Introducing Philosophy

978-1-60927-329-3 The intimacy of the act of conception, the inevitability of the hands of friends and strangers placed on a pregnant woman's belly, the controversy surrounding governmental policies on reproductive rights—all are aspects of contemporary human reproduction. Deeply Private, Incredibly Public educates readers about cultural attitudes toward reproduction and pregnancy, changes taking place in reproductive medicine and technology, the meaning of reproductive power, and what the impact of reproduction and family might mean for them someday. Sensitive and insightful, Deeply Private, Incredibly Public asks students to think critically about something that is at once a private and shared—and everyday—occurrence, but which also creates the opportunities for us to affirm how we value our women, men and children. In the worst of cases, human reproduction becomes the locus for some of the most disturbing instances of “control” in the modern age. Catherine Marrone received both her BA and Ph.D. in sociology from Stony Brook University in New York and completed two years of post-doctoral work in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr. Marrone is a professor of sociology at Stony Brook University, where she teaches courses in sociology to undergraduate students and is the Director of Undergraduate Studies. She also serves as a faculty advisor in the multi-disciplinary studies major. Her areas of interest include medical sociology, gender, and the sociology of human reproduction. Dr. Marrone was recently named one of the Princeton Review's top 300 college and university professors in the nation.