Event Description
Sarah Richardson charts the untold history of the idea that women’s health and behavior during pregnancy can have long-term effects on their children’s health and welfare. Sheoffers a critical analysis of conceptual and ethical issues—in particular, the staggering implications for maternal well-being and reproductive autonomy—provoked by the striking rise of epigenetics and fetal origins science in postgenomic biology today.
Richardson examines what we might take for granted about human pregnancy, and invites us to challenge our values and assumptions that have guided science’s perspectives on the maternal body and infant health. Shifting scientific views throughout history have influenced medicine, ethics, and public perceptions of motherhood highlighting the complex interface of science and society.
Event Speaker
Sarah Richardson, Professor of the History of Science and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University
Event Information
Free and open to the public; registration required.
Hosted by the Science History Institute.
