Central Connecticut State University

NEW BRITAIN – January 10, 2008 – Dr. Heather Munro Prescott, professor of history at Central Connecticut State University, is the author of the new book “Student Bodies – The Influence of Student Health Services in American Society and Medicine.”
Published by the University of Michigan Press, the book explores connections between university health centers and the evolution of American health and medicine. According to the publisher, Prescott’s book is the first to link developments in college health with larger trends in American cultural and medical history.
Dr. Prescott’s comprehensive study describes the origins and development of health services at U.S. institutions of higher education 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, as health professionals face issues ranging from sexually transmitted diseases to depression to eating disorders.

Drawing on a variety of primary sources, Professor Prescott examines the relationship between administrative regulation of “student bodies” and broader social-cultural views about young adults and their status in 19th- and 21st-century America.

“Student Bodies” explores little-known but significant aspects of college health. They include 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 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, as well as the rise and fall of “in loco parentis” (Latin for “in the place of a parent”, referring to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to assume some responsibilities of a parent).

Prescott’s book is geared toward 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. Prescott is winner of the Will Solimene Award of Excellence in Medical Communication for her previous book “A Doctor of Their Own: The History of Adolescent Medicine.”

Professor William A. Christmas of Duke University hailed Prescott’s book as “well researched, written, and referenced … [it] explores a number of areas of college health not previously covered …”

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

Media contact: Peter Kilduff, Director of University Relations; (860) 832-1791; Kilduff#ccsu.edu