Dr. Judith Walzer Leavitt, an internationally recognized pioneer of research on medical history and women’s history, will deliver two public lectures at UAH on the history of childbirth. Leavitt’s visit to UAH is sponsored by the UAH Women’s Studies Program with support from the UAH Humanities Center Eminent Scholars Program.
The first lecture, “Women and the Medicalization of Childbirth in American History,” will be September 20, 7:30 p.m., in Chan Auditorium of the Business Administration Building.
The second lecture, “Make Room for Daddy: Men’s Roles in Childbirth in Twentieth Century America,” will be September 22, 11:10 a.m., in the multipurpose room of Frank Franz Hall as part of UAH’s Honors Forum.
Both lectures are free and open to the public.
Leavitt hails from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she is Rupple Bascom and Ruth Bleier Professor Emerita of Medical History & Bioethics, History of Science, and Gender and Women’s Studies. She has published numerous articles and book chapters, delivered dozens of lectures in the United States and abroad, and authored or edited eight books on public health and women’s health in social, economic, and political contexts. Her UAH lectures are based on her two books Brought to Bed: Childbearing in America, 1750-1950 (Oxford University Press, 1986) and Make Room for Daddy: The Journey from the Waiting Room to the Delivery Room (University of North Carolina Press, 2009). She holds a B.S. degree in Social Sciences from Antioch College (1963) and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in History from the University of Chicago (1966 and 1975).
For additional information on Leavitt, please see her webpage, which also includes a link to her CV.
Leavitt’s current research, which continues to examine gender and public health through the twentieth century, includes two projects, one which looks at home health care during the antibiotic transition and the second which carries forward her childbirth studies.
Contact:
Dr. Molly Johnson
Director of Women’s Studies
256.824.2566
molly.johnson@uah.edu
