The History of Contraception and Abortion in the United States
Kristin Luker, Professor
Law, Sociology
Applications for Fall 2024 are closed for this project.
This project is part of an forthcoming book on how contraception and abortion, common parts of American family life throughout much of American history, came to be regulated in the late 19th century, became liberalized a century later, and are now the focus of intense political controversy. That regulation has helped shaped racial and gender hierarchies from Colonial times up to the present day. I am the founder of the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice, a center dedicated to ensuring the rights of all people to make choices about their sexual and reproductive lives.
In addition to work on the book project, the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice will have a menu of tasks related to legal and social issues concerning sex and reproduction.
Finally, there is likely to be a project in conjunction with the Human Rights Center, which will allow students to gather information to pursue legal options with respect to sexual and reproductive oppression.
Students will have access to a menu of tasks, and may switch among these three components as they prefer, depending on their interests and skills.
Role: The URAPs will conduct research for 6-9 hours a week for the duration of the semester. The URAP will be engaged with different aspects of research including study design, literature reviews, and qualitative data collection (e.g., documents and interview). The URAPs will receive assignments and will participate in periodic meetings to share the results. As the URAPs become more familiar with the project parameters and expectations, professor and URAPs may further develop assignments that reflect mutual interest.
URAP student commitment and responsibilities for this semester are the following:
1) Contribute a minimum of six hours work per week to the project, with reasonable flexibility for midterms and finals
2) Attend periodic meetings with fellow URAPs, staff, and Professor Luker
3) Engage in library and on-line research . Research could include searching databases for relevant articles
4) Read research articles to increase familiarity with the field
5) Write brief literature summaries and analytic memos
Qualifications: Basic computer literacy is required (e.g. Word, Excel, Google Drive). Prior evidence of research, writing, and organizational skills would be a bonus(writing sample will be required if selected for interview). Position is open to all students regardless of major but students with interest in research on social change, gender, race and/or law are especially encouraged to apply.
Research and meetings will be done remotely.
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Off-Campus Research Site: The work will be done remotely.
Related website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/faculty/facultyProfile.php?facID=132
Related website: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/center-on-reproductive-rights-and-justice/