Office Hours:
Fall 2024:
Thursday 1:00-3:00 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
McCaffrey, Brenna. 2024. “The Woman is the Active Agent: General Practitioners and the Agentive Displacement of Abortion in Ireland” Medical Anthropology Quarterly 38(2): 193-207.
McCaffrey, Brenna. 2024. “Aiding, Abetting, & America’s Bitter Abortion Pill”. L’Homme: European Journal of Feminist History, 35(2): 111 – 116.
McCaffrey, Brenna. 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 for the Anthropology of 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-…
McCaffrey, Brenna. 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 advises students interested in doing research related to sexual and reproductive health and activism.
Her current ethnographic project "Reproductive Justice and Interstate Solidarity in Post-Roe NY" examines the state of abortion access in New York after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the impact of the Dobbs decision on reproductive justice work in our area. Research will be on-going from Summer 2024 - Summer 2025. Students have been involved with background research and literature review, conducting qualitative interviews, transcribing and coding data for analysis, and writing up or presenting findings. Please email Dr. McCaffrey if you are interested in this research.
Students should take ANTH319: Politics of Reproduction or have previous knowledge of reproductive health topics.