Dissertation May 26.2 2012
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Facing the Waitlist: Visual Grammars of Organ Donation and Transplantation Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Rachel Wortman Morris Department of Comparative Studies The Ohio State University 2012 Dissertation Committee: Maurice E. Stevens, Advisor Philip A. Armstrong David G. Horn Copyright by Rachel Wortman Morris 2012 Abstract Facing the Waitlist: Visual Grammars of Organ Donation and Transplantation situates and explores how models of organ procurement and allocation (MOPAs) function within the U.S.—from the official, State-sanctioned United Network for Organ Sharing, to websites like MatchingDonors.com, to social networking sites—and how their functioning produces effects on individuals. In particular, Facing the Waitlist interrogates how MOPAs manage patient and donor identity information in accordance with specific logics, or structural rules, that seem to inform potential donors’ willingness to donate and transplant patients’ medical outcomes. This project also suggests that the management of identity information might be altered to increase positive health outcomes for those suffering organ failure. Ultimately, Facing the Waitlist makes contributions of two types. The first is methodological: it develops a methodology for examining MOPAs informed by affect, biopolitics, and cultural studies methodologies. The project’s second contribution is more material: it suggests a new model of organ procurement and allocation. ii Dedication For Gerald Rubenstein (1944 – 2007) I miss you. Every day. iii Acknowledgments I spent half of my time writing this dissertation quietly hidden away in the “half of a windowless closet” that was my graduate reading carrel, on the most basement level of OSU’s Music and Dance Library. The other half was spent in a carrel on the second most basement level of the Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington. Although there was not enough room in either of those spaces for another person (and few could have even found me in those libraries if they had tried), the writing and completion of this project was far from a solitary affair: the dissertation process not only involves the writer, but also the people who, for some reason or another, elect to tough-out the journey with the writer as well. That I should finish this dissertation with those nearest and dearest to me still near and dear to me speaks volumes about them, their kindness, patience, and generosity and little about me. I am grateful that I have such amazing and patient people in my life. First, there is my advisor. Maurice Stevens recruited me, brought me into the department, and always keep me within sight as I moved through my course work, exams, and this dissertation while I traveled between Ohio, Vermont, and Washington. Maurice was somehow always about eight months ahead of me in my thinking about iv the project, and he remained the patient and watchful mentor allowing me to work and feel my own way to that place. In his most sly and polite way, Maurice never failed to ask, “So, Rachel, tell me again, what is it that you do?” as a way of guiding me ever forward with this project and with my life. Philip Armstrong and David Horn rounded out my dissertation committee. Philip has always known how to bring the “tough love.” It is a character trait of his I greatly respect, and it is one for which I am most grateful. Philip’s careful reading and critical editorial eye never failed to challenge my thinking and pushed me reach greater clarity with aspects of the project and in how I was conveying them to my readers. I can only hope that I’ve done him proud and best for my readers. David Horn’s two terms as department chair and year’s recovery meant that he came to know me far later than Maurice and Philip. Having never even had me in a class, David signed onto this project and working with me though he had no first hand knowledge that this was something I could pull off. David’s very vocal support of this project and me has been quite humbling. Such support and enthusiasm drove me to do all that I could to make this project achieve all that he saw within it. Though he may have moved on from Comparative Studies and across the pond to the Center for Death and Society, John Troyer’s one-year in our department and continued friendship has had a lasting and profound impact upon my work. John offered his early and enthusiastic support of this project and me. His continued support v and chats via Skype helped me transform some early thoughts about the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital scandal and organs, identity, and affect into this. The guidance and support that Maurice, Philip, David, and John provided me is an indicator of the intellectual and personal generosity of all those who constitute the Department of Comparative Studies. I am especially grateful for the resourcefulness and kindnesses of those who oversee all in our department: Marge Lynd, Wen Tsai, and