Clarence C. Gravlee

This week Douglas Monroe has selected an article related to his dissertation research for discussion:

Dodson, J. L., Hsiao, Y., Kasat-Shors, M., Murray, L., Nguyen, N. K., Richards, A. K. et al. (2009). Formative Research for a Healthy Diet Intervention Among Inner-City Adolescents: The Importance of Family, School and Neighborhood Environment. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 48(1), 39-58.

If this article sparks your interest, here are some recent reviews from a special issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine about the state of research on the food environment.

Glanz, K. (2009). Measuring Food Environments: A Historical Perspective. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(4), S93-S98.

Lytle, L. (2009). Measuring the Food Environment: State of the Science. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(4), S134-S144.

McKinnon, R. A., Reedy, J., Morrissette, M., Lytle, L., & Yaroch, A. (2009). Measures of the Food EnvironmentA Compilation of the Literature, 1990–2007. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(4), S124-S133.

Please join us on Friday, January 21, 11:45 a.m. – 12:35 p.m., in the Medical Anthropology Lab (TUR B103)

We kick off journal club for the new year with an article that has a little something for everyone—whether you’re more comfortable talking about ethnography or neurobiology:

Hay, M. C. (2009). Anxiety, Remembering, and Agency: Biocultural Insights for Understanding Sasaks’ Responses to Illness. Ethos, 37(1), 1-31.

Please join us for the discussion starting at 11:45 a.m., Friday, Jan. 14, in the Med Anthro Lab (TUR B103). Now’s also the time to start filling the schedule for the rest of the semester, so please send me your articles and dates.

Moderator: Lance Gravlee

Noelle Sullivan selected a compelling recent article for our discussion in journal club this week:

Kalofonos, I. A. (2010). “All I Eat Is ARVs”: The Paradox of AIDS Treatment Interventions in Central Mozambique. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 24(3), 363-380.

This paper was awarded the Hughes Paper Prize in 2008. The Hughes prize is awarded annually by the Society for Medical Anthropology for the best paper written by a graduate student.

Come join the discussion on Friday at 10:40 in the Med Anthro Lab.

I am reminded again about one reason I love medical anthropology: its breadth. Last week in journal club we read about symbolic capital and body politics among the Tuareg; this week we turn to the analysis of cortisol in hair to assess exposure to chronic stressors. Where else can you cover that kind of scope?

Come join us on Friday, 10:40 – 11:30 a.m. in the Med Anthro Lab (TUR B103) to discuss the following paper, selected and presented by Alan Schultz:

Dettenborn, L., Tietze, A., Bruckner, F., & Kirschbaum, C. (2010). Higher cortisol content in hair among long-term unemployed individuals compared to controls. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 1-6.

Even if you aren’t interested in the topic, how often do you get to read a paper from a journal whose title is only one word but 10 syllables long?

We had an unfortunate, last-minute scheduling change this week, which gave me an opportunity to step in with a pair of articles I’ve been eager to discuss. Wait, did I say a pair of articles? Don’t fret: they’re both short. And they were made for each other.

Both papers are by Chandra Ford and colleagues. The first reviews critical race theory and discusses its applications in public health. The second presents an empirical application of the theory. If you only have time to read one, read the 2010 commentary. But it will enrich our discussion if you can read both:

Ford, C. L., & Airhihenbuwa, C. O. (2010). Critical race theory, race equity, and public health: Toward antiracism praxis. Am J Public Health, 100(S1), S30-S35.

Ford, C. L., Daniel, M., Earp, J. A. L., Kaufman, J. S., Golin, C. E., & Miller, W. L. (2009). Perceived everyday racism, residential segregation, and HIV testing among patients at a sexually transmitted disease clinic. Am J Public Health, 99(S1), S137-S143.

And if that’s not enough, Ford and Airhihenbuwa have another, longer paper about critical race theory in press at Social Science & Medicine.

See you Friday at 10:40 a.m. in The Lab (TUR B103).

For journal club this week, José Antonio Tovar has selected the following article to discuss:

Ayala, G. X., Vaz, L., Earp, J. A., Elder, J. P., & Cherrington, A. (2010). Outcome effectiveness of the lay health advisor model among Latinos in the United States: an examination by role. Health Education Research, 25(5), 815-840.

Please join us at 10:40 a.m. on Friday in the Med Anthro Lab (TUR B103) for the discussion.

This week’s journal club moderator is June Carrington, who selected the following article for us to discuss:

Smart Richman, L., Pek, J., Pascoe, E., & Bauer, D. J. (2010). The effects of perceived discrimination on ambulatory blood pressure and affective responses to interpersonal stress modeled over 24 hours. Health Psychology, 29(4), 403.

Join us in The Lab (TUR B103) at 10:40 a.m. for the discussion.

This week Doug Monroe has selected an article we can really, er, sink our teeth into:

Paugh, A., & Izquierdo, C. (2009). Why is This a Battle Every Night?: Negotiating Food and Eating in American Dinnertime Interaction. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 19(2), 185-204.

Join us on Friday, 10:40 – 11:30 a.m. in the Med Anthro Lab (TUR B103).

There’s growing interest–excitement, even–about the possible role of epigenetics to clarify how experience becomes embodied in biological functioning. This week’s readings, selected by Nikki D’Errico, share some of the enthusiasm and a healthy dose of skepticism:

Champagne, F. (2010). Epigenetic Influence of Social Experiences across the Lifespan. Dev Psychobiol, 52(4), 299-311.

Miller, G. (2010). Epigenetics. The Seductive Allure of Behavioral Epigenetics. Science, 329(5987), 24-27.

Also relevant is an article in this week’s issue of Nature that reviews some of the criticism and limitations of epigenetics. The Nature piece features work by Frances Champagne, author of the lead article in journal club this week.

Join us in The Lab (TUR B103) on Friday, 10:40 – 11:30 a.m. to be part of the discussion.

This week we kick off a new academic year of journal club in medical anthropology and population health with a recent paper from Social Science and Medicine:

Coreil, J., Mayard, G., Simpson, K., Lauzardo, M., Zhu, Y., & Weiss, M. G. (2010). Structural forces and the production of TB-related stigma among Haitians in two contexts. Social Science & Medicine.

We’ll meet on Friday, September 3, 10:40 – 11:30 a.m. in the Medical Anthropology Lab, Turlington B103. See you there!