Course Description

Contraception piqued the interest of aboriginal Australian rock artists, motivated political activists in America in the 1970s, and stirs the contemporary ambitions of multi-national pharmaceutical companies. Throughout human history, fertility – and its subsequent control – has drawn the interest of scientific researchers, religious leaders, cultural critics, and artists. This class explores both technical innovations used to regulate conception as well as cultural practices surrounding generativity and procreation. Class materials will present contraceptive methods used throughout history and examine the theories around contraception, both ancient and modern. Students will delve deeply into varied attempts to regulate fertility as evidenced in medical research, folk art, oral traditions, and cultural practices.

This course fulfills 3 credits of the Humanities, Social Sciences, Fine Arts, or Natural Science requirement in Liberal Studies.

Meeting Place and Times

Online

Instructor(s)

Jennifer Hill, PhD. Jennifer Hill holds a Masters degree in Accounting and a PhD in American Studies. She specializes in the field of reproductive history and is passionate about interdisciplinary scholarship. When she is not teaching, writing, or researching, she spends her time running, gardening, reading, and eating.

Tuition and Fees

If you are accepted into a qualified online program, see the appropriate MSU Online Only Tuition and Fee table.

If you are also taking a face-to-face course, please refer to the MSU Fee Schedules.

Required Books/Materials

  • Sex and Herbs and Birth Control: Women and Fertility Regulation Through the Ages
    Author: Ann Hibner Koblitz
    Publisher: Kovalevskaia Fund (January 2, 2014)
    ISBN13: 978-0989665506
    ISBN 10: 098966550X
    Price approximately: $20 (new paperback)
    (Less expensive used copies and electronic versions should be available online.)
  • Our Lady of Birth Control: A Cartoonist’s Encounter with Margaret Sanger
    Author: Sabrina Jones
    Publisher: Soft Skull Press, 2016
    ISBN13: 978-1593766405
    ISBN 10: 1593766408
    Price approximately $14 (new paperback)
    (Less expensive used copies and electronic versions should be available online.)
  • America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation
    Author: Elaine Tyler May
    Publisher: Basic Books; Reprint edition (September 6, 2011)
    ISBN13: 978-0465024599
    ISBN 10: 0465024599
    Price approximately $12 (new paperback)
    (Less expensive used copies and electronic versions should be available online.)

Computer Requirements:

  • Internet access
  • A device and browser that pass the system check for Brightspace LE, MSU's learning management system.

For More Information

For more information about this course, please contact the instructor, Jennifer Hill. 

How to Register

You must be accepted as a student to Montana State University to take this course.

Learn how to apply.

After your application has been accepted, you will register via MSU's online registration system, MyInfo.

Registration requires a PIN number. Learn how to find your PIN.

Once you have your PIN, learn how to register through MyInfo.