BMCC Professor Olivia Cousins is amazed and impressed by the large array of topics that are addressed in her Health Concerns of Women class.
When women’s health classes were first introduced at BMCC in the 70’s and 80’s, they didn’t highlight topics such as women and stress, women and diabetes, women and violence, depression and self-esteem…topics currently broached in Cousins’ class today.
Cousins’ students also learn about nutrition, CPR, being in a toxic relationship, dieting and more, focusing on issues specific to women with political and economic considerations.
Health Concerns for Women is a health education course where students gain insight and information into the physical, socio-cultural, psychological and spiritual aspects of women’s health care needs.
In other words, this is no ordinary health class—it goes above and beyond, touching on a variety of social, physical and sexual health concerns.
As expected, the students in this class oftentimes engage in lively, sometimes personal, conversation, sparking group discussions. According to Cousins, both men and women take the class, many of whom say they hope to learn more about their mother’s or a friends’ health and their own bodies.
BMCC has the distinction of having one of the longest continual offering of a women’s health course in the U.S. “It was being taught before I came and I am certain that it will continue to be taught after I leave,” says Cousins. “My work has revolved around blending the practical and the theoretical…inside and outside the classroom.”
A Personal Interest in Health Issues
Professor Cousins has been personally involved in the women’s health movement since 1985. She trained as a medical and community sociologist at Boston University, where she also earned a Masters in African-American Studies; studied education and social policy at Harvard Graduate School of Education and graduated from the University of Dayton with a BA in Psychology.
The Dayton, Ohio, native always wanted to be a psychiatrist. “When I went through undergraduate studies, I decided on clinical psychology. I took what I thought was a ‘break’ and pursued a degree in public policy; transitioned to African-American Studies and settled into medical and community sociology,” she says. “The theme through all of these degrees and work has been my focus on women and children.”
Students Use a Journal To Look Within Themselves
Professor Cousins wants her students to walk away with—and retain—the information they learn about health in her class. “I want the students to go beyond the books we use and the videos we watch—their memories come from the discussions they had about a topic, information that is important and helpful,” she says.
One of the classroom requirements is to keep a journal, where students document where they are/were at a certain point in time. “One entry is to do something for themselves,” says Cousins.
According to Cousins, the most difficult assignment students have is writing about what they see in a mirror. “They have to come to terms with the image they see. They describe themselves, then how they believe others see them, and how they want to be seen.”
Many of Cousins’ former BMCC students have gone on to take more general health courses such as nutrition and human sexuality; and, according to Cousins, they are now working as health educators at places such as the NYC Department of Public Health, NYC hospitals, or in community non-profits.
The Stress Factor
According to Cousins, a major health issue facing women today is heart disease, which wasn’t addressed much in the last of 30 years, along with obesity and diabetes.
And, of course, women have heard it many times before, and Cousins will say it yet again—that stress is the number one women’s health issue today. “Our lives are radically different from where they were in the 60s and 70s and 80s,” she says. “We can’t do it all, it’s a myth. We women are conditioned to mother but we can’t nurture everyone.”
