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Articles by Judith Leavitt
Motherhood in America: A Reading List
The icon indicates free access to the linked research on JSTOR. The family has long been understood as the basic unit of American cultural and political life. Yet the experience and work of motherhood, and mothers themselves, remained understudied for generations. Adrienne Rich’s pioneering 1976 text Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution inaugurated an era in which scholars sought to theorize the ambivalence that characterizes mothering.
Naomi Ishisak commentary: Listen to students call for stronger school health and safety protocols
Students across the country staged walkouts Friday to demand better safety and health protocols. Dreamstime/TNS It's fitting that during the time of year we celebrate one of our country's most heralded civil rights icons, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., students across the country are standing up as well — for their right to a safe education.
Their View: Americans used to respect public health. Then came COVID-19. Original
Some of the most alarming government actions since the COVID-19 pandemic began have weakened state authority to safeguard public health. At least 26 states have removed traditional powers from local health departments, the institutions tasked with protecting us. New state laws, for example, take away or limit health officials’ abilities to require masks, promote vaccinations, close restaurants and schools or even impose quarantines.
Timothy L. O'Brien commentary: No, Supreme Court, states alone can’t manage pandemics
Members of the Ohio National Guard administer COVID-19 swab tests at a drive through testing site on Jan. 5, 2022, in Akron, Ohio. Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images/TNS As the Supreme Court continues dismantling legal support for sensible federal powers that enhance the public’s well-being, it also plants the seeds for future national problems. Consider COVID-19 testing and vaccination mandates.
Chris Talgo: Biden’s first year in Oval Office has been a disaster Original
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the December jobs report at the White House on Jan. 7, 2022, in Washington, DC. U.S. employers added 199,000 jobs in the month of December. Win McNamee/Getty Images/TNS As we approach the one-year mark of Joe Biden’s tenure as the 46th president of the United States, it is safe to say that Biden has performed poorly on several of the most pressing issues a president is tasked with handling.
Barbara R. Arnwine and Daryl D. Jones: The content of one’s character
Today we pause to honor the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to interpret his words calling upon America to see the content of the character before judging anyone’s person. On Feb. 23, 2020, a 25-year-old African-American man lay dead in the street of a predominantly white neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia, killed by three white vigilantes.
The lying lips of politicians
How do you know when a politician is lying? Answer: when his lips are moving. It's an old joke, but it fits the Biden administration. The president went to Atlanta last week where he made claims that would have sent a lie detector off the chart. With a tableau of mostly Black people behind him, Biden again asserted without credible evidence that Republicans are trying to stop minorities from voting.
Americans used to respect public health. Then came COVID-19
By Judith Walzer Leavitt Updated: 1 day ago Published: January 16, 2022 Parents and students from around the San Fernando Valley hold signs and shout as a protest against vaccine mandates in front of Birmingham High School on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, in Encino, California. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS) Judith Walzer Leavitt is professor emerita in the history of medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Column: Americans used to respect public health. Then came Covid
Column: Americans used to respect public health. Then came Covid Parents and students from around the San Fernando Valley hold signs and shout at a protest against vaccine mandates in front of Birmingham High School on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, in Encino, California. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS) Brian van der Brug Judith Walzer Leavitt Some of the most alarming government actions since the COVID-19 pandemic began have weakened state authority to safeguard public health.
Commentary: Americans used to respect public health. Then came COVID-19 Original
Some of the most alarming government actions since the COVID-19 pandemic began have weakened state authority to safeguard public health. At least 26 states have removed traditional powers from local health departments, the institutions tasked with protecting us. New state laws, for example, take away or limit health officials’ abilities to require masks, promote vaccinations, close restaurants and schools or even impose quarantines.
For generations, Americans respected public health. Then came COVID.
People protesting mask and vaccine mandates brought signs as special session began at the Kentucky State Capitol on Tuesday. Sept. 7, 2021. Some of the most alarming government actions since the COVID-19 pandemic began have weakened state authority to safeguard public health. At least 26 states have removed traditional powers from local health departments, the institutions tasked with protecting us.
