Other Documents

Grant Proposals

• Dissertation Fieldwork Grant - Wenner-Gren Foundation

  Here is a copy of my successful Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant proposal. The proposal was successfully funded on the third round. This document is slightly edited to remove some sensitive information.

  Project Abstract: 

  This project explores the practices of medical providers and their interactions with patients at a clinic specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related anal disease in Chicago, Illinois, USA, as they shape and are shaped by cultural beliefs and discourses concerning gender and sexuality. How do clinicians draw on cultural notions of gender and sexuality in their interactions with patients, and how do those processes shape the production of medical knowledge concerning HPV-related anal disease? How do patient experiences of HPV-related anal disease both shape and reflect cultural representations of gender and sexuality, especially for members of sexual and gender minority populations who experience disproportionate rates of HPV-related anal disease? Through twelve months of ethnographic data collection, including participant observation in the clinic and in-depth interviews with clinic staff and patients, this project will investigate the diagnosis and treatment of anal disease as a site of sociocultural production of norms, beliefs, and discourses of gender and sexuality. Focusing on the interactions among clinicians, clinic staff, and patients, the findings of this clinical ethnography will contribute to anthropological understandings of and theorizing about clinical practice, theories of gender and sexuality, anthropology of the body, and expertise and expert knowledge production.