Kelly A. Dorgan

Talking About Human Genetics Within Religious Frameworks

Information generated by the Human Genome Project is intended to result in better understanding of genetic variation and disease, affording opportunities to intervene in human health both prior to and after birth. The lay publics construction of meaning associated with these aims, however, has been given little systematic consideration. As God and religion are often invoked as structures to give meaning to technical and scientific discoveries, this project sought to examine public discussions associated with religious frameworks used to talk about human genetics. The results of 17 focus group discussions revealed a range of lay epistemologies that suggest how religious faith may impact individual perceptions, with some consistent differences in discourse for African Americans as compared to European Americans observed. The ethical and practical applications of this information are extended to suggestions for health promotion, care, and counseling.

Connecting Place to Disease and Gender: Cohabitating Morbidities in Narratives of Women Cancer Survivors in Southern Central Appalachia

Drawing on critical feminist narrative inquiry, we explore illness narratives of women cancer survivors living in Southern Central Appalachia via a daylong story circle (n = 26) and individual interviews (n = 3). In our article, we argue that participants functioned as illness genealogists as a consequence of their central location in families, as well as their location in a place (Southern Central Appalachia) characterized by what we call “cohabitating morbidities.” We coined this term to represent the experiences of women survivors living with multiple, sometimes simultaneously occurring illness experiences in their family systems. Finally, we reveal and explore rules that guide their survivorship experiences and storytelling, contending that study participants preserve their central location within family systems by decentering their own survivorship experiences and stories.