Academic Resources: Graduate Programs
University of Iowa
Degrees offered:
- M.A., PH.D.
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 as well as the Global Health Studies Program.
Medical anthropologists in the Department of Anthropology:
- Ellen Lewin (Ph.D. Stanford University). Professor of Anthropology and Women's Studies. Research interests: Motherhood, reproduction, sexuality; feminist medical anthropology; lesbian and gay studies; U.S. cultures.
- Erica Prussing (Ph.D. University of California at San Diego; M.P.H. University of California at Berkeley). Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Public Health (Community & Behavioral Health). Research interests: Critical medical and psychological anthropology; health of indigenous peoples; alcohol & drug studies; cultural epidemiology; feminist science studies; Native North America.
Medical Anthropology Adjunct Faculty:
- Kevin M. Kelly, College of Public Health (biological and biomedical anthropology; anthropological genetics; human population biology; clinical outcomes; craniofacial skeletal biology)
- Maureen F. McCue, Global Health Studies Program (women's health; global health; critical medical anthropology)
- Toni Tripp Reimer, College of Nursing (cross-cultural gerontology; psychological anthropology; transcultural nursing)
- Marcy Rosenbaum, Department of Family Medicine (physician-patient communication; evaluation of medical education; psychosocial oncology; alternative medicine)
- Christian Simon, Department of Internal Medicine (research ethics and informed consent; e-medicine; communication in cancer care; international health; bioethics and community-based participatory research; ethics of genomics research)
Program information:
- Coursework in medical anthropology at the University of Iowa prepares students for a range of careers in academia and/or applied research. Our training 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 the 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.
- 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.
- Recent and current graduate student projects have examined the cultural politics of biomedical imaging practices in Cambodia; risk discourses in the Slow Food Movement in Italy and the U.S.; infertility and women's performance groups in the Gambia; masculinity, testosterone therapy, and embodied experience among aging and transgender men in the U.S.; experiences of menopause in urban Oaxaca; narratives and embodied practices of elder Iowans living with Parkinson's disease; contradictions in the discourse and practice of non-governmental organizations providing aid to Roma populations in Hungary; 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.
- Department of Anthropology
114 Macbride Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1322
Phone: 319-335-0522
FAX: (319) 335-0653
