HONS 495 – Reproductive Justice, Dr. Dudley-Shotwell

For the historical & contemporary or social & behavioral perspectives course, I took reproductive justice with Dr. Dudley-Shotwell. This course challenged me to evaluate the historical trends and societal frameworks that contribute to inequalities in reproductive rights in the United States. More specifically, this class expanded my understanding of reproductive justice to include not only access to abortion, but the right of all individuals to make informed decisions about their own reproductive processes. In all, this class pushed me to examine how race, socioeconomic status, and other factors contribute to injustice in our society. Moreover, this class served as a reminder of the importance of culturally competent care, or the idea that health care service providers should take appropriate measures to ensure that they are providing all individuals’ with high quality and culturally sensitive care. In my future career as a speech-language pathologist, this concept is essential in avoiding pathologizing culturally distinct communication styles and helping clients appropriately communicate within their own communities.

Moreover, this class further strengthened my ability to independently conduct research and discuss my findings in multimedia formats, including digital audio recordings and an academic poster. Here, I’ve included a link to my poster presentation on Longwood’s digital Spring 2020 Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry page.