Degrees
- B.A., New College, Florida 1997
- M.A., American University 2000
- Ph.D., American University 2003
Areas of Interest
Feminist Ethnography; Reproductive Politics; Midwifery and Homebirth Activism; Lesbian/Gay/Bi/Trans/Queer Reproduction; Reproductive Loss; Transnational Feminist Activism; Feminist Pedagogy
Courses Taught
- Introduction to Anthropology
- Introduction to WGSS
- Introduction to Global Queer Studies
- Queer Lives
- Transnational Feminisms
- Global Politics of Reproduction
- Globalizing Health (team-taught with Dr. Thomas Tierney)
- Ethnographic Research
- Doing Feminist Research: Theory & Practice
- WGSS Senior Seminar: Feminist Pedagogy in Action
Publications
Books
- Feminist Ethnography: Thinking Through Methodologies, Challenges & Possibilities, 2nd Edition (2022, orig 2016). Dána-Ain Davis and Christa Craven. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Press.
- Reproductive Loss: Challenges to LGBTQ Family-Making (2019), in “Gender and Sexualities in Psychology” Book Series (Elizabeth Peel and Elizabeth Stokoe, eds.), Routledge Press. Companion Website: https://www.lgbtqreproductiveloss.org/
- Feminist Activist Ethnography: Counterpoints to Neoliberalism in North America (2013), Christa Craven & Dána-Ain Davis, eds. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
- Pushing for Midwives: Homebirth Mothers and the Reproductive Rights Movement (2010). Temple University Press, Philadelphia.
Articles
- “Queering Reproduction” (with Nessette Falu) in A Companion to the Anthropology of Reproductive Medicine and Technology (2023), Cecilia Van Hollen and Nayantara Appleton, eds. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
- “LGBTQ+ Family-Building: Challenges & Opportunity,” Profile in Open Access Textbook Introduction to LGBTQ+ Studies: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach (2022), Deborah P. Amory; Sean G. Massey; Jennifer Miller; and Allison P. Brown, eds. NY: State University of New York. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
- “Teaching Anti-Racist Citational Politics as a Project of Transformation: Lessons from the Cite Black Women Movement for White Feminist Anthropologists” (2021), in Feminist Anthropology, Special Issue on the Cite Black Women Collective 2(1): 120-129.
- “Losing a Child: Death & Hidden Losses in LGBTQ-Parent Families” (with Katherine R. Allen), in LGBTQ-Parent Families: Innovations in Research and Implications for Practice (2020), 2nd Edition, Abbie E. Goldberg and Katherine R. Allen, eds. New York: Springer.
- “Feminist Ethnography” (with Dána-Ain Davis), in Companion to Feminist Studies (2020, complement to the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies), Nancy Naples, ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
- “Infertility and Reproductive Loss,” in The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies (2016), Abbie E. Goldberg, ed., pp. 584-587. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
- 2010 “Downplaying Difference: Historical Accounts of African American Midwives and Contemporary Struggles for Midwifery” (co-authored with Mara Glatzel, Wooster Alumna ’07). Feminist Studies, Summer 2010.
- 2007 A “Consumer’s Right” to Choose a Midwife: Shifting Meanings for Reproductive Rights Under Neoliberalism. American Anthropologist 109(4): 701-712.
- 2005 Claiming Respectable American Motherhood: Homebirth Mothers, Medical Officials, and the State. Medical Anthropology Quarterly 19(2): 194-215.
Professional Affiliations
- American Anthropological Association, 1995-Present (AAA Governance Commission 2005-2007)
- Association for Feminist Anthropology, 1995-Present
- Council on Anthropology and Reproduction, 1999-Present
- Association for Queer Anthropology (formerly, Society of Lesbian & Gay Anthropologists), 1999-Present, (Co-Chair 2004-2005)
- National Women’s Studies Association, 2005-Present