Women's Studies (WMST) 303
Issues in Women's Health (Revision 2)

This version of WMST 303 closed April 9, 2003. To current version.

Delivery mode: Individualized study.
Credits: 3 - Social Science
Prerequisite: None.
Centre: Centre for Work and Community Studies
Challenge for Credit: WMST 303 has a Challenge for Credit option.

>> Overview | Outline | Evaluation | Course Materials | Course Fees | Course Availability


Overview

WMST 303 allows students to examine and apply a feminist analysis to issues in women's health. Specific issues such as premenstrual syndrome, contraception, childbirth, reproductive technologies, estrogen replacement therapy, breast cancer, Candidiasis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and workplace hazards are explored within a framework that seeks to explain why women have little control over their health. An overview of the history of health care is provided, and the forces shaping the nature of modern medicine are identified.

Outline
  • Unit 1 The History of Medicine and the Evolution of the Doctor-Patient Relationship
  • Unit 2 Menstruation and Premenstrual Syndrome
  • Unit 3 Birth Control and Population Control
  • Unit 4 Childbearing and Childbirth
  • Unit 5 The New Reproductive and Prenatal Technologies
  • Unit 6 Abortion
  • Unit 7 Women and Aging
  • Unit 8 DES, PID, TSS, Aids, and Others
  • Unit 9 Health Hazards in the Workplace

Evaluation

 To receive credit for WMST 303, students must achieve a course composite mark of at least "D" (50 percent). The weighting of the composite mark is as follows:

Quiz Mid-term Exam Research Essay Final Essay
5% 30% 35% 30%

Course Materials

Textbooks

 Boston Women's Health Collective. 1994. The New Our Bodies, Ourselves. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. Ehrenreich, B., and D. English. 1994. Witches, Midwives and Nurses. Glass Mountain Pamphlet Number 1. Old Westbury, NY: The Feminist Press. Gordon, Linda. 1990. Women's Body, Women's Rights. New York: Penguin. McDonnell, K. 1987. Not an Easy Choice: A Feminist Re-examines Abortion. Toronto: The Women's Press. Miller Chenier, N. 1982. Reproductive Hazards at Work. Ottawa: Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women. Perkins Gilman, C. 1973. The Yellow Wallpaper. Old Westbury, NY: The Feminist Press.

Other Material

The course materials include a study guide and a student manual.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice.
Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.

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