FYS 505 - Bates STEM Scholars

What the Eyes Don't See : A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope In An American City by Mona Hanna-Attisha

Link to Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Lead in the Flint Michigan Water Supply
• Water quality / water safety
• Public utilities in under resourced communities
• Post discovery remediation of hazardous materials (e.g. lead in water and soil (paint), asbestos)

Potential Resources

• Currie, Janet, Joshua Graff Zivin, Katherine Meckel, Matthew Neidell, and Wolfram Schlenker. 2013. "Something in the Water: Contaminated Drinking Water and Infant Health." The Canadian Journal of Economics 46 (3): 791-810.
• Flint Michigan Drinking Water Documents - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Management Weaknesses: Delayed Response to Flint Water Crisis (July 19, 2018)
• Rich, Nathaniel. "Rob Bilott v. DuPont.(Correction Notice)." The New York Times Magazine, 2016, pp. 36.
• Hu XC, Andrews DQ, Lindstrom AB, Bruton TA, Schaider LA, Grandjean P, et al. 2016. Detection of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in U.S. drinking water linked to industrial sites, military fire training areas, and wastewater treatment plants. Environ Sci Technol Lett 3(10):344–350, PMID: 27752509, 10.1021/acs.estlett.6b00260.
• Redvers, Nicole, Ann Marie Chischilly, Donald Warne, Manuel Pino, and Amber Lyon-Colbert. 2021. "Uranium Exposure in American Indian Communities: Health, Policy, and the Way Forward." Environmental Health Perspectives 129 (3): 35002.
• Raymond-Whish, Stefanie, Loretta P. Mayer, Tamara O'Neal, Alisyn Martinez, Marilee A. Sellers, Patricia J. Christian, Samuel L. Marion, et al. 2007. "Drinking Water with Uranium Below the U.S. EPA Water Standard Causes Estrogen Receptor-Dependent Responses in Female Mice." Environmental Health Perspectives 115 (12): 1711-1716." Environmental Health Perspectives 129 (3): 35002.
• Hill, Elaine L. and Lala Ma. 2022. "Drinking Water, Fracking, and Infant Health." Journal of Health Economics 82: 102595-102595.
• USGS Publications Warehouse (Advanced Search)
  • Example Search: "Flint Michigan" AND lead AND "drinking water"
  • Example Search: "drinking water" AND "uranium contamination"

• Proquest News and Newspapers

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Link to the Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• HeLa cells
• Humans as research subjects
• Informed consent and Individual rights
• Differential treatment in healthcare based on race and/or gender
• Ethics of research with human subjects
• Patients' rights
• Transparency in healthcare

Potential Resources

• The Ethics in Medicine website (University of Washington School of Medicine)

  • Informed Consent
  • Public Health Ethics
  • Research Ethics

     

• ​Acadia Institute Observing Bioethics Interviews

   [Kennedy Institute of Ethics]

Note that this collection has a search tool that allows you to search within the transcripts.  This will be very useful.

• Eliminating healthcare disparities in America : beyond the IOM report edited by Richard Allen Williams

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth Rush

Link to Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Ocean level rise
• Global warming
• Disproportionate effects of sea level rise on different communities
• Denial about or ignorance pertaining to sea level rise and consequences of sea level rise
• Costs of sea level rise (economic, societal, cultural, ecological, etc)
• Solutions/Accommodations: (who gets a say? Who benefits? Who does not benefit?)
• US vs Other countries/nations, US with Other countries/nations

Potential Resources

• EPA Climate Change Adaptation Resource Center (ARC-X)

  • ARC-X Climate Adaptation Search
  • ARC-X Case Studies
• IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023
  • IPCC AR6 Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) Technical Reports
  • Perform a Google site search scoped to the NOAA publications.  For example, try a site search within NOAA for sea level change info: site:https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/publications "sea level"
  • GLOBAL AND REGIONAL SEA LEVEL RISE SCENARIOS FOR THE UNITED STATES

