ETSU lecture to address how history shaped modern reproductive medicine | Education

East Tennessee State University’s Department of History is giving the community a chance to learn about how American history shaped modern reproductive medicine.

Historian and public speaker Deirdre Cooper Owens will give a public lecture titled, “Why History Matters in Understanding American Medicine” on Monday at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts.

She said the lecture will focus on the intersections between history, race and modern reproductive health, and attendees can expect to learn about the correlation between slavery in America and the advancement of modern gynecology.

“History provides context for the gaps in knowledge people have about why things are the way they are now,” Cooper Owens said. “If people understood the enduring legacy of beliefs rooted in fictions about alleged biological differences between black and white people, we might not have contributed societally to the disappointing statistic that the U.S. is the most dangerous place for Black pregnant people to either be pregnant or give birth.”

Cooper Owens is the Charles and Linda Wilson professor in the History of Medicine and director of the Humanities in Medicine Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, making her one of two Black women in the U.S. to be running a medical humanities program.

She is also the director of the program in African American History at the Library Company of Philadelphia. She has received degrees from Bennett College and Clark Atlanta University, as well as a Ph.D. in history from the University of California Los Angeles.

Cooper Owens is also the author of the book, “Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and the Origins of American Gynecology” which will be available for purchase following the event.

In addition to learning about the origins of modern reproductive health practices, attendees can also learn about the origins of health disparities that Cooper Owens said still exist in the U.S. today.

“Audience members will hopefully gain a greater understanding about the enduring legacy of medical racism and how it has impacted birthing people and their babies,” Cooper Owens said.

Cooper Owens is offering her expertise to the ETSU community in honor of Women’s History Month, which runs through March 31.

The event is being sponsored by the History Club of ETSU’s History Department after Constanze Weise, assistant professor of history at ETSU, invited Cooper Owens to speak. Weise and Cooper Owens attended UCLA together.

“Of course, I did not hesitate to accept her invitation,” Cooper Owens said.

“I look forward to visiting Johnson City and ETSU. I am always grateful to share my expertise and knowledge with an interested community of learners.”

As one of the country’s most “acclaimed experts in U.S. history” according to Time magazine, Cooper Owens strives to teach community-based history and believes that stories are what pique people’s interest in the past. Much of her work revolves around the relationship between race and medical history.

The lecture will take place in the Powell Recital Hall at the Martin Center on March 21 at 6 p.m.

Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with Cooper Owens after her talk.

The event is free and open to the public.

Parking is available at the Millenium Parking Lot behind the Carnegie Hotel.

The lecture will be followed by a book signing.

Johnson City Press staff writers Sarah Owens and Kayla Hackney contributed to this story.