GRADUATE WORKSHOP - Uncovering Women's Stories in Healthcare and in the Military

WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE the next and final Penn DCC Graduate Workshop of the 2013-2014 academic calendar. This month's papers shed light on women's stories in two sectors in the United States: healthcare and the military. 

Beth Hallowell (Anthropology, UPenn): "From Co-Payments to Rent Payments: Value and Vulnerability in the Grey Economy of U.S. Healthcare"

Hallowell examines issues surrounding medical care during pregnancy to consider how the value of human life is negotiated. She shows how pregnant women, their healthcare providers, and local advocates leverage state-defined vulnerability to gain insurance coverage. Accordingly, particular forms of vulnerability become currency in a healthcare grey market.

Natalie Shibley (Africana Studies & History, UPenn): "Black Print Media and Representations of Women in the Military, 1941-1993"

Shibley explores the representation of black women's military service in the black press from World War II through the end of the Gulf War. She argues that for decades, black print media largely neglected the issue of gender discrimination in the military. In addition, the black press, much like the white media, emphasized that military service did not prevent women from carrying out traditional gender roles.