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Dec 03, 2024
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BIOL 234 - Gender and Ethnic Disparities in Cancer
3 Credits
This course will examine the ways in which cancer, especially the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, are shaped by gender, sex, race, sexuality, class, and other categories of identity, particularly those that are often marginalized. Disparities, which are the ways in which experiences such as treatment deviate from the benchmark, are often informed by these categories, and can negatively impact disease outcomes for marginalized groups (such as black people, women, and those with less socio-economic stability). Students will explore the social and cultural terrain of cancer research, treatment, and public policy in the United States. We will begin the course by asking, “what is cancer?” and what shapes our collective understanding of it as a disease in American society? We will read historical accounts of cancer, review epidemiological and demographic data, and consider how choices about the kind of research done about cancer incidence and treatment (particularly historically) has created disparities in our current scientific knowledge. We will also consider how social, cultural, economic, and political forces shape the incidence and prevalence of cancer, as well as how these social forces influence our collective conversations about cancer, individual and group cancer risk, cancer research agendas, and treatment regimens. By the end of the course, students will not only be well versed in recent cancer scholarship from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, but they will also be prepared to ask and answer their own social research questions about cancer and other medical conditions.(Core: LAS, MWGS)
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