January 31, 2025
In Fall 2024, I taught a new version of History 103 entitled “Conscience and Contraception: Religion, Law, and Health in the United States.” In 2014, the US Supreme Court handed down its 5-4 decision in the Hobby Lobby case. A divided court held that the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate violated the religious freedom of certain for-profit corporations like the family-owned Hobby Lobby craft stores. "Conscience and Contraception" took this case as a starting point for looking back at the history of contraception and conflicts over religion, ethics, and law in the United States.
The readings included primary sources like court opinions, through which students traced the evolution of church-state legal doctrine in the 20th century. We also read scholarly literature about contraception, including work by historians, religious scholars, and legal scholars, to build out a robust understanding of the collisions and conflicts animating the theological, medical, ethical, and legal tensions over contraception in the modern United States. One student commented, "I loved the reading material of the course, every one was exciting and especially eye–opening!"
My students were fierce. They cared deeply about both the present and the past, they read carefully and thoughtfully, and they have strong views on current politics, the Supreme Court, and contemporary medicine — all of which they’re willing to subject to historical scrutiny and build historical connections. The two-hour class flew by, and every week, I got to hear what they’re thinking about, what they’re connecting with, and what they want the future to look like. At the end of the semester, several commented that they could see traces of the past in the present, and that they had more refined tools for analyzing claims made in public debates about contraception today. "It would be awesome to meet more frequently! ... I would be happy with twice a week for two hours, because I loved the course content and format so much and felt we had so much to discuss!"
My students were fierce. They cared deeply about both the present and the past, they read carefully and thoughtfully, and they have strong views on current politics, the Supreme Court, and contemporary medicine — all of which they’re willing to subject to historical scrutiny and build historical connections. The two-hour class flew by, and every week, I got to hear what they’re thinking about, what they’re connecting with, and what they want the future to look like. At the end of the semester, several commented that they could see traces of the past in the present, and that they had more refined tools for analyzing claims made in public debates about contraception today. "It would be awesome to meet more frequently! ... I would be happy with twice a week for two hours, because I loved the course content and format so much and felt we had so much to discuss!"