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March 21, 2025

Public Health in the United States: A Reading List

As the first university press in the South, UNC Press pioneered in tackling issues of the day through the honest, and sometimes gritty, lens of reality, in order to challenge the status quo in a historically diverse and complex region. Our association with the oldest public university in the nation inspires in us a commitment to bring new and established peer-reviewed research… Continue Reading Public Health in the United States: A Reading List

Categories Health / Medicine/Politics/Public Policy/UNC Press News
January 31, 2025

Dietary Dreams of Immortality

The following is a guest post from Travis A. Weisse, author of Health Freaks: America’s Diet Champions and the Specter of Chronic Illness which tells a new history of modern diets in America by exploring how the popularity of diets grew alongside patients’ frustrations with the limitations and failures of the American healthcare system in the face of chronic disease.… Continue Reading Dietary Dreams of Immortality

Categories Cultural Studies/Guest Bloggers/Health / Medicine
November 21, 2024

The Pritikin Program’s Influence on American Dietary Guidelines

The Following is a guest post from Travis A. Weisse, author of Health Freaks: America’s Diet Champions and the Specter of Chronic Illness, which is available now wherever books are sold. Occupying the unenviable liminal space between charlatanism and unserious gossip magazine fodder, diet gurus are not typically treated as serious historical figures. Yet, as my book Health Freaks shows, a fair… Continue Reading The Pritikin Program’s Influence on American Dietary Guidelines

Categories Cultural Studies/Guest Bloggers/Health / Medicine
September 4, 2024

New This Month: September 2024

Happy September! With the first day of fall at the end of the month, now is the perfect time to start filling up your shelves for some cozy fall reading. Luckily, we have a great selection of new books publishing this month. Check out our September releases below or browse everything new this season in our Fall/Winter Catalog. Plus, if… Continue Reading New This Month: September 2024

Categories African American Studies/Cultural Studies/Health / Medicine/North Carolina/UNC Press News
December 18, 2023

The Young Woman of Devil’s Alley: An Excerpt from “Surgery & Salvation”

The following is an excerpt from the introduction of Surgery & Salvation: The Roots of Reproductive Injustice in Mexico, 1770–1940 by Elizabeth O’Brien, which is now available wherever books are sold. In the early morning hours of March 12, 1884, a pregnant eighteen-year-old walked on a derelict pathway in Mexico City. Known colloquially as Devil’s Alley, the street has been… Continue Reading The Young Woman of Devil’s Alley: An Excerpt from “Surgery & Salvation”

Categories Excerpts/Health / Medicine/Latin American & Caribbean Studies
September 29, 2023

The Reminiscences of a One-Hundred-and-One-Year-Old Man

The following is a guest blog post by Alison Li, author of Wondrous Transformations: A Maverick Physician, the Science of Hormones, and the Birth of the Transgender Revolution, which is available now wherever books are sold. When I was debating whether to write a biography of Dr. Harry Benjamin (1885-1986), several questions loomed large. Benjamin, a German-American physician, is best… Continue Reading The Reminiscences of a One-Hundred-and-One-Year-Old Man

Categories Biography / Autobiography/Guest Bloggers/Health / Medicine/LGBT Studies
September 26, 2023

New Books This Week

It’s Tuesday and you know what that means: new books! Check out these three new books publishing today or you can see everything new this month on our Hot Off the Press page. Plus, if you want updates in your inbox every month on new titles and what’s happening at UNC Press, you can sign up for our monthly eNews here. Wondrous Transformations:… Continue Reading New Books This Week

Categories Gender Studies/Health / Medicine/Public Policy/Sociology/UNC Press News
August 17, 2023

The Land That Time Forgot: An Excerpt from “Landscapes of Care”

The following is an excerpt of Landscapes of Care: Immigration and Health in Rural America by Thurka Sangaramoorthy, which available now wherever books are sold. Sangaramoorthy offers a glimpse into how and under what conditions migrant workers from Latin America, the Caribbean, and other parts of North America seek, receive, and fashion care. This book provides new ways of reimagining… Continue Reading The Land That Time Forgot: An Excerpt from “Landscapes of Care”

Categories Excerpts/Health / Medicine
May 10, 2023

2023 American Association for the History of Medicine Annual Meeting

UNC Press is excited to be exhibiting in-person at the American Association for the History of Medicine annual meeting! We hope you’ll stop by our booth to say hello to editor María Isela García, to learn more about the Studies in Social Medicine Series, and to browse our titles on display. If you can’t join us in-person, you can always… Continue Reading 2023 American Association for the History of Medicine Annual Meeting

Categories Exhibits/Health / Medicine
November 22, 2022

New Books Out Today

Looking for you next read? Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Browse our list of books that are officially on-sale today and take advantage of our holiday sale to save 40% plus free shipping on orders over $75 with code 01HOLIDAY! Making our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia by Emily Hilliard “A benchmark in public folklore.”—Mary Hufford,… Continue Reading New Books Out Today

Categories African American Studies/Appalachian Studies/folklore/Health / Medicine/Southern
November 18, 2022

Accidental Kindness: A Doctor’s Notes on Empathy Now Available as an Audiobook

Accidental Kindness: A Doctor’s Notes on Empathy by Michael Stein is now available as an audiobook from Audible, Libro.fm, and Kobo. Praise for Accidental Kindness: [Stein’s] incisive articulation of the emotional challenges faced by doctors is rendered in prose that’s vivid, candid, and shot through with compassion—it makes for an investigation that’s tough to forget. This is a standout.”—STARRED review, Publishers Weekly “One of the… Continue Reading Accidental Kindness: A Doctor’s Notes on Empathy Now Available as an Audiobook

