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Susan Sage Heinzelman, Director 116 Inner Campus Dr Stop A4900, GEB 4.200C, Austin Texas 78712 • 512-471-5765

Profile

Kristine Hopkins

Other faculty — Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

Research Assistant Professor
Curriculum Vitae
Kristine Hopkins

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Biography

Kristine Hopkins' research focuses on reproductive health issues in Texas, the US-Mexico border, and Latin America. Current projects include the an evaluation of reproductive health policies enacted by the 2011 Texas Legislature, the impact of contraceptive availability among Mexican origin women on the US-Mexico border, and the determinants of teen pregnancy in Texas. Previous work focused on the overuse of cesarean section in Brazil and Mexico, the childbirth and contraceptive experiences of HIV-positive women in Brazil, and the demand for sterilization among seropositive and seronegative women in Brazil

She co-produced the documentary Born in Brazil (Nascendo no Brasil in Portuguese), which was based on her dissertation research in Porto Alegre and Natal, Brazil. Born in Brazil shows Brazilian women's childbirth experiences in a country with cesarean rates of over 25 percent in the public sector and 70 percent in the private sector. The film challenges assumptions that women want to deliver surgically and shows the incentives for doctors to perform them. Born in Brazil was shown on Brazilian public television as well as at film festivals and conferences in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

Hopkins teaches courses on health, reproduction, and demography.  In Spring 2013, she is teaching Sociology of Health & Illness.

NIH Biosketch

WGS 301 • Wom's Reprod Hlth Nonsci Maj

47575 • Spring 2011
Meets TTH 330pm-500pm PHR 3.106
(also listed as SOC 308 )
show description

SOC 308: Women’s Reproductive Health for NonScience Majors

Course Description

To study women’s reproductive health is to study biology, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, endocrinology, female sexuality, and the social meaning of gender.  This course provides non-science majors with the scientific and social scientific knowledge needed to understand the basis of women’s reproductive health and the medical, cultural, and even political issues surrounding women’s reproductive health.  Students will learn about female reproductive health across the lifespan, from birth through menopause.  Students will also learn about some of the ways that social, economic, and cultural factors influence a woman’s reproductive health.

Required Texts & Materials

  1. Course packet at Paradigm Books, 407 W. 24th Street, just west of Guadalupe (abbrev. PKT)
  2. Robert Hatcher, et al., ed., Contraceptive Technology, 19th ed., 2007, (abbrev. CT).  Available in PDF in the “Course Documents” folder on Blackboard.
  3. Readings in PDF in the “Course Documents” folder on Blackboard (abbrev. BB).
  4. Approximately 20 three inch by five inch (3x5) note cards.

Course Evaluation

1.     Three exams.  Format is multiple choice, labeling figures, definitions, and short answer. 

2.     One 3-5 page literature review of a women’s reproductive health topic, due date April 12th; see “Paper Assignment” on Blackboard for more information.

3.     Classroom component.  In small groups, you’ll answer a question or questions I put to the class; then, as a class, we will share and discuss points made in the smaller groups. 

download syllabus

Research

"Oral Contraceptive Use on the U.S.-Mexico Border: A Qualitative Study." R03 HD047507

Women in many countries can purchase OCs over-the-counter (OTC) but in the US a prescription is required, potentially creating a barrier to contraceptive access. This qualitative study in El Paso, Texas, provides a unique "natural experiment":  residents can take advantage of the differing medical practices on either side of the border and obtain oral contraceptives either with or without clinician involvement.

This study seeks to produce an in-depth understanding of the contraceptive experiences of low-income Mexican-origin women who live on the US-Mexico border and answers:

  • how they experience and negotiate health services;
  • how and why they make decisions about where to obtain their pills;
  • where and to whom they turn when something goes wrong;
  • how their partners and close family members support or hinder their pill use;
  • attitudes about the timing of childbearing and marital relationships.

Below are the in-depth interview guides used in the study.  Includes guides done at enrollment and those done approximately 1 year later.  Each second round in-depth interview was tailored to the participant's specific situation so I provide two examples below.  Feel free to contact me for more examples.

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Center for Women's and Gender Studies in The College of Liberal Arts at UT Austin
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