Barbara M. Cooper is a Professor of History at Rutgers University.  Her new book, Countless Blessings, is a history of childbirth and reproduction in the Sahel.  Prof. Cooper sets out to understand childbirth in a country with the world’s highest fertility rate and an alarmingly high rate of maternal and infant mortality.  She shows how the environment, slavery and abolition, French military rule, and the expansion of Islam have all influenced childbirth and fertility in Niger from the 19th century to the present day.  This talk is part of the Jama series sponsored by the Carolina Seminar in African Ecology and Social Processes.  The seminar is open to all area faculty and graduate students in any discipline.  Please register for the Zoom seminar at the link below.