‘In the Room’: Women of Color Doulas in a State of Emergency
March 4, 2021
Dr. Jennifer C. Nash
Jean Fox O’Barr Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, Duke University
“In the Room” explores the work of women of color doulas laboring in Chicago in an era where doulas are increasingly hailed—by the state and by activists—as precisely the innovation that can save black mothers’ lives. Dr. Nash explores the complicated tensions around professionalization and the medicalization of birth that underpins their practice, and considers the place of their work in the ongoing effort to eradicate black infant and maternal mortality.
The 2021 Korenman Lecture was organized by the Department of Gender, Women’s, + Sexuality Studies as part of the 2021 Social Sciences Forum lecture series. Co-sponsored by the Provost’s Office; the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; the Departments of Africana Studies, American Studies, Media and Communications Studies, Political Science, and Social Work; the Public Humanities Minor; and the Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3B).