Op-Ed: Americans used to respect public health. Then came COVID-19 Original
Protesters demonstrate in August 2020 against mask orders implemented by the city of Costa Mesa. (Raul Roa / Times Community News) Some of the most alarming government actions since the COVID pandemic began have weakened state authority to safeguard public health. At least 26 states have removed traditional powers from local health departments, the institutions tasked with protecting us.
The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) from the American Public Health Association (APHA) publications
Judith Walzer Leavitt, PhDJudith Walzer Leavitt is with the Department of Medical History and Bioethics, University of Wisconsin—Madison. “Pandemics and History: Context, Context, Context”, American Journal of Public Health 111, no. 6 (June 1, 2021): pp. 996-998. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306270 PMID: 33950732
Public Resistance or Cooperation? A Tale of Smallpox in Two Cities
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Typhoid Mary by Judith Walzer Leavitt: 9780807021033
Eloquent and troubling history. . . . I’m convinced by Leavitt’s arguments, fascinated by the way she tells this story and urge everyone to read her book. –Janet Goldin, The Women’s Review of Books “[An] alert and thoughtful work. . . .
Commentary: Don't let COVID-19 unleash bias
By Judith W. Leavitt and Lewis A. Leavitt Tribune News Service Wednesday Mar 18, 2020 at 12:01 AM Historically, epidemics have negatively affected marginalized populations by spurring prejudice. During the 1900 bubonic plague outbreak in San Francisco, the discovery of one infected Chinese resident led to an entire community being quarantined. Blockading the city's Chinatown did not halt the spread of the disease.
Commentary: Don’t let COVID-19 unleash bias
Historically, epidemics have negatively affected marginalized populations by spurring prejudice. During the 1900 bubonic plague outbreak in San Francisco, the discovery of one infected Chinese resident led to an entire community being quarantined. Blockading the city’s Chinatown did not halt the spread of the disease.
Commentary: Don't let COVID-19 unleash bias
Commentary: Don't let COVID-19 unleash bias SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 26: People wear surgical masks as they walk along Chinatown's Grant Avenue on Feb. 26, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared a local state of emergency on Tuesday to get prepared in case of a possible Coronavirus outbreak.
Commentary: Don't let COVID-19 unleash bias
Commentary: Don't let COVID-19 unleash bias SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 26: People wear surgical masks as they walk along Chinatown's Grant Avenue on Feb. 26, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared a local state of emergency on Tuesday to get prepared in case of a possible Coronavirus outbreak.
Don’t Let COVID-19 Unleash Bias
Historically, epidemics have negatively affected marginalized populations by spurring prejudice. During the 1900 bubonic plague outbreak in San Francisco, the discovery of one infected Chinese resident led to an entire community being quarantined. Blockading the city’s Chinatown did not halt the spread of the disease.
Typhoid Mary: Villain or Victim?
Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. Mary Mallon (wearing glasses) photographed with bacteriologist Emma Sherman on North Brother Island in 1931 or 1932, over 15 years after she had been quarantined there permanently Courtesy of Ed and Bubbles Yadow To be sure, Mary Mallon was not entirely blameless when she knowingly returned to cooking in 1915, but the blame must be more broadly shared.
The Pursuit of Parenthood
Back to Results Share this Title: Reproductive Technology from Test-Tube Babies to Uterus Transplants Binding Type A wide-ranging history of assisted reproductive technologies and their ethical implications.
Exercise pocketbook resistance
A friend and I walked into a store in Le Claire recently, both wearing red sweaters. The saleswoman cried “You’re wearing red! You must be Trump supporters like me!” We told her we voted for Hillary Clinton, but she tried hard to convince us of Donald Trump’s virtues. She said he spent $100 million of his own money on his campaign. (Trump spent only $66 million of his own money, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 7).
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