Student Bodies

Student Bodies is the first book to link developments in college health with larger trends in American cultural and medical history. This comprehensive and engrossing study describes the origins and development of health services at institutions of higher education in the United States from the early 1800s—when administrators sought to restrict habits “unfavorable to study and morality” such as drunkenness, gambling, and solicitation of prostitutes—to the present day as health professionals are called on to combat issues ranging from sexually transmitted diseases to depression to eating disorders. Drawing on a variety of primary sources, Professor Heather Munro Prescott examines the relationship between administrative regulation of “student bodies” and broader social-cultural views about young adults and their status in nineteenth- and twenty-first-century America.

Student Bodies explores many little-known but significant aspects of college health—including the importance of women’s colleges in the development of student care, the use of physical entrance examinations to deny admission to those with “undesirable” bodies, the sometimes controversial handling of health concerns specific to minority and LGBT students, and the rise and fall of in loco parentis. Prescott’s engaging and accessible style makes this guide a perfect choice for medical scholars and college administrators as well as anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of medical history, women’s health, and the history of college life in America.

Heather Munro Prescott is Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University. She is winner of the Will Solimene Award of Excellence in Medical Communication for her book A Doctor of Their Own: The History of Adolescent Medicine.

“Well researched, written, and referenced. Professor Prescott explores a number of areas of college health not previously covered, making Student Bodies of great value to all those interested in this subject, both within and outside the field of college health.”
—William A. Christmas, Duke University

“A worthy and important contribution to our knowledge of the history of American medicine and higher education. Student Bodies is a pioneering effort that weaves together many different historical fields, appealing to all those interested in American medicine, public health, and education.”
—Sarah W. Tracy, University of Oklahoma