Melissa Pashigian
Contact
Department/Subdepartment
Education
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles.
M.P.H., Harvard University.
Areas of Focus
Cultural and medical anthropology; assisted reproductive technologies in Vietnam, France and Southeast Asia
Biography
Melissa Pashigian is a cultural and medical anthropologist. She has conducted research on the social politics of infertility in Vietnam and the intersection of reproductive health policy, reproductive experience and treatment seeking surrounding infertility and involuntary childlessness. She is currently working on a study of the globalization of assisted reproductive technologies in Vietnam, France and Southeast Asia.
Her other research interests include the relationship of race, ethnicity and identity in the use of donor gametes, cross-cultural experiences of healing, the dynamics of global flows of pharmaceuticals, medical knowledge and technology and the use of public space in shaping subjectivities among marginalized populations.
Her course offerings include medical anthropology, anthropology of reproduction, anthropology of Southeast Asia, introduction to cultural anthropology, and senior conference.