American Studies 304 - Black Women's Stories of HIV/AIDS and Reproductive Justice

(Offered as BLST 304 [US, D], SWAG 304 and AMST 304) This course will introduce students to community-engaged research through the exploration of Black women’s experiences of HIV/AIDS, reproductive injustice, and community organizing, aiming to amplify marginalized voices and stories while introducing students to engaged research methodologies. It will bridge academia and activism, utilizing oral histories and creative works of HIV-positive Black women to expose, understand, and address systemic injustices. By participating in this community-engaged research course, students will deepen their understanding of the intersectional conversations central to reproductive justice: bodily autonomy, the right not to have children, and the right to give birth and raise children with dignity and care in sustainable communities. It builds upon the ongoing engaged research of the Black Feminist Reproductive Justice, Equity, and HIV/AIDS Activism (BREHA) Collective and Black Feminist Health Science Studies in the African Diaspora.

Limited to 20 students. Spring semester. Professor Jolly.

How to handle overenrollment: Priority to students with research experience and BLST and AMST majors

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Collaborative study, emphasis on written work and research, critical reflections, qualitative methods of oral histories and ethnography, group-based discussions, cultural analysis, ethnographic analysis, critical engagements with linkages in various fields; open engagements with reflexivity, reciprocity, difference, identity, and nuanced interrogations of the inner-workings of power, independent research, oral presentations, seminar discussions.