Hometown: San Jose, California
Major: Sociology and anthropology
Comps project: I spent 10 weeks in Peru on a Mellon Mays grant and researched how working-class people in the city of Trujillo choose from among different healing options, including both biomedicine and traditional rituals.
Inspiration: I had my first experience with traditional healing last year when I took organic chemistry. It was right around my first exam, and I was feeling really drained emotionally. So my friend invited me over and did a ritual. It got me thinking. I don’t know if I actually believe in the practice, but I appreciate that this member of my Mexican community thought this could help me.
I started to realize that healing has deeper implications that we don’t often consider in the U.S. biomedical system. Healing is embedded in social relations, it’s embedded in the community.
Challenges: It took time to build trust with the people I interviewed. Health and illness are very personal. Sometimes people are embarrassed to admit that they use traditional healing practices, because it can be associated with people who don’t have an education. So you have to be patient.
Future plans: I won a Fulbright! I’m going to research a topic similar to my comps in Guadalajara, Mexico. I’ll have the support of the Mexican journal Tucari, which focuses on researching indigenous communities. I’ll publish in Tucari, but I also want to write and publish an ethnography.