Cambridge Reproduction invites all Cambridge researchers to attend a twice-termly Reading Group on Reproduction to engage with classics and new work across disciplines - all with a central theme of reproduction.
Meetings take place in central Cambridge. Sessions start with an optional sandwich lunch at 12:30pm, discussion from 1-2pm, finishing by 2.30pm
Upcoming dates:
Thursday 30th May - Room 78, Anatomy Building with Dr Emma Pomeroy
There is an obstetrical dilemma: Misconceptions about the evolution of human childbirth and pelvic form
American Journal of Biological Anthropology: Volume 181, Issue 4 Aug 2023
Introduction: A classic model in anthropology is the obstetric dilemma: because of opposing evolutionary pressures on the human pelvis for walking upright and giving birth to large brained infants, human childbirth must necessarily be dangerous and difficult. In recent years, this widely accepted explanation has been challenged from multiple directions: is a narrow pelvis necessary for efficient walking? What is the role of developmental plasticity in shaping the pelvis and how does this play into the dilemma? Surely successful childbirth is at the front line of natural selection, so why has the ‘dilemma’ not been resolved? This reading gives an overview of some of these debates, and considers their real-world implications, including how cultural trends both shape narratives about women’s bodies, and how this might impact childbirth and the treatment of mothers and their babies today.
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Friday 21st June - Room 78, Anatomy Building with Professor Ashley Moffett
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Previous meetings
Wednesday 27 February 2024
Jens M. Scherpe, 'Breaking the Existing Paradigms of Parent–Child Relationships', in International and National Perspectives on Child and Family Law, pp. 343 - 359 (CUP, 2018). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781780687001.028. Introduced by Dr Brian Sloan (Law).
Wednesday 11 October 2023
François Jacob, The Logic of Life (selection). Introduced by Professor Nick Hopwood (HPS).
For the first session in October we read parts of a history of biology that proposed an influential argument about how research came to focus on reproduction.
Tuesday 28 November 2023
The Second Creation by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and Colin Tudge. Introduced by Professor Sarah Franklin (Sociology).
Wednesday 24 January 2024
Oldak, B., Wildschutz, E., Bondarenko, V. et al. Complete human day 14 post-implantation embryo models from naive ES cells. Nature 622, 562–573 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06604-5. Introduced by Professor Kathy Niakan (PDN).
Thanks to the School of the Humanities and Social Sciences for research framework funding
