Lynn Morgan

Mary E. Woolley Professor of Anthropology

Specialization: Medical anthropology; gender and sexuality; development; the anthropology of reproduction; Latin America, particularly Central America and the Ecuadorian Andes

In her work on feminist social studies of science, medical anthropology, and the political economy of development, Lynn Morgan doesn't shy away from difficult or controversial subjects. In 1999, she coedited Fetal Subjects, Feminist Positions, a book of fifteen essays addressing one of the most difficult areas in current feminist thought—the meaning and degree of personhood of the human fetus. Her own essay in the volume traces how this century's advances in medical science, especially in embryology and human biology, have helped shape American views of the unborn inherently different from those held by other cultures.

Morgan is equally challenging in the classroom, raising tough questions and shaking students out of old assumptions and complacency. "The highest compliment I ever received was when a student approached me at the end of the semester and said, 'I don't know what to believe anymore.' I hoped she would turn her distress in a positive direction, toward addressing intractable and vexing problems, such as the shocking degree of inequality we seem to tolerate and perpetuate." In 2002, Morgan won the College's Faculty Prize for Teaching and was described as a "master teacher" whose crowded classes are always standing room only—and worth it.

Morgan is author of Community Participation in Health: The Politics of Primary Care in Costa Rica (Cambridge University Press, 1993). She is Director of the Five College Program in Culture, Health, and Science.

News Links:

"Lee, Lipman, Morgan, and Smith to Receive Faculty Awards," College Street Journal, April 19, 2002

"New Book Explores Meaning of the Fetus," College Street Journal, September 10, 1999

"Real-Life Learning Shows Commonalties among Childless MHC Students and Young Holyoke Moms," College Street Journal, May 16, 1997