Bethany Johnson, PH.D.
Bethany L. Johnson (Ph.D.) has a doctorate in the history of science, technology, and the environment from the University of South Carolina. She is an Affiliate Faculty in the Health & Medical Humanities program and the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Johnson studies how public health experts, medical practitioners, and the public communicate differently about health and infection from the nineteenth century to the present. Specifically, Johnson studies the history of epidemics and reproductive health. Her work appears in a range of journals including Social History of Medicine, Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society, Women's Reproductive Health, and Health Communication. Her book, co-authored with Dr. Margaret M. Quinlan, You’re Doing it Wrong! Mothering, Media, and Medical Expertise is available through Rutgers University Press.
Photo Credit: Piper Warlick Photography
public facing digital projects
(LEFT): Scitube video; Exploring Community Responses to the Plague in the 16th Century | (RIGHT): Novelty of Doom podcast; National Humanities Center Podcast Institute
academic work
Selected Publications
For access to publications from before 2018, please contact me through the contact form.
Selected Scholarly Book Reviews
Spontaneous Generations | Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era | Ohio Valley History
Selected Scholarly Service Work
Academy | University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Community
Selected Invited Lectures/Panels
Women You Should Know: Discoveries, Institutions and Ideas that Have Extended Our Lives, Reshaped Society and Made New Futures Possible (2026)
Novant Health Women’s Business Resource Group
Up Against It Economically, Medically and Politically: Mothering in the Aftermath of Pandemics (2025)
Charlotte Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Workgroup
Up Against It: Post-Pandemic Life and Community Response 1918-1923 (2025)
National Archives Month, hosted by Girard College, Philadelphia, PA
Inositol and Maca Root, For Starters: DIY Healthcare on Social Media Platforms (2025)
Heath & Medical Humanities Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
The Health Aftermath of Twentieth Century Influenza and Twenty-first Century COVID (2024)
Heath & Medical Humanities Program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
6 DPO, (TMI) and cervical mucus: (In)fertility, lay medical advice, and the language of Instagram (2018)
Clemson University’s Social Media Listening Center
Honors and Awards
European Society for the History of Science (2026)
History of Science Society Joint Meeting Dependent Care Grant
The American Association for the History of Medicine (2026)
Gale Digital Humanities Fellowship
Consortium for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (2022-2023)
Alfred M. Greenfield Fellow
Wilfred and Rebecca Callcott Award (2022-2023)
Excellence in Historical Research, University of South Carolina
Department of History Award for Excellence in Teaching Assistantship (2022)
University of South Carolina
Robert H. Wienefeld Essay Prize for “The Johnes of Glasgow: Searching and Municipal Power in the Plague (2021)
Outbreaks of 1574-1605, Department of History, University of South Carolina
Creative Expression Award, Organization for the Study of Communication, Language & Gender (2018)
Organization for the Study of Communication
Feminist Teacher-Mentor Award, The Organization for the Study of Language, Gender and Communication (2017)
Organization for the Study of Language, Gender and Communication
Outstanding Competitive Paper Award (2017)
Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, & Gender
As an educator
Courses Taught
HLTH 3200/HIST 3000/HHUM 3200: History of Public Health
HIST 2151: US Women's History Since 1865
HIST 2050: "Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic:" Early American Medicine, 1650-1850
HIST 1161: US History Since 1865
LBST 2101: The History of Epidemics in the Western World
LBST 2102: Surviving: Women and Children in the Western World
Mentoring and Supervision
| 21 Undergraduate Student Independent Studies &Internships |
| 16 Graduate Student Independent Studies & Research Assistantships |
PUBLIC FACING SCHOLARSHIP
See my work at Black Past, Psychology Today, and on Research Gate or Google Scholar.
Professional Affiliations
History of Science Society
American Association for the History of Medicine
Women in Technological History (WITH) Co-convener 2025-2026, a special interest group within SHOT
The Organization of American Historians
The Organization for the Study of Language, Gender, and Communication
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, History of Science, Technology and the Environment
University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
Master of Philosophy, Development Studies
The Centre for Development Studies, University of Glasgow; Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Master of Arts, American Studies
The New School for Social Research, New School University; New York, NY
Bachelor of Arts, History
Nyack College, Nyack, NY