Categories Audiobooks/Biography / Autobiography/Health / Medicine
July 5, 2022

All Health Politics is Local

All Health Politics is Local: Community Battles for Medical Care and Environmental Health is officially on sale now wherever books and ebooks are sold. Health is political. It entails fierce battles over the allocation of resources, arguments over the imposition of regulations, and the mediation of dueling public sentiments—all conflicts that are often narrated from a national, top-down view. In All… Continue Reading All Health Politics is Local

Categories Health / Medicine/History
May 5, 2022

Writing the History of Legal Abortion

The following is an excerpt from 2015’s Abortion after Roe by Johanna Schoen, recipient of the William H. Welch Medal from the American Association for the History of Medicine. Schoen sheds light on the little-studied experience of performing and receiving abortion care from the 1970s–a period of optimism–to the rise of the antiabortion movement and the escalation of antiabortion tactics… Continue Reading Writing the History of Legal Abortion

Categories Gender Studies/Health / Medicine/Women's Studies
March 9, 2022

Hot Off The Press: March 2022

We’re publishing some great books this month! Read below to learn more about these exceptional titles. Don’t forget to enter code 01DAH40 at checkout for some savings! You can save 40% on ALL UNC Press print books and if your order totals $75 or more, the shipping is FREE! CITIZENS AND RULERS OF THE WORLD: THE AMERICAN CHILD AND THE… Continue Reading Hot Off The Press: March 2022

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Gender Studies/Health / Medicine/Latin American & Caribbean Studies/Law / Legal History/Music/Political Science/UNC Press News
January 6, 2022

National Technology Day: Recommended Reading List

January 6th marks National Technology Day. Technology has been a huge stepping stone in the advancement of so many cultures. From the technology we use in our everyday lives to NASA’s own technology used for space exploration, it’s always been closely connected to the overall progress of America. In celebration of National Technology Day, we’re sharing a recommended reading list… Continue Reading National Technology Day: Recommended Reading List

Categories American Studies/Business/Colonial, Revolutionary Era & Early American History/Cultural Studies/Gender Studies/Health / Medicine/Islamic Studies/Latino Studies/Literature/North Carolina/Public Policy/Reading Lists/Religion/Science/Sociology/Technology/Women's Studies
October 4, 2021

Mental Illness Awareness Week Reading List

Today’s reading list is focused on mental health as we enter Mental Illness Awareness Week, recognized from October 3rd to October 9th. “Since 1990, when Congress officially established the first full week of October as MIAW, advocates have worked together to sponsor activities, large or small, to educate the public about mental illness.” Below you’ll find a list of various… Continue Reading Mental Illness Awareness Week Reading List

Categories African American Studies/American Studies/Biography / Autobiography/Gender Studies/Health / Medicine/History/Law / Legal History/Native Amer./Indigenous Studies/Public Policy/Sociology
September 2, 2021

Reproductive Rights, Abortion, and the State of Texas

The following recommended reading list provides deep analysis and historical insight regarding the Texas abortion law ruling (and the ongoing challenges to Roe v. Wade) that has gone into effect as of September 1, 2021. Take 40% off when purchasing these titles direct from uncpress.org using discount promo code 01DAH40 at checkout. Abortion after RoeBy Johanna Schoen “Schoen fills an… Continue Reading Reproductive Rights, Abortion, and the State of Texas

Categories Gender Studies/Health / Medicine/Religion/Sociology/Women's Studies
July 19, 2021

The Right to Live in Health: A Blessed Formula for Progress

Recently, we published a recommended reading list in support of Cuba’s most recent demand for liberation. Today we chose to publish an excerpt from one of the titles from that reading list, Daniel A. Rodríguez’s The Right to Live in Health: Medical Politics in Postindependence Havana. Out of the many reasons people in Cuba have chosen to protest, medical resources… Continue Reading The Right to Live in Health: A Blessed Formula for Progress

Categories Cuba/Health / Medicine/Latin American/Caribbean Hist./Latino Studies/Sociology
July 12, 2021

Cuba’s Fight for Freedom: A Recommended Reading List

Due to the protests happening in Cuba currently, we’ve decided to publish a recommended reading list pertaining to Cuba’s fight for freedom. This isn’t the first time revolts have taken place in Cuba, but what’s going on now has been referred to as the biggest protests Cuba has seen in decades. When I began researching what was going on in… Continue Reading Cuba’s Fight for Freedom: A Recommended Reading List

Categories Africa & African Diaspora/American Studies/Cuba/Cultural Studies/Diplomatic History / International Affairs/Health / Medicine/Latino Studies/Political Science/Sociology/Theatre & Performing Arts
February 18, 2021

The Nation of Islam, Caring for the Black Body, and Vaccine Hesitancy

Guest post (unrolled from a thread that appeared originally on Twitter) by Edward E. Curtis IV, author of Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam, 1960-1975 The history of the Nation of Islam helps to explain why some U.S. African Americans do not want a foreign substance injected in their arms. As COVID Black and others have revealed, the horrible… Continue Reading The Nation of Islam, Caring for the Black Body, and Vaccine Hesitancy

Categories African American History/African American Studies/American History/American Studies/Health / Medicine/Islamic Studies