Adjunct Professor
Ph.D., Brown University, 1991
Research Interests
My research focuses on the intersection between political economy, culture, and medicine. My field research began in the United States in health clinics providing for minorities and refugees. There I learned of the problems and concerns of refugee women whose reproductive rights were changing as the results of migration and social change. Further research was conducted with highlanders in the North of Thailand, the Hmong. Reproduction, gender, cosmology and health seeking behaviour were my main interests and this led to investigating inequality for highlanders in the majority Thai society and in the patrilineal Hmong system. Further research was conducted in Thailand on Hmong views of migration from rural to urban centers because of Thai eforts to incorporate minorities into the majority system. I was interested how these changes were affecting Hmong cultural dynamics. Further research was conducted on Hmong sexuality and how they and other highlanders could be encouraged to practice prevention in light of the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country.
My new project on Hmong will take place in the US where some 200,000 Hmong now live. I plan to investigate the changes that have taken place in Hmong society by investigating how empowerment of women has changed family life and reproductive behaviour.
Selected Publications
2004a, Calling in the Soul:Gender and the Cycle of Life in a Hmong Village. Seattle: University of Washingtom Press.
2004b. "Following Cutural Pathways for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS:Notes from the Field." In Hmong/Miao in Asia, Tapp et al. Chiang Mai, Silkworm Books.
2000, "Suivre les chemins culturales dans le cadre de la prevention du VIH/Sida chez Hmong de Thailande." In Blanc et al 367-94.
1998 With Brooke Schoepf HIV/AIDS: The Global Pandemic, In Etkin: 189-209.
1997a "Blessing in a White Hmong commuity in Northern Thailand: Invocation and Sacrifice." In Merit and Blessing in Manland Southeast Asia in Comparative Perspective. Kammerer and Tannenbaum eds. Monograph 45. Yale Southeast Asia Studies. 98-115.
1997b "The Political Economy and Cultural Logic of HIV/AIDS among the Hmong in Northern Thailand." In The Political Economy of AIDS, Merrill Singer. 205-226.
Courses Taught
For current and scheduled courses taught by Professor P V Symonds
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