This course introduces students to major topics in public health history in Latin America including government public health initiatives, epidemic disease, reproductive and maternal health, and indigenous medicinal practices. Emphasis on the complex relationship between Latin American society, medicine, and health policies/practices in 20th- century Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and the US-Mexico border and US territory of Puerto Rico.
My teaching emphasizes how power is organized and exercised in terms of class, race, and gender in Latin America. The topic of public health in Latin American history, particularly in the 20th century, serves as an excellent subject from which to teach and explore these major themes because contagion and reproduction, for example, highlight the relationship between the state and the bodies of men and women least empowered by longstanding social and economic hierarchies. The subject of health practices simultaneously allows students to analyze the spaces of resistance carved out by these historical actors.
- Teacher: Jane Mangan