Call for Papers: Medical Anthropology in Global Africa, 09/10

We are writing to invite you to present your research as part of the conference, Medical Anthropology in Global Africa: Current Trends in Scholarship and Practice, to be held at the University of Kansas, September 16 - 18, 2010. This conference aims to bring together Africanist anthropologists and scholars in related disciplines whose research concerns the intersections among cultural anthropology and medicine, public health, psychology, history, population & development, and science & technology studies.

Few fields in the social sciences have witnessed such growth over the past decade as that of medical anthropology. Within this seemingly boundless sub-discipline of anthropology, this conference poses the question: What makes Africanist projects unique? What contributions have anthropological or ethnographic studies of Africa made to health sciences? And what, in turn, does contemporary medical anthropology and health science scholarship offer Africanists? When scholars of health in Africa trace their concerns beyond the boundaries of the continent, what lasting impact have their experiences had on the trajectory of their work? Finally, what draws the current generation of medical anthropologists and ethnographically oriented health scientists to pursue research in sub-Saharan Africa? We hope these discussions will reinvigorate the efforts of African Studies Centers to explore these novel intersections through curricular and collaborative research initiatives.

Professor Carolyn Sargent of the Department of Anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis will give the conference's keynote address. Panel chairs will include: Daniel Smith (Brown University); Claire Wendland (University of Wisconsin); Kristin Peterson (University of California, Irvine); and Ama de Graft-Aikins (University of Ghana). We are looking forward to compiling the papers given at the conference into an edited volume. If you are interested in attending, we ask that you submit an abstract of 250 words by May 15th. Conference panels will include:

Global aid, development, and governance
Technologies, pharmaceuticals, and bioethics
Human development, disability, and chronic disorders
Public health, development and medical professionalization Violence, trauma, memory, and spirituality
Epidemiology, population, and migration studies
Gender, sexuality and reproductive health
Other Topics

The registration fees for full-time faculty will be $60 if submitted before June 30, 2010 ($80 if submitted before September 10th or $100 if registering on-site). The cost for students will be $25. Abstracts should be emailed to Professor Kathryn Rhine, Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas: kasc.maga2010@gmail.com. More information can be found on the conference website:
http://www.kasc.ku.edu/HC.shtml.

Kathryn A. Rhine,
John M. Janzen,
Glenn Adams, and
Heather Aldersley

Page Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D.