Bethany Johnson
Bethany L. Johnson (MPhil) is a doctoral candidate (ABD) in the history of science, technology, and the environment at the University of South Carolina and a research affiliate faculty in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She explores how institutions and individuals create, normalize, and reproduce science, medical technology, and public health discourse from the nineteenth century to the present. Specifically, she studies the history of epidemics, endocrinology, and reproductive health. She has published in various journals, including Health Communication, Qualitative Research in Medicine and Healthcare, Social History of Medicine, Journal of Holistic Nursing, Women's Reproductive Health, and Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society. Most recently, she was the Albert M. Greenfield Research Fellow for the Consortium of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (2022-2023). Her book, co-authored with Dr. Margaret M. Quinlan, You’re Doing it Wrong! Mothering, Media, and Medical Expertise is available now 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
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
Infertility Research: Praxis and Embodiment
Davidson College: Davidson, NC
6 DPO, (TMI) and cervical mucus: (In)fertility, lay medical advice, and the language of Instagram
Clemson University’s Social Media Listening Center
Issues Researching (In)fertility
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Gendered Bodies in Health Communication: Twilight Sleep
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Women’s History Month Panel
Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte NC
Honors and Awards
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
See my work at Black Past, Psychology Today, and on Research Gate or Google Scholar.
As an educator
Courses Taught
LBST 2101: The History of Epidemics in the Western World
LBST 2102: Surviving: Women and Children in the Western World
HIST 1161: US History Since 1877
HIST 2000: "Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic:" Early American Medicine, 1650-1850
HIST 2151: US Women's History Since 1877
HST 357: Women in American History
HST 113: World Civilizations I
HST 114: World Civilizations II
INT 112: Foundations for Excellence
Mentoring and Supervision
| 21 Undergraduate Student Independent Studies &Internships |
| 16 Graduate Student Independent Studies & Research Assistantships |
Professional Affiliations
American Association for the History of Medicine
History of Science Society, Women’s Caucus
Women in Technological History (WITH), a special interest group within SHOT
The Organization of American Historians
The Organization for the Study of Language, Gender, and Communication
As a consultant
"Empowering Infertility," Inner Peace Acupuncture of Charlotte, NC
Advised Adrienne Wei, L.Ac, Mstom FABORM, on the structure and content for modules in an online course, including citation, relevant sources, editing,
and integrating multiple learning styles for online learners.
Qualitative Data Analyst, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Performed analysis of qualitative data on practitioner-patient communication in REI settings, coding and metaphor study.
A Beautiful Remedy, Documentary Film
Film awarded National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Ohio Valley Chapter Emmy Award in 2014
Sound and Story Project, Nyack Library of Nyack, NY
Digitally archived and transcribed a series of interviews taken over 30 years. The Hudson Valley Heritage Project: "Voices of the Hudson River Valley."
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (ABD), 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