• Adaptation to Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: The Case Study of Coastal Communities in New Brunswick, Canada by Sebastian Weissenberger, Omer Chouinard

• Climate of the southeast United States: variability, change, impacts, and vulnerability
  by Keith T Ingram

• Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies for Coastal Communities by Walter Leal Filho

• Threatened island nations: legal implications of rising seas and a changing climate by Michael Gerrard and  Gregory E Wannier

• Civic engagement in the wake of Katrina by Amy Koritz and George J Sanchez

• Social vulnerability to floods: Review of case studies and implications for measurement by Samuel Rufat, Eric Tate, Christopher G Burton, and Abu Sayeed Maroof

• Hallegatte, Stephane, et al. "Future Flood Losses in Major Coastal Cities." Nature Climate Change, vol. 3, no. 9, 2013, pp. 802-806.

• Rufat, Samuel, et al. "Social Vulnerability to Floods: Review of Case Studies and Implications for Measurement." International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, vol. 14, 2015, pp. 470-486.

• Hirsch, Arnold R. "(almost) A Closer Walk with Thee: Historical Reflections on New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina." Journal of Urban History, vol. 35, no. 5, 2009, pp. 614-626.

• Bond Graham, Darwin. "The New Orleans that Race Built: Racism, Disaster, and Urban Spatial Relationships." Souls, vol. 9, no. 1, 2007, pp. 4-18.

• Christophe, Antoinette. "Hurricane Katrina 10th Year Anniversary: Status of the Minority Population in Regards to New Orleans Port Infrastructure & a Sustainable Wetland Environment." Race, Gender & Class, 2015, pp. 234-254.

The Kissing Bug: A True Story of a Family, an Insect, and a Nation's Neglect of a Deadly Disease by Daisy Hernández

Link to Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Chagas disease (aka American trypanosomiasis)
• Trypanosoma cruzi
• Neglected parasitic diseases
• Neglected tropical diseases
• "Return on Investment" vs. Ethical Public Response

Potential Resources

• Avaria, Andrea, Laia Ventura-Garcia, Mariana Sanmartino, and Carlos Van der Laat. 2022. “Population Movements, Borders, and Chagas Disease.” Memórias Do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 117 (July):e210151. https://doi.org/10.1590/0074-02760210151.

• Pérez-Molina, José A. and Israel Molina. 2018. "Chagas Disease." The Lancet (British Edition) 391 (10115): 82-94.

• Bern, Caryn. 2015. "Chagas’ Disease." The New England Journal of Medicine 373 (5): 456-466.

• Rassi, Anis, Dr, Anis Rassi Prof, and José Antonio Marin-Neto Prof. 2010. "Chagas Disease." The Lancet (British Edition) 375 (9723): 1388-1402.

• Cross, George A. M. 2005. "Trypanosomes at the Gates." Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 309 (5733): 355-355.

• Parasites - American Trypanosomiasis (also known as Chagas Disease)

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins Valdez

Link to Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Racism, classism, and sexism
• Women's reproductive rights
• Neglected tropical diseases
• "Return on Investment" vs. Ethical Public Response
• Birth control as eugenics (e.g. Depo-Prevera)

• Informed consent (education and true choice)

Potential Resources

• “Relf v. Weinberger.” 1973. Southern Poverty Law Center. Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/relf-v-weinberger.

• Villarosa, Linda. 2022. “The Long Shadow of Eugenics in America.” The New York Times, June 8, 2022, sec. Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/08/magazine/eugenics-movement-america.html.

• Scully, Judith A. M. 2015. “Black Women and the Development of International Reproductive Health Norms.” In Black Women and International Law: Deliberate Interactions, Movements and Actions, edited by Jeremy I. Levitt, 225–49. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139108751.013

• Volscho, Thomas W. 2011. “Racism and Disparities in Women’s Use of the Depo-Provera Injection in the Contemporary USA.” Critical Sociology 37 (5): 673–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920510380948

• Ross, Loretta. 1994. “Sterilization and ‘de Facto’ Sterilization.” The Amicus Journal 15 (4): 29–29.

• Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis at Tuskegee and Macon County, AL - Timeline - CDC - OS. Last reviewed December 5, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm.

• Heller, Jean. 1972. “Syphilis Victims in U.S. Study Went Untreated for 40 Years: SYPHILIS VICTIMS GOT NO THERAPY.” The New York Times, July 26, 1972. https://www.proquest.com/news/docview/119530241/abstract/A56A2EC30D1843EAPQ/2.

• Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). 2010. “The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research.” Department of Heath, Education, and Welfare No. (OS)78-0012. https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/belmont-report/index.html.

• Paul, Charlotte, and Barbara Brookes. 2015. “The Rationalization of Unethical Research: Revisionist Accounts of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the New Zealand ‘Unfortunate Experiment.’” American Journal of Public Health (1971) 105 (10): e12–19. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302720.

• Coney, Sandra; Bunkle, Phillida (June 1987). "An Unfortunate Experiment at National Women's" (PDF). Metro. Auckland. pp. 47–65. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  https://womenshealthcouncil.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/An_Unfortunate_Experiment-Metro_magazine1987-compressed-2.pdf

• Cartwright, Silvia R. 1988. “The Report of the Cervical Cancer Inquiry: The Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Allegations Concerning the Treatment of Cervical Cancer at National Women’s Hospital and into Other Related Matters.” ISBN 978-0-473-00664-8. Auckland: Government Printing Office. https://www.nsu.govt.nz/health-professionals/national-cervical-screening-programme/legislation/cervical-screening-inquiry-0.

• “The Cartwright Inquiry.” n.d. Women's Health Action (blog). Accessed June 5, 2024. https://www.womens-health.org.nz/the-cartwright-inquiry/.

• Downing, Roberta A, Thomas A LaVeist, and Heather E Bullock. 2007. “Intersections of Ethnicity and Social Class in Provider Advice Regarding Reproductive Health.” American Journal of Public Health (1971) 97 (10): 1803–7. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.092585.

• Thomas, Shameka Poetry. 2022. “Street-Race in Reproductive Health: A Qualitative Study of the Pregnancy and Birthing Experiences among Black and Afro-Latina Women in South Florida.” Maternal and Child Health Journal 26 (4): 700–707. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03188-2.

Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller

Link to Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• A Meaningful Life
• Flawed Role Models
• Eugenics
• Pitfalls of Classification in Natural Science

Potential Resources

• Landau, Iddo. 2022. The Oxford Handbook of Meaning in Life. Oxford Handbooks Online. New York: Oxford University Press.

• Mawson, T. J. 2022. “Theism and Meaning in Life.” In The Oxford Handbook of Meaning in Life. Oxford Handbooks. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190063504.013.16.

• Wielenberg, Erik J. 2022. “Atheism and Meaning in Life.” In The Oxford Handbook of Meaning in Life. Oxford Handbooks. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190063504.013.15.

Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine by Uché Blackstock

Link to Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Racial Healthcare Inequity
• Medical Discrimination
• Generational legacy in social class

Potential Resources

• Mendez, D.D., J. Scott, L. Adodoadji, C. Toval, M. McNeil, and M. Sindhu. 2021. “Racism as Public Health Crisis: Assessment and Review of Municipal Declarations and Resolutions Across the United States.” Frontiers in Public Health 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.686807.

• Crossley, Mary. 2022. Embodied Injustice : Race, Disability, and Health. 1st ed. Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

• Siraj, Iram, and Aziza Mayo. 2014. Social Class and Educational Inequality: The Impact of Parents and Schools. Cambridge: University Press.

• Whitley, Elise, Gerard McCartney, Mel Bartley, and Michaela Benzeval. 2022. “Examining the Impact of Different Social Class Mechanisms on Health Inequalities: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of an All-Age UK Household Panel Study.” Social Science & Medicine 312 (November):115383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115383.

