Department of Anthropology
114 MacBride Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1322
Phone: 319-335-0522
Fax: 319-335-0653
E-mail: anthropology at uiowa.edu
Human experiences of sickness and suffering are universal, yet also profoundly shaped by their cultural and historical contexts. Medical anthropology seeks to understand cultural and biological diversity in sickness, health and healing. Its varied approaches include meaning-centered investigations of disrupted well-being, considerations of how biological & cultural factors interact to promote health or produce sickness, analyses of political-economic causes of health inequalities, and applied research to improve health research and services in a globalizing world. Coursework in medical anthropology prepares students for a range of careers in academia and/or applied research.
Medical anthropologists at The University of Iowa work both inside and outside of the Department of Anthropology, in a campus-wide network that includes affiliated scholars in the Colleges of Nursing, Public Health, and Medicine and the Global Health Studies Program.
Faculty research interests incorporate a diverse range of geographical and topical specializations. Current examples include:
Medical anthropology at The University of Iowa emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration. Key faculty hold joint degrees in anthropology and a health profession (e.g., public health, nursing). The Department of Anthropology cross-lists its medical anthropology courses in Department of Community & Behavioral Health within the College of Public Health, and also in the Global Health Studies Program. A number of anthropology graduate students have completed joint PhD/MPH degrees.
Anthropology Faculty Specializing in Medical Anthropology:
Ellen Lewin
Erica Prussing
Affiliated Medical Anthropologists at the University of Iowa include:
Kevin M. Kelly, College of Public Health
Maureen F. McCue, Global Health Studies Program
Toni Tripp Reimer, College of Nursing
Marcy Rosenbaum, Department of Family Medicine
Christian Simon, Department of Internal Medicine
Current and Recent Graduate Students with Research Projects in Medical Anthropology:
Graduate students working in medical anthropology at The University of Iowa have successfully competed for a variety of internal and external grants to support their field research and dissertation writing, as well as for postdoctoral and tenure-track positions after graduating. Their recent publications include articles in journals such as Culture, Health & Sexuality, Current Osteoporosis Reports, International Journal of Global Health & Health Disparities, Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, and Nutritional Anthropology; and a book in the Studies in Medical Anthropology series at Rutgers University Press.
Jenna Grant -“Seeing and Believing: Visuality and the Cultural Politics of Biomedical Imaging in Cambodia.” Currently conducting fieldwork. Doctoral study supported by the Center for Khmer Studies, UI Presidential Graduate Fellowship, and UI Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.
Rachel Horner - “The Italian Slow Food Movement: Risk Discourse and Embodied Experience.” Currently writing dissertation. Doctoral study supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, UI T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Fellowship, UI CGRER (Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research) Research Travel Grant, and UI Foreign Language and Area Studies grant.
Carolyn Hough -“Disruption and Development: Kanyalengs in The Gambia,” Ph.D. 2006. Currently Assistant Professor, Augustana College. Doctoral study supported by UI T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Fellowship, UI CIREH (Center for International, Rural and Environmental Health) Research Fellowship, UI Department of Anthropology Summer Research Grant.
Alexis Matza - "The Boston 'T' Party: Masculinity, Testosterone Therapy, and Embodiment among Aging Men and Transgender Men," Ph.D. 2009. Currently postdoctoral fellow specializing in masculinities and queer theory in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Washington University. Doctoral study supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, National Science Foundation, a Summer Fellowship at the School for Advanced Research, and UI Ballard/Seashore Dissertation Fellowship.
Kari Olson -“Methods of Control: An Anthropological Analysis of Fertility Regulating Technologies in Urban China,” Ph.D. 2003. Elected graduate student member, Executive Board, Society for Medical Anthropology, 2002-2004. Doctoral study supported by the American Council of Learned Societies (Committee on Scholarly Communication with China), UI T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Fellowship, UI Center for Asian & Pacific Studies, UI Seashore Dissertation-Year Fellowship.
Michelle Ramirez -“Suffering, Modernity and Morality: Menopause in Urban Oaxaca,” Ph.D. 2002. Currently Assistant Professor, Department of Social Science, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Research Associate, Kaiser Center for Health Research, 2004-2007. Postdoctoral fellow, Oregon Health & Science University/Kaiser Center for Health Research, 2002-2004. Doctoral study supported by the National Science Foundation.
Samantha Solimeo -“Living with Parkinson's Disease: Narratives and the Practice of Embodiment among Elder Iowans,” Ph.D. 2005. Postdoctoral fellow, Aging Center, Duke University School of Medicine, 2005-2007. Currently Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology & Anthropology, North Carolina State University. Doctoral study supported by the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality).
Andria Timmer - “Defining Need: Organizational Efforts to Aid the Hungarian Roma,” Ph.D., 2009. Doctoral study supported by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, UI CIREH (Center for International, Rural and Environmental Health) Research Fellowship, UI Foreign Language and Area Studies grant, UI T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Fellowship, UI International Programs Stanley Award for Graduate Research Abroad, UI CGRER (Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research) Research Travel Grant, and UI Ballard/Seashore Dissertation Fellowship.
Other recent/current student projects examine the cultural politics of an international clinical trial for HIV/AIDS in Cambodia, ganja use in Jamaica, chiropractic education and medical heterodoxy in the U.S., the mystification of malnutrition by neoliberal economic reforms in Nicaragua, human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination practices and policies in Iowa, health experiences and resources for homeless populations in New York City, and the rising popularity of vasectomy for family planning in Costa Rica.