Margaret McConnell (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health)
First-Year Seminar 73L | 4 Credits (Fall 2024) | CANVAS SITE
Thursday, 03:00 PM–05:00 PM
The US has worse pregnancy and child outcomes than any other high-income country in the world. Is this because we spend less providing direct income support to families than other high-income countries? This course will discuss the intersection between maternal and child health outcomes and poverty in the United States through a medical, economic, political, and historical lens. Assignments will ask students to become familiar with and attempt to navigate available supports for pregnant people and their children in the United States. Students will visit the Harvard art museum to observe how pregnancy and early childhood health and social supports for families with low incomes were conceptualized at the turn of the 20th century. Students will discuss elements of design and implementation of ongoing projects being conducted by Harvard faculty and collaborators to rollout and test direct cash support to pregnant or postpartum people.