In this week’s class we will focus on a critique of birth control as population control. We will also have a guest speaker, Dr. Betsy Hartmann, from the Population and Development program at Hampshire College to talk about population control. Please make sure to respond to the readings for this week! Several of you have not yet posted a blog or given me your blog name–remember that your blog entries count for 30% of your final grade!!

Also, the “From Explosion to Implosion” reading did not download properly onto the course website. Please disregard this reading for next week.

This week’s readings begin our discussion of contraception. Please post your comments to the reading(s) here. Remember that I am interested in learning how you relate what you are reading about to experiences you have had, to other ways you have learned about contraception in the past, and then to your reactions to the readings. You do not need to respond to all of the readings–I am more interested in your conducting an in-depth analysis or writing an elaborate commentary on something that struck you in the reading, than in your being able to review all of the themes from the readings.

This week’s readings serve as an introduction to women’s health and reproductive health. Please respond to some or all of this week’s readings by replying to this posting.

You do not need to register to post a comment, but please make sure to email me your blog name before or shortly after you post your comment so that I am able to identify you with the comment you’ve posted. Use the same blog name every time you post a comment and remember to sign your comment with your blog name so that I can identify it as yours!

Please remember that comments are not to be one to two sentences, they are meant for you to draw connections between the readings, to react to the readings, and to relate your own experiences and impressions to the readings. Think of your comments as being like a blog posting.

In order to make a comment, click on “no comments” below. You will be given a space to enter your blog entry/reaction to this weeks readings. After you have entered your “comment” then click the submit comment button.

Also, I encourage you to comment on other students’ comments, which signifies to me that you are participating in the class, as well as the blog process.