Bates Center Seminar Series

During the academic year, the Bates Center hosts prominent scholars from around the globe to present new historical scholarship in its seminar series. Seminars are held on Wednesdays at 4:00pm.

DR. KELLY S. O'DONNELL

I am a historian of medicine and gender in the modern United States, and a Visiting Assistant Professor of US History at Bryn Mawr College.

My research focuses on the complex relationship between women and healthcare. I have written extensively on the history of birth control and abortion, health activism, and the gender politics of medical research and the historical archive.

My book in progress, The Pill Hearings: Science, Politics, and Birth Control, is a culmination of my research on the history of birth control, health activism, pharmaceutical regulation, and patient rights.

I am also currently researching a second book project, which explores the role of doctors’ wives in shaping American medicine over the past two centuries.

As a first-generation, low-income student, I graduated from Sarah Lawrence College. I then earned my Ph.D. in the Program in the History of Science and Medicine at Yale University.

Please feel free to visit my CV or my Research/Writing section to explore my published and ongoing work.

To learn more about Dr. O'Donnell, you can find her website here!