AS 211.213
Breast Cancer: A Cultural Theoretical Approach to an Illness and its Meaning
Research Professor Bernadette Wegenstein
Office Hours T 9:30-10:30, Th 10:30-11:30
Gilman 461
berna@jhu.edu
office phone 410 516 7511
http://bernadettewegenstein.com
http://krieger.jhu.edu/cams/
Tue 1:30PM - 3:50PM
Gilman 400
Among the organs of the human body the breast has a special place. A marker of sex, of eroticism, of
life, motherhood, even the distinction of the mammalian class of vertebrates, the breast carries as
much meaning for humanity as it does vital function. The breast, in other words, is a sign and site
where Western culture believes life as such to be situated. Sadly, it is also vulnerable to its virulent
and deadly form of what has been recently termed "the emperor of all maladies": cancer. The loss of
the breast can provoke a form of “castration anxiety.” This course will explore the history of the
breast as symbol of sex and life, along with the cancer that affects it not merely as a medical
condition, but as a powerful symbol in culture, art, and literature.
SYLLABUS
Aug 30 INTRODUCTION and explanation of materials, syllabus;
Sep 6
THE FEMALE BODY AND THE BREAST
Emily Martin: "Fragmentation and Gender," and "Science as a Cultural System," in: The
Woman in the Body: a Cultural Analysis of Reproduction.
Simon Richter, "Ut in pene: the Medical and Moral Discourses of the Breast," in: Missing the
Breast: Gender, Fantasy and the Body in the German Enlightenment.
Masha Gessen: "The Past," in Blood Matters: From Inherited Illness to Designer Babies. How
the World and I Found Ourselves in the Future of the Gene.
Optional: Margret Schildrick, "Fabrications: on the Construction of the Human Body," in:
Leaky Bodies and Boundaries: Feminism, Postmodernism, and Bioethics.
Sep 13 THE HISTORY OF BREAST CANCER
James Olson, "The Origins of the Mastectomy," in: Bathsheba's Breast: Women, Cancer and
History.
Pamela Sanders-Goebel, "Crisis and Controversy: Historical Patterns in Breast Cancer
Surgery" (PDF)
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"Living with Genetic Test Results for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer," in: Journal of
Nursing Scholarship, 2009 41 (3).
Charles M Balch, Lisa K. Jacobs: Mastectomies on the Rise of Breast Cancer
Sep 20 THE BIOPOLITICS OF BREAST CANCER
Susan Sherwin, "Personalizing the Political: Negotiating the Feminist, Medical, Scientific, and
Commercial Discourses Surrounding Breast Cancer;" in: The Voice of Breast Cancer in
Medicine and Bioethics.
Maren Klawiter, "The Regime of Medicalization," and "Biomedicalization and the AnatomoPolitics of Treatment," in: The Biopolitics of Breast Cancer.
Sep 27 IMAGE DATA BASE of Breast (Cancer); guest graduate student Johannes Schade.
Students will go through the breast cancer archive and discuss the research behind it with
Johannes Schade and Bernadette Wegenstein.
Jacques Aumont, "The Role of the Spectator," in The Image.
W. J.T. Mitchell, "Image," in Critical Terms for Media Studies.
Oct 4
VISUALIZING BREAST CANCER
Possible class visit by artist and medical illustrator Jonathon Rosen.
William E Loechel, "The History of Medical Illustration" (PDF)
Ranice W. Crosby and John Cody, "The Later War Years" and "Description of Techniques," in:
Max Brödel: The Man Who Put Art Into Medicine.
Oct 11 NO CLASS DUE TO MON/TUE SCHEDULE
Oct 18 BREAST CANCER AND LITERATURE
Anita Ho: "The Breast Cancer Diaries," in The Voice of Breast Cancer in Medicine and
Bioethics.
Mary K. DeShazer: "Entering Cancerland: Self-Representation, Commonality & Culpability in
Women's Autobiographical Narratives," in: Fractured Borders: Reading Women's Cancer
Literature.
Optional: Leatha Kendrick: "Learn to Love What's Left: Poems on Breast Cancer," in: The
Voice of Breast Cancer in Medicine and Bioethics.
Students will also present on different primary examples of breast cancer literature of
their choice from the above readings.
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Oct 25 BREAST CANCER AND DOCUMENTARY FILM
The Education of Dee Dee Ricks; Samples from The Cure documentary by Bernadette
Wegenstein and Patrick Wright.
Center for Social Media: Documentary Film and Ethics
Vivian Sobchack, "The Phenomenology of the Film Experience, " in: Viewing Positions.
Students present their ideas for final presentations by email (half page).
Nov 1
BREAST CANCER ACTIVISM
Maren Klawiter, section III "From Private Stigma to Public Action," in The Biopolitics of
Breast Cancer.
Barron H. Lerner, "The Early Years of Breast Cancer Activism," in: The Voice of Breast Cancer
in Medicine and Bioethics.
breastcancer.org and other online forums of exchange and activism
Nov 8
BREAST CANCER CONTROL AND PREVENTION
David Cantor: "Introduction," in: Cancer Control and Prevention in the 20th Century. (PDF)
Ilana Löwy: "The New Surgical Radicalism," in: Preventive Strikes: Women, Precancer, and
Prophylactic Surgery.
