Hello
I am a cultural anthropologist specializing in medical and psychological anthropology. I'm interested in how people understand, experience and cope with illness and disease, whether as patients, family members, health care providers, or simply normal people for whom managing health is a part of daily life.
A significant goal of my work is to better enable mutual understanding of people's struggles -- e.g. for patients to understand the constraints of physicians, for physicians to understand the daily experiences of patients, for public health experts to understand the hinderances that complicate people's ability to follow recommendations -- because mutual understanding comes better communication and ultimately better health outcomes.
My research focuses on the social distribution of medical knowledge in health care, health literacy and disparities, health communication including empathy and decision making in healer-patient interactions, issues of agency and helplessness, psychosocial stress and health, and the experiences of living with chronic illness in everyday life.
I have conducted and continue to publish data from my ethnographic research on the island of Lombok, Indonesia. In my more recent research projects I have examined health, illness, and clinical interactions in the United States, and have multiple ongoing projects including a collaboration to examine African American infant mortality.
At Miami University, I am committed to engaging student curiosity and challenging students to question their own assumptions and further develop their writing and critical thinking skills. I teach a range of undergraduate courses from foundation level courses in anthropology and global health to upper level courses in medical and psychological anthropology, ethnographic methods, and global health grant writing. I have experience teaching medical students and medical anthropology students at UCLA, and teaching study abroad students at Miami University's Luxembourg campus.
A significant goal of my work is to better enable mutual understanding of people's struggles -- e.g. for patients to understand the constraints of physicians, for physicians to understand the daily experiences of patients, for public health experts to understand the hinderances that complicate people's ability to follow recommendations -- because mutual understanding comes better communication and ultimately better health outcomes.
My research focuses on the social distribution of medical knowledge in health care, health literacy and disparities, health communication including empathy and decision making in healer-patient interactions, issues of agency and helplessness, psychosocial stress and health, and the experiences of living with chronic illness in everyday life.
I have conducted and continue to publish data from my ethnographic research on the island of Lombok, Indonesia. In my more recent research projects I have examined health, illness, and clinical interactions in the United States, and have multiple ongoing projects including a collaboration to examine African American infant mortality.
At Miami University, I am committed to engaging student curiosity and challenging students to question their own assumptions and further develop their writing and critical thinking skills. I teach a range of undergraduate courses from foundation level courses in anthropology and global health to upper level courses in medical and psychological anthropology, ethnographic methods, and global health grant writing. I have experience teaching medical students and medical anthropology students at UCLA, and teaching study abroad students at Miami University's Luxembourg campus.
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Positions
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Primary Position:
Professor & Chair, Dept. of Anthropology Director, Global Health Research Innovation Center Coordinator, Global Health Minor 120 Upham Hall Miami University Oxford, Ohio 45056 Office phone: 513-529-9242 |
Secondary Position:
Associate Research Anthropologist Center for Culture and Health Dept. of Psychiatry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior UCLA Los Angeles, CA 90024-1759 |