James Robbins

James Robbins is a medical, feminist, and cultural anthropologist and adjunct professor with research interests in neoliberalism, decolonialism, healthcare ethnography, Latinx/e studies, language access, and gender. His recent project has focused on the relationship between subjectivity and performativity among nurses. Future research is focused on issues of language access among Latinx/e/Hispanic patients experiencing postpartum depression.

Courses:

Feminist Theory

Four-field Anthropology

Economic Anthropology

Education:

BS in Economics

BS in Psychology

BA in Sociology

MA in Anthropology

Publications:

Robbins, James., with Andrea Freidus and Lennin Caro. 2021. The Importance of Community in the Experiences of Frontline COVID-19 Nurses. SFAA Newsletter.

Robbins, J. & Freidus, A. 2022. Neoliberalism and Work-Life Balance Among COVID-19 Nurses. Under review in Human Organization

Robbins, J., Caro, L., & Freidus A. 2022. Beyond the Workplace: Examining Burnout Stressors among North Carolina Frontline COVID-19 Nurses. Under review in Journal of Advanced Nursing

Dori Beeler

Dr. Dori Beeler is an applied medical anthropologist whose work spans across spirituality, medicine, Science and Technology Studies, public health, and oncology. Since 2015, she has worked in academic and applied work across the US and UK in collaboration with many disciplines and private, and public institutions. Her current work is focused on Implementation Science and collaborative projects investigating cancer-related fatigue across the cancer continuum. She employs mixed-methods research to inform evidence-based interventions aimed at improving patient-centered cancer care.

EDUCATION:

  • Ph.D. Durham University, UK, Anthropology, 2015
  • M.A. Durham University, UK, Anthropology, 2011
  • B.F.A. California State University, Fullerton, Fine Art, Minor in Anthropology, 1995

TEACHING:

  • Fundamentals of Social and Cultural Anthropology (undergraduate)
  • Anthropology of Religion (undergraduate)
  • Anthropology of Food (undergraduate)
  • Witchcraft and Magic (undergraduate)
  • Medical Anthropology, Writing Intensive (undergraduate)
  • Ethnography of Medical Institutions (combined undergraduate and graduate course)
  • Ethnographic Methods (combined undergraduate and graduate course)

RESEARCH INTERESTS/AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

  • Medical anthropology
  • Supportive Oncology/Integrative Oncology
  • Cancer-related fatigue
  • Caregivers
  • Childhood cancer
  • Complementary and alternative medicine
  • Spirituality
  • Implementation Science
  • Patient-reported outcome measures
  • Applied anthropology
  • Rapid Ethnography

AWARDS/HONORS/GRANTS:

2013 HE Unltd*, Social Enterprise Grant

2016 Centre for Social Justice and Community Action, Small Grants Awards

2017-2020 The Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA)

2020 Society of Integrative Oncology (SIO) 2020 Virtual Conference

Scholarship Award

2020 Hrabowski Innovation Award

SELECT PUBLICATIONS:

Beeler, D and Jonker J. In press. Reiki Practice and the body as a mediator for religiosity. In: Pati, G. and Greenberg, Y. (eds.) Routledge Handbook on Religion and the Body. Routledge.

Wharton, B., Beeler, D.M., and Cooper, S. 2022. The “Day Zero Talk”: the Initial Communication of a Pediatric Oncology Diagnosis by Primary Care Physicians and Other Primary Care Providers. Journal of Cancer Education, 37(3), pp.728-738.

Beeler, D., Paré-Blagoev, E.J., Jacobson, L.A. and Ruble, K. 2021. Educating childhood cancer survivors: a qualitative analysis of parents mobilizing social and cultural capital. Journal of Cancer Education, 36(4), pp.819-825.

Bezuidenhout L. and Beeler, D. 2021. Dynamic Boundaries: Using Boundary Work to Rethink Scientific Virtues. In: Stapleford, Thomas A. and Ratti, E. (eds.) Science, Technology, and Virtues: Contemporary Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Beeler, D.M. 2020. When my four-year-old got cancer: a retrospective on resilience in a paediatric oncology ward. Anthropology & medicine, 27(3), pp.347-362.

Bezuidenhout, L., Ratti, E., Warne, N., and Beeler, D. 2019. Docility as a primary virtue in scientific research. Minerva, 57, pp.67-84.

