Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Washington, 2010
Email: ebrunson@txstate.edu
Phone: (512) 245-6753
Office: ELA 237

Research and Teaching Interests:
Medical anthropology, qualitative methods, social network analysis, anthropological theory, childhood vaccination, infectious disease, growth and development

Dr. Brunson is a medical anthropologist cross trained in cultural and biological anthropology. She has contributed to a variety of research projects including studies of diabetes care in the US, the impact of household decision-making on child growth and development in Kenya, and safe water practices in India. At this time Dr. Brunson’s research focuses on childhood vaccination in the US including understanding how parents make decisions about their children’s vaccinations; how parents’ social networks relating to childhood vaccination are constructed and how these in turn impact parents’ decisions-making; and finally how larger social, political and economic factors affect both parents’ decisions and children’s vaccination outcomes. Dr. Brunson has conducted fieldwork in Africa and the US.

Curriculum Vita

Publications:

Brunson EK, Shell-Duncan B, Steele M. 2009. Women’s autonomy and its relationship with women’s status and children’s nutrition among the Rendille of northern Kenya. American Journal of Human Biology 21:55-64.

Brunson EK. 2007. Vaccines. In: Boslaugh S (ed.) Encyclopedia of Epidemiology. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 1069-1070.

Collier-Garvin C, Cheadle A, Chrisman N, Chen R, Brunson EK. 2004. Culturally competent diabetes control: A community-based approach to diabetes control in multiple cultural groups. Ethnicity and Disease 14, Supp. 1: 83-92.

Brunson EK. 2001. Mobility and adaptive diversity among the Great Salt Lake Fremont. Utah Archaeology 13: 1-15.

Courses Taught

ANTH 1312: Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 2414: Biological Anthropology
ANTH 3311: Disease and Society
ANTH 3325/5373: Medical Anthropology
ANTH 4309/5309: Culture, Medicine and the Body
ANTH 4361/5361: Field Methods in Cultural Anthropology