Short Abstract:

This roundtable brings together medical anthropologists to discuss the future of the subdiscipline at a time of increasing demand, growing numbers and interdisciplinary requirements.

Long Abstract:

Anthropologists and other social science researchers have long struggled to escape a prescribed 'handmaiden' status to the biomedical and life sciences when undertaking health-related research. However, including social sciences in cross-, inter- and trans-disciplinary research to tackle complex global health challenges has increasingly been recognised as essential, including among some research funders. Therefore, whilst medical anthropology has been a minority field in public and global health, recent years have seen increasing demand, and growing numbers of medical anthropology graduates emerging from our universities. Challenges arise to equip these graduates and cultivate new avenues for employment at a moment of increasing concern about precarity in academic roles. It is timely for medical anthropologists as a collective to revisit questions about how we relate to other disciplines and their methodologies, the trajectories of medical anthropological careers and how scholars outside anthropology departments can be supported during challenging academic times. How can we collectively respond to demand for medical anthropology? Is our training fit-for-purpose? How can anthropologists engage most effectively with the diverse methodological approaches used in biomedical, public health and allied fields (e.g. microbiology, biochemistry, environmental and veterinary sciences) to develop and implement successful research across disciplines? What does success look like, when academic career development valorises single-discipline outputs, and funders / policymakers require measurable results and readily implementable solutions?

This roundtable will bring together a group of anthropologists at multiple career stages with experience of working across disciplines to discuss the future of bringing anthropology 'to the table'. They are: Mark Nichter (Emeritus Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona), Becky Marsland (Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Anthropology, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh), Bev Stringer (Deputy Head Manson unit, Médecins Sans Frontières), Shagufta Bhangu (Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, King's College London)