How do you create an interactive and multi-modal digital platform about histories of eugenics and sterilization with restricted historical records? U-M Professor Alexandra Stern reviews her team’s creation of a dataset of 20,000 sterilization recommendations processed by the state of California from the 1920s and 1950s, and discusses how they are building digital platforms with Mapquest and Scalar that seek to convey complex demographic patterns, institutional histories, and personal experiences of reproductive loss. She explores varied issues including interdisciplinary collaboration, document preservation and management, and digital storytelling.

Alexandra Minna Stern, Ph.D. is Professor of American Culture, with appointments in Obstetrics and Gynecology, History, and Women’s Studies. She also is a core faculty member in the Latina/o Studies Program; the Science, Technology, and Society Program; directs the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies/Brazil Initiative, and co-directs the Reproductive Justice Faculty Program at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

Emergent Research events are aimed at better understanding the various types of research undertaken across campus, particularly as they relate to library services and support, opportunities for collaboration, data management and preservation, and beyond.