Cristina Bejarano

Assistant Professor of Anthropology
With Pomona Since: 2018
  • Expertise

    Expertise

    Cristina T. Bejarano is a sociocultural anthropologist who conducts research in the areas of medical anthropology, science and technology studies, and environmental studies.

    Her current book project, Unruly Genomes, examines the efforts of the Mexican state to build an infrastructure aimed at promoting biomedical research in the field of genomics. It analyzes how resource-limited local research institutions and universities in conjunction with uneven transnational scientific networks can create the conditions for new iterations of somatic reductionism while potentially obscuring the significance of innovative biomedical approaches to the complex interactions between bodies and environments.

    She also conducts research on how heavily industrial communities of Southern California are affected by exposure to toxic substances over the course of generations. This research examines environmental governance as well as the attempts of local environmental justice groups to hold polluters accountable. This work emphasizes the long-term effects of exposure to both toxic substances and the industrial infrastructure itself.

    Areas of Expertise

    • Medical Anthropology
    • Science and Technology Studies
    • Biomedical Knowledges and Practices
    • Social and Cultural Implications of Genetics
    • Environmental Governance
    • Environmental Health Risk
  • Work

    Work

    Book Reviews

    Biomedicine in an Unstable Place: Infrastructure and Personhood in a Papuan New Guinean Hospital by Alice Street. Book Review, American Ethnologist, Vol. 44 No. 3 (2017): 555-556.

    Domesticating Organ Transplant: Familial Sacrifice and National Aspiration in Mexico by Megan Crowley-Matoka. Book Review, Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 9 No. 2 (2017): 525-529.

    Work-in-Progress

    Unruly Genomes: Science, Infrastructure, and a National Genome in Mexico. Book manuscript.

  • Education

    Education

    Ph.D., University of California, Irvine

    Recent Courses Taught

    • Medical Anthropology
    • Race, Science, Gender
    • Science, Medicine, Technology
  • Awards & Honors

    Awards & Honors

    • Mellon Chau Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018 - 2020)
    • University of California Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (2015 - 2017)
    • National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (2010)
    • National Academy of Sciences Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship (2008 - 2011)