FIVE COLLEGE CERTIFICATE IN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, RIGHTS AND JUSTICE
This certificate provides undergraduate students at the Five Colleges with an opportunity to develop a strong understanding of the social, economic, legal, and political conditions that influence reproduction in the U.S. and transnationally.
Scholarship on RHRJ issues examines the impact of reproductive policies not only on individuals, but also on communities, with particular attention to communities that have been historically marginalized. The field also includes study of the history of social movements for reproductive empowerment, including the movements for women's liberation, disability rights, racial justice, economic justice, LGBTQ rights, and the women's health, reproductive freedom, and reproductive justice movements
By completing a special project and interdisciplinary coursework, students are prepared for graduate school, as well as careers in law, science, medicine, health, politics, social work, and community organizing:
Understand how race, class, gender, ability, and sexuality influence reproduction
- Examine the hyper-medicalization of childbirth for some and the lack of reproductive health care for others
- Understand reproductive technologies and their impact on kinship structures and welfare and childcare policies
- Investigate how the health care industry, the prison industrial complex, and the foster care system influence reproductive decisions and policies
- Learn to think critically about the legal barriers to reproductive health care
- Be able to use human rights and reproductive justice analyses to frame social policy
Similar to an academic minor, the Five College RHRJ certificate enables students to investigate these issues beyond what might be available on their individual campus. Contact Professor Amrita Basu for more information at Amherst College.