Beeler, D.M. and Jonker, J. 2019. Health and religion. Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0218.xml. Published July 31.

Bezuidenhout, L. and Beeler, D., 2019. Docility is not passiveness: teaching learners to learn in science education. Philosophy, Theology, and the Sciences.

Beeler, D. 2018. A reiki sense of well-being. Anthropology News website. January 24. doi:10.1111/AN.747 (https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/AN.747).

Beeler, D. 2017. Reiki as surrender: evidence of an external authority. Journal of contemporary religion, 32(3), pp.465-478.

Beeler DM. 2016. An Ethnographic Account of Reiki Practice in Britain. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Jasmine Strickland

Name: Jasmine Strickland

Advisor: Dr. Andrea Freidus

Education:

BA Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University, 2017

Research Interests:

College transition and student success for first-generation and minoritized students in the U.S.; Decolonizing pedagogies; Intersectionality; Maternal-child health disparities in the U.S.

Current Research:

My current work uses an anti-deficit framework to examine how Black undergraduate students navigate a predominantly white university. More specifically, my research addresses how Black undergraduate students modify their environment in order to reduce the risk factors associated with experiencing racism on campus.

Lennin Caro

PROFILE:

Lennin Caro is a cultural anthropologist that specializes in Christianity, neoliberalism, and subjectivity. His research experience includes ethnographic investigations on evangelical practices within college campuses and volunteer tourism/short-term mission narratives. He is currently researching how the circulation of affect between volunteers and Malawian orphans contribute to subject-making.

EDUCATION:

  • MA, Anthropology, UNC Charlotte
  • BA, Anthropology, UNC Charlotte

COURSES:

  • Introduction to Anthropology
  • The Self in Cross-Cultural Perspectives (Liberal Studies)
  • Economic Anthropology

RESEARCH TOPICS/AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

  • Evangelical Christianity
  • Neoliberalism
  • Volunteer Tourism
  • Subjectivity/Selfhood

PUBLISHED ARTICLES:

Freidus, Andrea and Lennin Caro. Malawi, Orphans, and the Search for Authenticity in Protestant Short-Term Missions. Human Organization. 2018.

MA THESIS:

Caro, Lennin. Missional Subjectivity: Neoliberal Human Capital and Christian Campus Ministries. 2017. Available on ProQuest. (Master’s Thesis)

PRESENTATIONS:

“Sin and Hope: Christian Evangelical Perceptions of the University.” Presented 9/6/2018 at “Religion and Secularism on Campus: Examing how Universities Experience and Negotiate Diverse Beliefs”: SOAS, University of London.

“Orphanage Tourism, Protestant Students and the Affect Economy.” Presented with Dr. Andrea Freidus 2/22/18 at the “16th Annual Africana Studies Symposium.” UNC Charlotte.

Marty Gimson

Name: Martha ‘Marty’ Stout Gimson

Advisor: Dr. Sara Juengst

Education:

BA Anthropology with a minor in Geology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Research Interests:

Osteology, trauma, bone pathology, forensic anthropology

Current Research:

Structural violence experienced by African American females during enslavement in the US during the early 1800s as evidenced in skeletal pathology and trauma

Celeste Lam

Name: Celeste Lam

Advisor: Dr. Lydia Light

Education:

B.Sc. in Psychology with a minor in Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

MA in Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Research Interests:

Primatology with a focus in ethnoprimatological research on human-macaque aggression, macaque urbanization, and human-macaque coexistence.

Current Research:

My current research focuses on patterns of aggression in wild macaques in response to river tourism at Silver Springs State Park.

Kitty Kolb

Katharine Rainey Kolb, MA, GISP Kitty has degrees in Anthropology and Archaeology from Arizona State University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include archaeobotany, GIS, human-environment interactions, political economy, feminist environmentalism, resilience theory, and fan studies. Her geographical areas of interest are the North American Eastern Woodlands and the American Southwest.

Heather Mode

Ms. Mode holds a B.A. in Anthropology from UNC Wilmington and an M.A. in Anthropology from Florida State University. She specializes in bioarchaeology.

Alan May

Received: Ph.D. From: University of Missouri Specialty: Archaeology, North America, North Carolina.

Specializations: Southeastern Native Americans, North American Native Americans, North American Historical Archaeology, Archaeological Theory, and Introduction to Anthropology.