Harris Solomon, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Global Health

Office Location:	201H Friedl Building
Office Phone:	919-613-4452
Email Address:
Web Page:

Education:

• PhD Brown University 2011
• MA Brown University 2007
• MPH Emory University 2002

Specialties:

South Asia

Urban Anthropology

Mass Culture

Post Colonialism

Globalization

Research Interests:

I am interested in consumerism and chronic illness in urban India. As India becomes increasingly portrayed as the site of an "epidemiological transition" -- a shift from infectious to chronic disease burdens said to accompany economic development -- my research questions the embodied politics of accumulation. 

I am currently working on a book project that examines the relationships forged between food, fat, and the body in light of India's rising rates of obesity and diabetes. This project draws on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Mumbai's home kitchens, metabolic disorder clinics, and food companies, to better understand what have been called India's "diseases of prosperity." 

My earlier projects have examined the development of corporatized medical care in Indian cities and its manifestation as "medical tourism," and the politics of language in India's HIV treatment clinical trials. Uniting all of these interests are questions about threats to bodily and national longevity. 

I situate both my research and teaching at the interdisciplinary intersections of medical anthropology, South Asian studies, science and technology studies, global health, and food studies. Prior to anthropology, I studied linguistics and global public health, and worked on reproductive health and HIV policy. 

Recent Publications

1. H. Solomon. "Affective Journeys: The Emotional Structuring of Medical Tourism in India." Anthropology & Medicine  vol. 18 no. 1 ( 2011): 105-118. [13648470.2010.525878#preview]