The Program

The Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice (RHRJ) certificate program is dedicated to furthering scholarship, education and research in its field. Students, faculty and practitioners are invited to join the RHRJ program as we delve into the social, economic, legal and political conditions that influence reproduction and help educate the next generation of reproductive health scholars, practitioners and advocates.

Students pursuing the RHRJ certificate take courses across a wide variety of academic disciplines that address diverse issues such as:

  • the biology of reproduction
  • legal barriers to abortion and birth control
  • the hyper-medicalization of childbirth
  • reproductive health care access
  • reproductive technologies and kinship structures
  • welfare policy
  • childcare and childcare policies
  • reproduction and labor
  • gender justice
  • adoption

Students also learn to think critically about social institutions such as science, medicine, technology, schools, housing, law enforcement, labor and prisons that produce racial and class differentiation in childhood and beyond.

Certificate Requirements

  1. Complete at least six approved courses, including:
    • One foundational course
    • One transnational course
    • One upper-level (300 or above) course
  2. Complete a special project

    Certificate students must complete a special project. This requirement may be completed through an independent study project, thesis or other course work that engages the student with issues of reproductive health, rights or justice and meaningfully incorporates the perspectives of community-based groups. Students are encouraged to fulfill the requirement through participation in an appropriate community-engaged experience selected in consultation with their RHRJ advisor.