Office Hours:
Spring 2025
Wed/Fri 2:00-3:30 pm
Research Interests
Dr. McCaffrey is a cultural and medical anthropologist whose research explores the interaction of medicine, activism, and gender in Europe and the United States.
Curriculum Vitae
Education
PhD Anthropology, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Advanced Certificate in Public Health, CUNY School of Public Health
BA Anthropology and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, SUNY New Paltz
Selected Publications
2025. Pills & Protest: Abortion Access in Ireland. Bloomsbury Academic Press.
2024. “The Woman is the Active Agent: General Practitioners and the Agentive Displacement of Abortion in Ireland” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 38(2): 193-207.
2024. “Aiding, Abetting, & America’s Bitter Abortion Pill”. L’Homme: European Journal of Feminist History, 35(2): 111 – 116.
2023. “Technologies of Protest in Irish Feminism.” Feminist Anthropology 4(1): 115-131.
Williamson, McCaffrey, Premkumar, Mishtal, Cogburn, Howes-Mishel, and Lowe. 2022. “CAR (Council on Anthropology and Reproduction) Statement on the Reversal of Roe v. Wade”. Rapid Response Series, Medical Anthropology Quarterly. https://medanthroquarterly.org/rapid-response/2022/08/car-statement-on-…
2022. “Op-Ed: We Should Talk More About the Abortion Pill.” SAPIENS, May 12. https://www.sapiens.org/culture/abortion-pill-change-activist-strategie…
Classes
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ANTH 100: Intro to Cultural Anthropology
This course has two broad aims. One is to introduce students to the field of cultural anthropology by paying close attention to what anthropologists do and how they do it. The other is to explore some of the ways in which people organize their lives and construct systems of meaning -- from kin relations and gender roles to economic systems and marriage patterns, religion and healing. In the process, we will be challenged to think about the value of cultural diversity in an increasingly interconnected world and to see ourselves from others' point of view.
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ANTH 302: Medical Anthropology
This course explores the cultural, social, economic, political, and environmental factors that affect health and well- being-as well as the practice of healing and medicine-across cultures. We will use theories and methods from critical medical anthropology to examine the social determinants of health and health inequality.
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ANTH 402: Sociomed Sci Cap Research
This course is an in-depth examination of research in the sociomedical sciences. Students read and think critically about contemporary interdisciplinary research studies on health and medicine from across the globe. Students also learn how to design and conduct a study of an issue related to health, disease, illness and/or medicine.
Student Research Opportunities
Dr. McCaffrey is looking for research assistants for Fall 2025 - Spring 2026 who want to work on her research project "Reproductive Justice and Interstate Solidarity in Post-Roe New York State," which examines how access to reproductive healthcare and abortion has changed in NY after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Student research assistants earn credit working on interview transcription, qualitative coding, background research, scholarly literature review, and other tasks as needed. Students should have taken ANTH319 (Politics of Reproduction) or have previous exposure to sexual and reproductive health topics through another course.