About

I am a medical anthropologist with a focus on gender/sexuality, care studies, and clinical and biomedical practice. I am an Assistant Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Memphis.

This website is where I maintain my CV, copies of or links published work, some of my teaching materials, and other documents such as successful grant proposals. You can find more information about my research interests here. If you’d like to get in touch with me, you can send me a private message via the contact form or add me on social media (links at bottom left side of page).

Photo by Carrie Owens.

Education

  • PhD 2021

    PhD, Anthropology

    University of Arizona (Medical Anthropology and Gender & Women's Studies concentration)

  • MA 2013

    MA, Anthropology

    The University of Texas at San Antonio

  • BA 2010

    BA, Anthropology

    The University of Texas at San Antonio

Academic Appointments

  • Present2022

    Assistant Professor

    Department of Anthropology, University of Memphis

  • 20222021

    Visiting Assistant Professor

    Department of Anthropology, University of Memphis

Projects

  • Queer Carceral Care

    Queer and transgender people are disparately impacted by the carceral state. From higher rates of policing, to higher incidences of abuse behind bars, to greater material precarity after release from prison, queer/trans individuals are at greater risk of bodily and emotional harm from punitive social institutions that offer little care. This project addresses healthcare access and meanings of care more broadly for LGBTQ+ people in Memphis re-integrating into society after incarceration, with the overarching goal of advocating for improved access to care for these individuals. In collaboration with Dr. Lindsey Feldman (UofM Department of Anthropology) and The Haven, a non-profit serving the LGBTQ+ community in Memphis, TN, this project will address meanings of care and risk at theoretical, programmatic, and policy levels simultaneously. We ask how queer individuals who are navigating the re-entry phase define care physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally, and seek understandings of access to care through both informal and formal avenues. We will build on these lived experiences to improve community-driven healthcare programs, decrease stigma and dehumanization, and ultimately impact policy decisions that materially shape peoples’ access to all forms of care during the re-entry phase.

  • A Clinical Ethnography of HPV-Related Anal Disease

    Dissertation Research Project

    Dissertation project conducting ethnographic fieldwork at ADC-MidWest, a clinic specializing in HPV-related anal disease (dysplasia, neoplasia, cancer) in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Funded by a Dissertation Fieldwork Grant from The Wenner-Gren Foundation.