Lori Wilson. Marge, Wen, and Lori were instrumental in helping me navigate my way through the Ph.D. program. And I could not have submitted this project from afar without Lori’s help. Thank you, Lori. Beyond providing a smart and supportive community in which to complete this work, the Department of Comparative Studies also facilitated it by directly funding my travel to many conferences and my participation in the 2010 Futures of American Studies Institute at Dartmouth College. Likewise, The Ohio State University has provided invaluable financial support throughout my graduate career—a Post-Prospectus Research Fellowship that fostered the development of this project and two Graduate Research Small Grants that enabled me to gain invaluable feedback from a variety of generous interlocutors. The Bread Loaf School of English and Middlebury College generously supported me intellectually and financially through the completion of my M.A. and beyond by providing multiple financial awards. Finally, the Program in the Comparative History of Ideas (CHID) supported the revision and completion of this work by giving me access to many resources at the University of Washington. vi I have benefitted immensely from the attention and expertise of professional guides near and far who were kind enough to respond to an email or phone call from a virtual stranger. Michele Goodwin was magnanimous with her insights and advice as I worked to refine the proposal for this project. Kelly Edwards took great care in getting to know me and my project and helped me create an intellectual home-away-from- home for myself in Seattle. Philip Thurtle provided me with that intellectual home and office space as I worked on my revisions and the completion of the project. Benjamin Wilfond generously welcomed me into the Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics Fellows Seminar and has helped me to plan out what comes next. Such an embarrassment of professional riches is matched by a similar abundance of riches in my personal life; I count myself very lucky to have good friends who have not only humored my complaining and minor freak-outs but have also and buoyed me up along the up and propelled me forward with my work. Ruth Miller is a remarkable friend in every way, and she has been my steadfast ally, confidant, and supplier of all things chocolate throughout. Chris Knapp always knew when I needed a break and always had some car, bike, or house project to help me take my mind off of the dissertation for a bit. David Glynn, thankfully, was always on the other side of a gchat screen when I needed a breather. Damon Berry and Marvin Brown, my big and little brothers of Comparative Studies, shared not only their time and lent their eyes to drafts of various sections project but also their unshakable faith in me and my work. Amy Gregg has been an equally and overwhelmingly generous friend throughout this vii process. Rebecca Adelman has been on this journey with me longer than either one of us actually knew— she is not only an amazingly supportive colleague but also a wonderful friend. Finally, Christopher Morris. From our first day of college to now, I never imagined that it would be you by my side through the completion of this project and throughout life—my friend, my partner, my husband. viii Vita June 1998 ...................................................... Brighton High School, Rochester, NY December 2001 ............................................. B.A. English, Oberlin College August 2008 ................................................... M.A. English, Middlebury College — The Bread Loaf School of English 2007 – 2011 .................................................. Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Comparative Studies, The Ohio State University 2010 – 2011 ................................................... College of Arts and Humanities Post Prospectus Research Fellow, The Ohio State University 2011 – 2012 ................................................... Visiting Lecturer, Program in the Comparative History of Ideas (CHID), The University of Washington Publications “The Affective/Effective Life of Organs: Donors, Recipients, Nations, and States.” Drew University Journal of Medical Humanities 2, no.1 (Winter 2012): 6-11. “On the Loss and Gain of Self: (Pop) Cultural Treatments of Organ Donation.” International Journal of Healthcare & Humanities 5, no. 5 (Summer/Fall 2010): 15- 20. “The Politics and Economics of the Romantic Poetess.” Criterion 3, no. 1 (2010): 147- 162. ix “Street Level: Intersections of Art and the Law.” gnovis: Georgetown University’s Journal of Communication Culture and Technology 10, no. 2 (Spring 2010). http://gnovisjournal.org “Tracing Back My Body of Work,” in Encounters with Contact Improvisation (eds. Cooper Albright, Barkley, Evans, Trumbauer, Brown, and Wortman), 86. Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College Press, 2010. “The Problems with Identity: Distribution, Agency, and Identification.” Special issue, The Humanities Review 8, no.