SOC 108 PZ -Moon Called Blk Wmn Preg&Chldbth

Institution: Pitzer

Description: Course Title: Moon Called: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Ritual The moon’s connection to women’s wombs is honored within southeastern African American: a) folklore and menstruation, birthing, pregnancy and fertility rituals; b) midwifery practice; and c) superstitions. The course is divided into four sections, with each section being organized around one or more major questions about the ways in which culture, religion and society influenced the ways in which pregnancy, menstruation, and birthing are viewed among African Americans. We begin with an introduction of the social roles of rituals, and how pregnancy symbolizes social cohesion for communities of color. We then explore symbolic rituals within African American pregnancy and birhting traditions as practiced by Black midwives on slave plantations and within southern US black communities post-Emancipation. We next critically analyze the social codification of pregnancy and birthing by the US medical establishment and its impact on Black midwifery practice, and end with a feminist investigation of how certain rituals and superstitions persist within Black communities via feminist qualitative methods, namely one-on-one interviews with pregnant black women in the Grandma’s Hands Birthing Project Los Angeles organization at the Lillian Mobley Center.

Prerequisite(s): SOC 001 and Intro to Gender Studies

For up-to-date information on current course offerings and details, please refer to the Pitzer class schedule on MyCampus2 Portal.