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Spring 2026 Global Humanities Lab

Pregnancy & Childbirth, c. 1750 to Present

GBL_HLTH 390-0-34 / HUM 310-4-20
Fulfills FD-HS / Distro IV - Historical Studies

Instructor: Sarah B. Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Instruction, Global Health Studies; Lecturer, Medical Education, Feinberg School of Medicine; Senior Faculty, Medical Humanities and Bioethics Graduate Program

Course description

Ideas about pregnancy—how to prevent or enable, when it starts and how it progresses, and how to support it—have changed, in some cases dramatically, since 1750. In addition, ideas about childbirth have also changed since then, going from what was largely a female event, one assisted (if assisted at all) by women who had gained their knowledge through experiential learning to one where the most ‘appropriate’ attendant obtained their skills formally, in alignment with biomedical ideas, overseen by the state. How have laboring women, midwives, physicians, fathers, family members, and the state participated in changes regarding conceptualizations of pregnancy and practices around childbirth? We will consider this large question within both local and global frames as we are being attentive to historical changes and continuities regarding pregnancy and childbirth since 1750 with the intention of better understanding how ideas and concerns regarding pregnancy and childbirth do not exist in isolation from larger sociopolitical and economic concerns.

This course begins over spring break 2026, when we will travel to London. In London, we will explore museums, read documents in archives, and visit buildings across the city concerning the history of pregnancy and childbirth. As we explore, you will be taking photographs of the documents, objects, and buildings that interest you: the ones you have questions about, that you find striking, that you don’t quite understand. During the quarter, you will work with these materials, and you will use them in your final project for this class.

NOTE: If you have taken GBL_HLTH 310: Supervised Global Health Research: Maternal Health in the 20th Century, you are not eligible to take this course. 

Course enrollment

Course enrollment is by application only—see instructions below. Students must attend the field study in London and complete the course for the full spring quarter. 

Costs and financial aid

Roundtrip airfare from Chicago to London, as well as shared room lodging in London, meals, activity fees, and ground transportation in London, will be provided directly by Northwestern. Students will be responsible for covering the costs of passports, travel visas, incidentals, and other expenses associated with the trip.

Required travel documents

Students must have a valid passport in order to make this trip. The passport must be valid for at least six months beyond the end date of the trip. Students are responsible for obtaining any special documents or permissions (i.e., Electronic Travel Authorizations, standard visas, etc.) required for travel in and out of the United States and the United Kingdom. If you need a Standard Visitor visa, you MUST be in contact with the Office of International Students and Scholars Services (OISS) for assistance.

Commitment to the course

Please note that the Kaplan Institute considers the act of applying to this course a binding commitment to participate in the spring break class trip to London and the corresponding spring quarter course. If a participant is accepted and enrolls in the course and later drops, or drops out of the trip—except under extreme medical circumstances—that student will be responsible for reimbursing costs related to their travel, including airfare, lodging, and any other related expenses.

How to apply

The deadline to apply for this course is Friday, October 24, 2025. We will inform applicants of decisions by November 7 (registration opens on November 7). If you are accepted into the course, we will provide you with a permission number to enroll in the course.

Applications are submitted via an online application portal. Please submit your application documents in PDF format only.

In the application portal, please complete all fields including the names and email addresses of two (2) Northwestern faculty references. NOTE: for the faculty references, a letter is not needed, though the committee may email the faculty member to ask them a question about your engagement in class. You will also be asked to submit the following application documents:

Application portal link

https://forms.office.com/r/u2ff2xH2ME

Criteria for selection

Criteria for selection include qualities of intellectual curiosity, academic excellence, and maturity. This opportunity is open to sophomore, junior, and senior undergraduates in any major. Decisions will be made by the instructor and Kaplan review committee.