Please note: This lecture will be held in person in room 1010 Weiser Hall and virtually via Zoom. This webinar is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once you've registered, the joining information will be sent to your email.

Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/xq4wb.

Menstrual product dispensers activated by scanning a QR code, pads manufactured with deodorizing silver ions, apps meant to predict the timing of menstrual bleeding and mood swings—more and more, biological processes like the menstrual cycle are becoming enmeshed in high-tech interventions, even outside of biomedical settings. Using examples from Japan, this talk examines how and why menstrual management practices are technologized, as well as the potential impacts of this for everyday consumers.

Maura Stephens-Chu received her PhD and MA in anthropology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She specializes in medical and cultural anthropology, with an emphasis on embodied experiences of menstruation in contemporary Japan. Maura’s multidisciplinary and intersectional research includes theoretical and methodological approaches from anthropology, Japanese studies, gender studies, history, and science and technology studies. She has conducted extensive ethnographic research in Tokyo, Japan, on young women’s perceptions, education, and personal experiences of menstruation and commercial menstrual products. Her historical analysis of Japanese menstrual taboos, “From Sacred to Secret: Tracing Changes in Views of Menstruation in Japan,” can be found in the open-access journal Silva Iaponicarum. Currently, Maura is researching the formation of layperson and medical understandings of conditions that fall under the umbrella of menstrual “irregularity,” including endometriosis, amenorrhea, and severe dysmenorrhea. She is also interested in media representations of premenstrual syndrome, as well as the impact on personal health and privacy from the proliferation of smartphone apps for tracking menstrual cycles.

This lecture is made possible with the generous support of the U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at cjsevents@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.