• Carrijo, Ana Paula Borges, Anna Luísa Dias Bastos de Moura, Augusto Cézar Polveiro E Oliveira, Lígia Villela Rodrigues, Janaina de Oliveira, Thiago Figueiredo de Castro, Odete Messa Torres, Katia Crestine Poças, and Rodolfo Deusdará. 2022. “Teaching of the Black Population’s Health: Anti-Racist Lenses for a Paradigm Shift to Address Racial Inequities.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19 (24): 16784. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416784.

• McCoy, Dorian L, and Rachelle Winkle-Wagner. 2022. “Cultivating ‘Generational Blessings’: Graduate School Aspirations and Intergenerational Uplift Among Women of Color.” Journal of College Student Development 63 (5): 491–507. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2022.0043.

• Rapp, Kristen Schorpp, Vanessa V Volpe, and Hannah Neukrug. 2021. “State-Level Sexism and Women’s Health Care Access in the United States: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, 2014-2019.” American Journal of Public Health (1971) 111 (10): 1796–1805. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306455.

• Mahajan, Shiwani, César Caraballo, Yuan Lu, Javier Valero-Elizondo, Daisy Massey, Amarnath R Annapureddy, Brita Roy, et al. 2021. “Trends in Differences in Health Status and Health Care Access and Affordability by Race and Ethnicity in the United States, 1999-2018.” JAMA : The Journal of the American Medical Association 326 (7): 637–48. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.9907.

• Villarosa, Linda. 2023. Under the Skin : The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation. First anchor books edition 2023. New York: Anchor Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History by Paul Farmer

Link to Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Colonialism
• Influence of colonialism on response to 2014 Ebola outbreak
• Social medicine and cultural awareness during a pandemic
• Insufficient R&D and Funding for "Neglected Diseases"
• Healthcare as a social good versus healthcare governed by market forces  (neoliberalism)

Potential Resources

• “PIH: Injustice Has a Cure.” 2024. Partners in Health (PIH). 2024. https://www.pih.org/.

• WHO. 2024. “Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases.” World Health Organization (WHO). 2024. https://www.who.int/teams/control-of-neglected-tropical-diseases/overview.

• Garrett, Laurie. 2015. “Ebola’s Lessons: How the WHO Mishandled the Crisis.” Foreign Affairs 94 (5): 80–107. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24483741.

• Beeching, Nicholas J, Manuel Fenech, and Catherine F Houlihan. 2014. “Ebola Virus Disease.” BMJ: British Medical Journal 349. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26518974.

• Bausch, Daniel G. 2015. “The Year That Ebola Virus Took Over West Africa: Missed Opportunities for Prevention.” The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 92 (2): 229–32. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.14-0818.

• Bausch, Daniel G., and Marguerite M. Clougherty. 2015. “Ebola Virus: Sensationalism, Science, and Human Rights.” The Journal of Infectious Diseases 212 (suppl_2): S79–83. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiv359.

• Pellecchia, Umberto, Rosa Crestani, Tom Decroo, Rafael Van den Bergh, and Yasmine Al-Kourdi. 2015. “Social Consequences of Ebola Containment Measures in Liberia.” PLOS ONE 10 (12): e0143036. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143036.

• Dean, Laura, Rachel Tolhurst, Gartee Nallo, Karsor Kollie, Anthony Bettee, and Sally Theobald. 2023. “A Health-Systems Journey towards More People-Centred Care: Lessons from Neglected Tropical Disease Programme Integration in Liberia.” Health Research Policy and Systems 21 (1): 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-00975-x.

• Nyamhanga, Tumaini, Gasto Frumence, Mughwira Mwangu, and Anna-Karin Hurtig. 2014. “‘We Do Not Do Any Activity until There Is an Outbreak’: Barriers to Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Community Level in Kongwa District, Tanzania.” Global Health Action 7 (July):10.3402/gha.v7.23878. https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.23878.

• Aerts, Céline, Temmy Sunyoto, Fabrizio Tediosi, and Elisa Sicuri. 2017. “Are Public-Private Partnerships the Solution to Tackle Neglected Tropical Diseases? A Systematic Review of the Literature.” Health Policy 121 (7): 745–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2017.05.005.

