July 2015

“Everything in Nature goes in curves and circles”: Native American Concepts of Disability

Marisa Leib-Neri is a second year Independent major in Disability Studies. She is fascinated by different cultural conceptions of disability and how disability, health, medicine, and wellness are historically intertwined. Her hobbies include tennis, violin, and re-watching every season of Parks and Recreation. The modern view of reality is based in straight lines and angles.… Read more “Everything in Nature goes in curves and circles”: Native American Concepts of Disability

Prozac and Depression: A History of Opposing Theories

Connor Mulligan is an undergraduate Chemistry Major at Grinnell College who has an interest in psychiatric medicine. In an era of evidence-based medical practice, psychiatry is falling behind. Treatment options and the theories behind them have retained a few common threads for the last two hundred years, but most have varied widely. Other medical specialties… Read more Prozac and Depression: A History of Opposing Theories

Trickle-Down Addiction

by Patrick Dowd Between 1999 and 2010, sales of opioid analgesics like Vicodin, Percocet, and OxyContin, quadrupled in the United States [1]. Overdose deaths have increased proportionately during the same timespan, with more Americans dying from prescription opioid overdoses than from heroin and cocaine overdoses combined [2]. Still, the distinction between prescription and illicit drugs… Read more Trickle-Down Addiction

An Increase in the Mind-Body Interaction in Healthcare: The Importance of Yoga

Ashley E. Murphy is currently a second year student at Grinnell College. She is majoring in Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies. She selected this blog post topic because she is interested in complementary and alternative healing pathways within medicine. In her free time, she enjoys waterskiing and looking up funny YouTube videos of… Read more An Increase in the Mind-Body Interaction in Healthcare: The Importance of Yoga

“Frailty, Danger, and Isolation”: Turn-of-the Century America and the Pathologization of Old Age

Meredith Carroll is a rising senior at Grinnell College, where she studies history, plays flute, and braves the Iowa climate as a campus tour guide. Her interests include the history of the popularization of science and its intersections with the history of the book. She can regularly be found ensconced in Grinnell’s Burling Library, with… Read more “Frailty, Danger, and Isolation”: Turn-of-the Century America and the Pathologization of Old Age

Let Your Freak Flag Fly: Constructing Health and Reinforcing American Exceptionalism through the Display of Othered Bodies

Ellen Schneider is a student at Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA. She is studying history and education, and hopes to become a middle school social studies teacher. In her free time, Ellen can usually be found going to estate sales, thinking about architecture, and asking people on the street if she can pet their dogs.… Read more Let Your Freak Flag Fly: Constructing Health and Reinforcing American Exceptionalism through the Display of Othered Bodies

There Will (not) Be Blood

by Irene Bruce Menstruation is something that most women experience but often don’t discuss unless in the presence of other women. The hidden nature of menstruation comes about as a result of widespread social forces that encourage women to view their bodies, and periods in particular, as objects of shame. Using sources such as books… Read more There Will (not) Be Blood

Stealing Hurts: A Historical Examination of Health Care Fraud and Abuse in America

Omri Benami is a rising senior Economics/Mathematics major at Grinnell College. He intends on pursuing a career in the Finance or Hi-Tech industries after graduation. Healthcare is a constant topic in American current events, and has been a subject of national concern for many decades. Medicare and Medicaid are large government expenditures, and in theory… Read more Stealing Hurts: A Historical Examination of Health Care Fraud and Abuse in America