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Wendy Kline

Wendy Kline

Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine // History
Faculty

Professor // History
Faculty

Director // Medical Humanities Certificate Program

Affiliated Faculty // Critical Disability Studies // SIS

Affiliated Faculty // Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies // SIS

Research focus:
History of Medicine in the U.S., History of Women's Health

Curriculum vitae


Office and Contact

Room: BRNG 6110

Office hours:

  • Spring 2024:
  • Wednesdays, 2:30 - 3:30pm

Email: wkline@purdue.edu

Phone: (765) 496-2518

Fax: (765) 496-1755


PhD University of California, Davis, 1998

 

Specialization

History of Medicine in the U.S., History of Women's Health, Reproduction, Eugenics, History of Childbirth

Wendy Kline, Ph.D., Dema G. Seelye Chair in the History of Medicine at Purdue University, is internationally recognized for her scholarship in the history of medicine, history of women's health and the history of childbirth. She is the creator and Director of Purdue's Medical Humanities certificate program. 

She is the author of four major books focusing on sexuality and reproduction: Exposed: The Hidden History of the Pelvic Exam (Polity Press, forthcoming, June 2024); Coming Home: How Midwives Changed Birth (Oxford University Press, 2019); Bodies of Knowledge: Sexuality, Reproduction, and Women’s Health in the Second Wave (U. of Chicago Press 2010); and Building a Better Race: Gender, Sexuality, and Eugenics from the Turn of the Century to the Baby Boom (U. of California Press, 2001). 

She has appeared in the Netflix documentary, Sex, Explained, as well as the PBS documentary, The Eugenics Crusade, and will appear in the Showtime documentary, Pharma, in 2023. Her research has been funded by major fellowships, including a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar fellowship, a British Academy Fellowship, and a Huntington Fellowship. Kline is also a professional violinist, currently principal second with the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Kline is currently accepting graduate students interested in studying the history of women's health, the history of psychology, and/or the history of medicine. 


Publications



Website