Jane Warwick and Stephen Duffy, "A Review of Cancer Screening Evaluation Techniques,
with Some Particular Examples in Breast Cancer Screening," in: Journal of the Royal
Statistical Society.
Marken Klaviter, "Biomedicalization and the Biopolitics of Screening," in: The Biopolitics of
Breast Cancer.
Jessica Queller: Pretty is What Matters (2008) Students will buy book.
Nov 15 CRITICAL APPROACHES TO BREAST CANCER CULTURE
Barbara Ehrenreich - Welcome to Cancerland
Gayle Sulik, "Consuming Medicine, Selling Survivorship," in: Pink Ribbon Blues.
H. Gilbert Welch, "We look harder for Breast Cancer," and "We Confuse DNA with Disease,"
in: Overdiagnosed.
Daniela Turchetti et al, "Changes in Breast Cancer Incidence and Stage Distribution in
Modena, Italy: The Effect of Mammographic Screening Program," in: Cancer Causes and
Control.
Nov 22 Student presentations
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Nov 29 Student presentations
The readings can be retrieved through the online course reserve; password WEG213.
Grades will be based on in-class performance (1-2 kick off presentations on weekly readings per
student/semester) and attendance (50%), a final presentation at the end of November (25%) —
possible also in small groups, and a final paper (25%). As attendance is extremely important for class
discussion, students will only be allowed two unexcused absences. Each additional unexcused
absence after the initial three will result in a two percent reduction of the students’ final grade. Per
university policy, all excused absences must be cleared through Dr. Susan Boswell, Dean of Student
Life (sboswell@jhu.edu). As a matter of courtesy it is requested that if students are or will be absent,
no matter the excuse, that they inform me via email.
By October 25 (latest) students will have decided on their final paper topic and will discuss it with
me. During the last two class meetings students will present their topics in front of the class in
preparation of their 10 page (minimum) research paper that may include visuals, website, etc. in
addition to critical writing. Students will hand in the final paper during Final Examination Period
(December 16). Please, print out the papers and leave them in my mailbox.
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WEB RESOURCES
Culture
Living Bookas About Life: Cosmetic Surgery
Cancer Vacation - Modified Radical Mastectomy Photos
Barbara Ehrenreich - Welcome to Cancerland
Mastectomy | Lisa Bonchek Adams
Silvia Pahl - Fest der Farben - Malerei - Kunst
Cancer Vacation - Breast Cancer Surgical Photos, Lab Results, & Journals
St Agatha & Breast Cancer: NYC services - Communio
THE DARK SIDE OF BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH « Greenmedinfo's Blog
FASHION FOR A CURE: BREAST CANCER AWARENESS EDITION
Medical
SEER Training: Surgery
BreastHealthOnline Types of Mastectomy
Surgery of the Breast: Principles ... - Google Books
DermAtlas: Online Dermatology Image Library dermatology image,carcinoma, breast,Paget
disease,carcinoma, breast,carcinoma, breast,carcinoma, breast,carcinoma, breast,carcinoma,
breast,carcinoma, breast,nipple retraction,carcinoma, breast,carcinoma erysipe
NCI Visuals Online: Search: Results
Breast Reconstruction Before and After Photos
Breast cancer detection improved with image processing
Screening for Breast Cancer
Screening: Is breast cancer overdiagnosed? : Article : Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology
Page 2: Doctors Debate Idea of Redefining Low-Risk Cancer - ABC News
Doctors Debate Idea of Redefining Low-Risk Cancer - ABC News
Mastectomy: Johns Hopkins Breast Center
Sentinel Node Biopsy: Johns Hopkins Breast Center
Breast Reconstructive Surgery (Tissue Expanders): Johns Hopkins Breast Center
DIEP Flap: Johns Hopkins Breast Center
Breast Reconstructive Surgery (SGAP Flap): Johns Hopkins Breast Center
PubMed
Science Photo Library
Aesthetic Breast Surgery
Amoena United States of America
Coloplast USA - Home
American Breast Care - Manufacturer & Marketer of Breast Forms & Post-surgical Bras
The Maurer Foundation
Trulife
Microsurgery.net ~ Microsurgical Breast Reconstructions
Alexandra Hernandez Medical Illustrations
Jennifer Gentry Medical Visualizations
Marie Rossettie Medical Illustration
Mica Duran Studio • Medical Illustration
Plastic Surgery | Michel Saint-Cyr
Medical Illustration Resource : Medical Illustration Source Book #20 : Browse the Book
Art
Agnew Clinic, painting by Thomas Eakins, commissioned by the Medical School Class of 1889
October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month | Jewish Women's Archive
Hannah Wilke: Photographic Work, HWCALA
History
Images from the History of Medicine (NLM) - Search Results: All Fields similar to 'Breast and Cancer'
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