank Moore, “Freedom to Share” (1994)
Bonnie Timmons, “Family Reunion” (cartoon) (1992)
Meg Gaines’ and Margaret Mooney’s family photo (2000)
Melanie Thernstrom’s and Michael Callahan’s family photo (2011)
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September 16: What Makes Someone a Parent? I: Genetics (IVF), Gestation (Surrogacy), or Social Nurturing?
GTZ, Ch. 3, “Fertilization and Assisted Reproduction” (only pp. 61-69), and Ch. 4, “Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Safety and Ethical Issues”
Davis v. Davis (842 S.W.2d 588 (Tenn. 1992)]
Alex Kuczynski, “Her Body, My Baby,” New York Times Magazine, Nov. 30, 2008.
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September 23: What Makes Someone a Parent? II: Adoption and Foster Care
Adam Pertman, ch. 9 “Old Lessons for a New World,” in Adoption Nation (NY: Basic Books, 2000): 279-88 and 296-302.
Betty Jean Lifton, “The Inner Life of the Adopted Child: Adoption, Trauma, Loss, Fantasy, Search and Reunion,” pp. 1-3.
Elizabeth Bartholet, Nobody’s Children:Abuse and Neglect, Foster Drift, and the Adoption Alternative (Boston: Beacon Press, 1999), pp. 1-8 and 238-243.
Dorothy Roberts, Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare (New York: Basic Books, 2002), pp. v- x and 3-6, 267-271, and 274-76.
Rebecca Marsh, “Shortcomings in American Adoption Policies and a Hawaiian Alternative,” HoHoNu: Journal of Academic Writing, University of Hawai’i at Hilo, Hawai’I Community College, vol. 2 (2004): 9-12.
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September 30: Revisiting “What Makes a Family?” and “What Makes a Parent?”
Debra Satz, “Remaking Families: A Review Essay,” SignsVol. 32, No. 2 (Winter 2007), pp. 523-538.
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October 7: Reproductive Freedom and Social Justice
John Robertson, “Embryos, Families, and Procreative Liberty,” Southern California Law Review (1989), excerpts
Maura Ryan, “The Argument for Unlimited Procreative Freedom: A Feminist Critique,” Hastings Center Report 20, no. 4 (1990): 6-12
Generations Ahead, A Reproductive Justice Analysis of Genetic Technologies: Report on a National Convening of Women of Color and Indigenous Women (2008)
In-class debate on the meaning(s) of reproductive freedom:
What in your view are three elements that should be part of “reproductive justice” in the contemporary United States? First, identify and explain each of the three things that go into making up reproductive justice. Then explain why you think each is necessary to make reproductive life “just” or fair. As you explain your ideas, think about opposing views or definitions of reproductive justice, and say why you disagree with them.
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October 14: Mid-semester exam due
You will write a 5-page essay—the question/topic will be assigned on Sept. 30. In your answer, you must use sources from at least three different weeks (that is, three sources from different weeks—you may refer to more readings if you wish).
In class: view video, The Business of Being Born
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October 21:October Break!! No class meeting
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October 28: Birthing Practices
Cynthia Dailard and Elizabeth Nash, “State Responses to Substance Abuse among Pregnant Women,” The Guttmacher Report (December 2000), pp. 3-6.
Lynn Paltrow, “Roe v. Wade and the New Jane Crow: Reproductive Rights in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” American Journal of Public Health vol. 103 no. 1 (January 2013), 17-19.
Marguerite Driessen, “Avoiding the Melissa Rowland Dilemma: Why Disobeying a Doctor Should Not Be a Crime,” Journal of Law and Medicine vol. 10 (Spring 2006).
Video in class:Review excerpts from “The Business of Being Born”
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November 4: Pre-natal testing, trait selection and disability rights
GTZ ch. 13, “What Is ‘Normal’?”
GTZ ch. 14, “Genetic Essentialism”, pp. 227-229 and 232-239.
Deborah Kent, “Somewhere a Mockingbird” from Adrienne Aschs and Eric Parens, Prenatal Testing and Disability Rights (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000).
Steven J. Ralston, “Reflections from the Trenches: One Doctor’s Encounter with Disability Rights Arguments” from Adrienne Aschs and Eric Parens, Prenatal Testing and Disability Rights (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000).
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November 11:Workshop #1 on Final Projects
Kurt Vonnegut, “How to Write with Style” (1980)
Anne LaMott, “Shitty First Drafts” (1995)
You MUST HAND IN one page that lists your topic, your thesis (argument), and the three readings you will use. We will discuss these in class.
We will explain peer-review worksheets in class.
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November 18: Parenting from Prison
Correctional Association of New York, Women in Prison Project, “Why Focus on Incarcerated Women?”
Ronnie Halperin and Jennifer L. Harris “Parental Rights of Incarcerated Mothers with Children in Foster Care: A Policy Vacuum,” Feminist Studies, v. 30 no 2 (2004): 339-52
Kelsey Kauffman, article on prison nursery programs in Corrections Today, Feb. 2001.
Women’s Prison Association, “ Mothers, Infants and Imprisonment,” (May 2009).
Rose Ann Palmer, “Sister Elaine Unites Prison Moms with their Kids,” National Catholic Reporter, Jan. 21, 2005.
Video clip: Mothers of Bedford
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November 25: Workshop #2 on Final Projects: Peer Review
Your rough drafts are due at the start of class. You will engage in peer review of these drafts with a classmate during the class hour. The rough draft and attendance are required. Taconic and Vassar students will have separate sessions.
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Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 27
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December 2: Last Class
Final Project Due