Dr Anna Waldstein has a PhD in Ecological and Environmental Anthropology from the University of Georgia and a BA in Medical Anthropology from Hampshire College. Her doctoral work focused on women’s popular medical knowledge and self-care practices in both indigenous and mestizo communities in Mexico and among Mexican migrants in the southeastern United States.
Recently, Dr Waldstein has begun looking more closely at political dimensions of medicinal plant-use and the historical relationship between medicine and social control. Citizenship in many contemporary nations is based on the acceptance of both biomedical models of health/disease and professional advice/prescribed treatment. However, Anna's work suggests that alternative and even illicit models of health and healing may be more sustainable, especially for migrant/diaspora populations.
