Associate Professor, School of Health Studies
Dr. Jessica Polzer is an Associate Professor within the School of Health Studies at The University of Western Ontario.
Asset Map Keywords:
Health Collaborators:
Research Interests:
- Sociology of health and illness
-Social theories of health, risk and the body
-Experiences of health and risks to health
-Social and ethical impacts of technologies in health
-Biotechnology, gender and medicalization
-Critical theories of health promotion
-Foucault, biopolitics and governmentality
My program of research focuses on the politics of women's health in the 21st century, with a specific focus on the intersection of discourses on gender, health risk, and biotechnology. My current research projects include a critical discourse analysis of public media accounts of the HPV vaccine in English-speaking Canadian newspapers and health information materials. My doctoral research explored how women with family histories of breast cancer experience their risks for breast cancer, and how these experiences are shaped by the process of predictive genetic testing. I have extensive experience designing and conducting qualitative health research, and my dissertation was awarded the Illinois Distinguished Qualitative Dissertation Award by the International Center for Qualitative Inquiry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006.
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About Jessica Polzer
Dr. Jessica Polzer is an Associate Professor within the School of Health Studies at The University of Western Ontario.
Asset Map Keywords:
Health Collaborators:
Research Interests:
- Sociology of health and illness
-Social theories of health, risk and the body
-Experiences of health and risks to health
-Social and ethical impacts of technologies in health
-Biotechnology, gender and medicalization
-Critical theories of health promotion
-Foucault, biopolitics and governmentality
My program of research focuses on the politics of women's health in the 21st century, with a specific focus on the intersection of discourses on gender, health risk, and biotechnology. My current research projects include a critical discourse analysis of public media accounts of the HPV vaccine in English-speaking Canadian newspapers and health information materials. My doctoral research explored how women with family histories of breast cancer experience their risks for breast cancer, and how these experiences are shaped by the process of predictive genetic testing. I have extensive experience designing and conducting qualitative health research, and my dissertation was awarded the Illinois Distinguished Qualitative Dissertation Award by the International Center for Qualitative Inquiry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006.