Society for Medical Anthropology

A section of the American Anthropological Association

Special Interest Groups: CAGH

  • 2009 Rudolph Virchow Award

Rudolf Virchow, a 19th century German physician, was a key founder of social medicine. His contributions centered on his recognition that multiple intersecting factors – social, political, and economic – produce disease and illness. He argued that circumstances and deprivations of poverty increase people's susceptibility to disease as well as result in reduced life expectancy and quality of life. He eloquently articulated the limits of medicine in the absence of material security, a sentiment that informed his view that nation-states play an important role in ensuring health security for a citizenry. Virchow viewed advocacy as an essential part of health praxis, and, in keeping with this legacy, the Critical Anthropology for Global Health Caucus honors Virchow's work with three awards.

The annual Rudolf Virchow Awards are given by the Critical Anthropology for Global Health Caucus, a special interest group of the Society for Medical Anthropology. The professional award honors a recent published article, and the graduate and undergraduate student awards honor recent student papers, all deemed by the judges to best reflect, extend, or advance critical perspectives in medical anthropology.

Submissions

  • The submission deadline for the 2009 Rudolf Virchow Awards is July 15, 2009. Awards are made in the following categories: 1) Professional, 2) Graduate Student and 3) Undergraduate Student (see below). Papers should be sent by email, and must be received no later than July 15, 2009. Hard copies are no longer accepted. We encourage you to submit your own work and/or to nominate papers of your students or articles of colleagues. Articles must be submitted electronically in MS Word or Adobe PDF formats. File sizes must be less than 2MB.
  • If you wish to submit a paper for consideration, please e-mail the paper for review along with a cover letter to the 2009 Virchow Awards committee chair, Susan Erikson, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, at slerikson@sfu.ca by July 15th, 2009. Confirmations of receipt will be sent. To ensure a prompt and fair review, papers will not be accepted after the July 15th, 2009 11:59 pm PST deadline.

Professional, Graduate and Undergraduate Award Categories

  • The professional award will be awarded for an article, singly- or co-authored, published during 2008 in a peer-reviewed journal (print or on-line) or an edited volume. Technical reports and other contracted works will not be considered for this award.
  • The graduate student award will be awarded for a paper that was written in 2008 or 2009 and that has not yet been subjected to editorial review. Papers that have been submitted to a journal or edited volume, but that have not yet benefited from review may be included in this category. Theses and dissertations will not be accepted. However, a summary no longer than 30 pages (inclusive of references) of a thesis or a dissertation that can stand on it own, or a chapter that has been revised to stand on its own will be considered for this award. Papers from students who have graduated are still accepted in this category as long as the paper was written in 2008 or 2009. Only papers, not interactive media, will be considered for this award.
  • The undergraduate student award will be awarded for paper written in 2008 or 2009 while the student was still an undergraduate. Honors theses are not accepted. However, a shortened version no longer than 30 pages (inclusive of references) of the thesis or a chapter from the thesis that has been revised to stand on its own will be considered for this award. Only papers, not interactive media, will be considered.

Meeting Notes

2008 SfAA Meetings: We met in the Memphis room reserved from 3:30-5:20 on Thurs, Mar 27. Stay tuned for more details.

2007 AAA Meetings: annotated notes as follows

  • Leadership- Welcoming Mark Nichter as incoming chair, thanks to Jim Pfeiffer for past service
    Statement - revised to add gender component
  • Virchow Awards - discussion on process and oversight - remains key component of CAGH Group
    SMA Policy Statement - CAGH has been asked to draft a policy statement, possible topics include: Immigration, privitization of primary health care, and a critique of the ABC policy/plan - Executive board (volunteers) will discuss this: James, Sydney, Hanna, Sydney, Sarah, Smith-Nonini, Catherine McCoid, Michael Ennis, Mark (apologies for mispelled names)
  • Brainstorming session to consider: what else can we do. Suggestions included letters to editor, getting involved re: the elections, and emphasized how to keep critical issues in the public eye. Advocacy subcomittee was formed (again volunteers): -Jamee, Maggie K, Sydney, Rebecca Martinez, Azizur Molla, Smith-Nonini
  • 2006 AAA Meetings: Critical Anthropology of Health Caucus meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 16 from 12:15 - 1:30 in San Jose.