Alicia Geil
Invitation to Inquiry
Fall 2012
Scholar Biography
Interview with Joe Dumit
I was introduced to Joe Dumit’s work through my research on the topic of pharmaceutical
companies and their relationship with prescribing physicians. He wrote the book: Drugs for Life:
How Pharmaceutical Companies Define our Health, among other articles pertaining to my
research question; to what extent does marketing by pharmaceutical companies affect doctors’
prescribing habits? His interest in similar topics intrigued me, and as I researched further, I saw
that he is involved in many other fields that interest me as well.
Due to travelling and the holidays I decided that an email interview would be most convenient.
I began with a few broad questions/topics (which I will put in bold) and narrowed those topics
into smaller, more focused questions.
How did you get where you are?
What interested you in pursuing your field of study?
Meeting friends in college and in a year abroad in Vienna, who were deeply into religions,
businesses, and social movements that I had never heard of, activated a fascination with the
amazing variety of what people love doing. Following their desires, learning how they enjoy
what they do, the techniques of “getting into” an activity, that’s what made anthropology so
meaningful to me.
What was the academic path you followed to get into your field? (degrees, schools) Was a
particular degree required?
History of Consciousness, my PhD program was created to allow explorations that were outside
of normal disciplines. At the time, it offered me a way to look at the anthropology of science and
scientists, how science changes, and how instruments and technologies shape and are shaped
by society.
Detours, reflections, learning from your experiences?
What advice would you give to beginning researchers preparing for their first public
presentation?
I think writing is a set of muscles that get better with use, with targeted workouts, regular play,
and time. If you want to write for more audiences, keep doing it. The same with presentations,
my main advice is to practice, use visuals but do not read your own slides. Imagine that a
presentation is a performance, because it is. Practice in front of people and then listen carefully
to their feedback. You don't have to follow it, but you do need to understand how very diverse
people are in their appreciation and understanding of what you do. Think carefully about your
audience and what effect you'd like to have on them. This takes time but writing and
presentations is what allows your work to circulate and yourself to be hired and promoted.
What are you doing currently in your field?
From my research online, I learned that Mr. Dumit is currently the director of science and
technology studies at UC Davis, as well as an anthropology professor. He is also on the faculty of
the Cultural Studies PhD program, and on the executive committee of the Performance Studies
Graduate Group. His research interests are listed as brain theories, patient movements,
pharmaceutical marketing, and cyborgs. He is involved in many projects currently, including
gaming studies, immersive visualization, crazy computers and logical neuroses (the discussion of
computers and their rationality or lack thereof), and anatomies and bodyminds (the study of the
diversity of teaching anatomy, whether it be from a medical, biomedical, alternative, or body
movement practices). What does Mr. Dumit have to say about his full plate? “My immersive
research approach means that on any day of the week I’m programming in a 3D version of
python, lecturing on drugs, giving a neuromuscular massage treatment, analyzing the writings
of cyberneticians, dancing in a contact improv jam, finding ways to make classes more gamelike, and all too often sitting in meetings.”
What did I learn about research by doing this biography?
Once I completed our interview and did as much research as I could in the time I had, I realized
that I still wanted to know more. Researching and asking questions of an established scholar
made me feel like anything is possible; it made me feel optimism and inspiration. His diversity in
fields of study opened my eyes to different disciplines and showed me that the possibilities
aren’t limited, and that many fields are intertwined. His website, dumit.net did more than
introduce me to him as a person, it provided me with insight to his research and projects. I
learned that research can be fun and leading. Mr. Dumit’s extensive research has taught me
that it isn’t impossible to research many passions all at once and even entangle more than one.
Before this class and interview I felt a sense of struggle when thinking of hefty research projects;
they seemed overwhelming. Now I see that with hard work and really delving into your passions,
any research project can take off and produce results.