My research examines the cultural history and practice of medical humanitarianism within religious communities, and specifically the ethics and politics of aid relationships between Christian communities in the U.S. and Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Madagascar. I published a book based on this research titled Conversionary Sites: Transforming Medical Aid and Global Christianity from Madagascar to Minnesota (University of Chicago Press). My work has also been featured in American Ethnologist, Journal of Religion in Africa, Discard Studies, and several essay collections, including the The Request and the Gift in Religious and Humanitarian Endeavors (Palgrave).
Other research interests include global waste economies, medical risk, medical commerce, and healing, as well as African Christian migration to the U.S. I received my doctorate in Anthropology from the University of Michigan, where I was also the recipient of a teaching award from the University’s Graduate School and a departmental nominee for a Distinguished Dissertation Award.