• Enria, Luisa. 2019. “The Ebola Crisis in Sierra Leone: Mediating Containment and Engagement in Humanitarian Emergencies.” Development and Change 50 (6): 1602–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12538.

• Muñoz, V., F. Visentin, D. Foray, and P. Gaulé. 2015. “Can Medical Products Be Developed on a Non-Profit Basis? Exploring Product Development Partnerships for Neglected Diseases.” Science and Public Policy 42 (3): 315–38. https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scu049.

• Buckup, S. 2008. “Global Public-Private Partnerships against Neglected Diseases: Building Governance Structures for Effective Outcomes.” Health Economics, Policy and Law 3 (1): 31–50. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133107004392.

• Matthey, M. A., and A. Hollis. 2024. “Pull Me – Push You? The Disparate Financing Mechanisms of Drug Research in Global Health.” Globalization and Health 20 (1): 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-024-01019-x.

• Ridley, David B., Pranav Ganapathy, and Hannah E. Kettler. 2021. “US Tropical Disease Priority Review Vouchers: Lessons In Promoting Drug Development And Access.” Health Affairs 40 (8): 1243–51. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.02273.

• Ridley, David B., Agustín Martín Lasanta, Ffion Storer Jones, and Sarah K. Ridley. 2024. “European Priority Review Vouchers for Neglected Disease Product Development.” BMJ Global Health 9 (1): e013686. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013686.

Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green

Link to Bates Library Catalog

Examples of Issues Addressed

• Tuberculosis Through History
• Tuberculosis and Social Conditions
• Tuberculosis Spread via Bias, Apathy, and Anti-Science
• Tuberculosis Prevention and Treatment via Global Health, Public Policy, Supportive Infrastructure

Potential Resources

• Daniel, Thomas M. 2006. “The History of Tuberculosis.” Respiratory Medicine 100 (11): 1862–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmed.2006.08.006.

• Barberis, I., N. L. Bragazzi, L. Galluzzo, and M. Martini. 2017. “The History of Tuberculosis: From the First Historical Records to the Isolation of Koch’s Bacillus.” Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene 58 (1): E9–12.

• Chakraborty, Arnab, Janaka Jayawickrama, and Yong-an Zhang. 2025. A Brief Social History of Tuberculosis: Key Challenges to Global Health. First edition. Routledge.

• Krishnan, Vidya. 2022. Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History. First edition. PublicAffairs.

• Moutinho, Sofia. 2022. “Tuberculosis Is the Oldest Pandemic, and Poverty Makes It Continue.” Nature 605 (7910): S16–20. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01348-0.

• Farmer, Paul. 1997. “Social Scientists and the New Tuberculosis.” Social Science & Medicine 44 (3): 347–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(96)00143-8.

• Lönnroth, Knut, Ernesto Jaramillo, Brian G. Williams, Christopher Dye, and Mario Raviglione. 2009. “Drivers of Tuberculosis Epidemics: The Role of Risk Factors and Social Determinants.” Social Science & Medicine 68 (12): 2240–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.03.041.

• Farmer, Paul. 2005. Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor : With a New Preface by the Author. California Series in Public Anthropology 4. University of California Press.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2025. “Tuberculosis: Refugee Health Domestic Guidance.” Immigrant and Refugee Health, April 18. https://www.cdc.gov/immigrant-refugee-health/hcp/domestic-guidance/tuberculosis.html.

• Seyedmehdi, Seyed Mohammad, Hamidreza Jamaati, Mohammad Varahram, et al. 2024. “Barriers and Facilitators of Tuberculosis Treatment among Immigrants: An Integrative Review.” BMC Public Health 24 (1): 3514. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-21020-8.

• Chandru, B. Aravind, and Ravi Prasad Varma. 2023. “Factors Affecting Ability of TB Patients to Follow Treatment Guidelines – Applying a Capability Approach.” International Journal for Equity in Health 22 (1): 176. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-023-01991-7.