Jonathan D. Baker
CURRICULUM VITAE
November 2005
CONTACT INFORMATION
Department of Anthropology
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Saunders Hall 346
2424 Maile Way
Honolulu, HI 96822-2223
(808) 392-0768
bakerjon@hawaii.edu
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Social studies of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the contemporary
West, indigenization of medicines, globalization and commodification of health care, and
vector-borne disease, with an area specialization in Oceania. Dissertation research
focuses on the debate about the safety of kava (Piper methysticum), which serves as a
case study for examining the larger research interests.
EDUCATION
University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI
Ph.D., Medical Anthropology, expected December 2006
ABD December 2003
Dissertation: Kava Tradition and Toxicity: local and global discourses about the
safety and use of an indigenized botanical medicine
Chair: Dr. Nina Etkin, Anthropology
Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
M.A., Medical Anthropology, 2000
Thesis: A Medical Ethnobotany of St. John’s Wort
Chair: Dr. Elizabeth Brandt, Anthropology
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
B.S., Entomology, 1995
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TEACHING AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Courses Taught
Pacific Island Cultures
Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Fall 2005.
Designed and taught an upper-division undergraduate and M.A. level graduate
course focusing on social issues affecting contemporary Pacific Island societies,
focusing on the impact of globalization and the lingering effects of the colonial
legacy in the region; supervised a teaching assistant for the course.
Food, Health, and Society
Outreach College, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Summer 2005.
Designed and taught an online upper-division undergraduate and M.A. level
graduate course in Nutritional Anthropology, examining the cultural constructions
and physiologic implications of food across time, space, and culture; designed a
wholly online class, including full-class chat discussion sections, message boards
for further dialogue, and readings and handouts in electronic format; composed
individualized final essay exam questions tailored to students’ final research
projects, designed to integrate theoretical concepts from the course with each
student’s research findings.
Medical Anthropology
Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Fall 2004.
Designed and taught an upper-level undergraduate and M.A. level graduate course
in Medical Anthropology, serving as an introduction to the major theoretical and
methodological approaches to the cross-cultural study of health and illness.
Themes discussed included: evolution and the distribution of disease; considering
biomedicine as an ethnomedicine; medical pluralism, competition and syncretism
in western and developing contexts; cultural understandings of the body, illness,
and medicine; gender, ethnicity, and illness; and relationships among power,
inequality, and health.
Teaching Assistantships
Religion, Ritual, and Sacrifice in Southeast Asia (Graduate Seminar)
Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Spring 2004.
Assisted with course design and implementation, co-facilitated discussions on
course material, worked closely one-on-one with graduate students to guide their
research projects.
General Chemistry Laboratory (Chemistry 151, 161, and 162)
Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2000-2002.
Supervised and assisted students conducting laboratory experiments, prepared and
delivered short lectures explaining each week’s experiment, composed and
administered weekly quizzes.
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Introduction to Cultural Anthropology; Psychological Anthropology; Death and Dying
in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Anthropology Department, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 1998-2000.
Led discussion sections, conducted review sessions, and performed administrative
duties for courses offered in the Anthropology Department.
Guest Lectures
1. “Kava: Biology, Ecology, Uses, and Effects,” Biology and Society (Biology),
University of Hawaii at Manoa, November 2005.
2. “The Modern World System,” Culture and Humanity (Anthropology), University
of Hawaii at Manoa, August 2003.
3. “The Modern World System,” Culture and Humanity (Anthropology), University
of Hawaii at Manoa, June 2003.
4. “The Medicalization and Commodification of Health,” Culture and Humanity
(Anthropology), University of Hawaii at Manoa, April 2003.
Applied Experience
Program Evaluator
Hawaii Family Drug Court, Honolulu, HI, 2003-2005.
Designed and implemented a strategy for collecting qualitative and quantitative
data for process and outcome evaluation purposes; coded and analyzed data
thematically and statistically; assisted in writing reports submitted to the Hawaii
State Judiciary and Legislature; positive evaluation findings conveyed in these
reports contributed to the Legislature’s decision to establish a permanent family
drug court in Hawaii.
Research Assistant
Hawaii Uninsured Project, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2002-2003.
Conducted interviews with uninsured and health care providers on Oahu and
Neighbor Islands, managed and analyzed qualitative data, assisted in the
preparation of quarterly presentations for multi-disciplinary team conferences,
provided technical assistance with all stages of data collection, processing, and
analysis.
PUBLICATIONS
1. (In Press): Baker, J.D. “Kava.” In Taking Your Medicine and Eating it Too: An
Ethnopharmacology of Foods. N.L. Etkin. University of Arizona Press. Tucson,
Arizona.
2. (In Press, formal peer review): Etkin, N.L., J.D. Baker, and J.N. Busch.
“Traditional Therapeutics.” In Encyclopedia of Public Health. C.J.L. Murray, ed.
Academic Press. San Diego, California.
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RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Hawaii
Ongoing dissertation fieldwork, 2003 to present, investigating responses to the
kava safety controversy among those involved with kava production, use,
promotion, and sale in Hawaii, as well as examination of the discourses, debates,
and dialogues among the networks of kava researchers in Hawaii and worldwide.
Preliminary ethnographic inquiries among Hawaiian weavers regarding plant
selection and management, Fall 2000.
Arizona
Qualitative research on botanical medicine marketing and use as a part of CAM in
the West, 1998-2000, including ethnographic research among US herbalists and
focus groups conducted with consumers of St. John’s Wort. Archival and
historical investigation of the plants used in basketry weaving, focusing on plant
ecology and management practices of the weavers, 1999-2000.
SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS
Invited Presentations
1. “Is Kava Safe?: Anthropological Perspectives on an Ongoing Scientific Debate.”
Colloquium, Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa,
October 2005.
2. “Tradition and Toxicity: Negotiating Kava’s Identity in Hawaii.” Invited paper
for a session on contemporary health issues at The Society for Applied
Anthropology 64th Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX, April 2004.
Conference Presentations
1. “Tradition and Toxicity: Debates About the Safety of an Indigenized,
Commercialized Botanical Medicine.” American Anthropological Association
Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, December 2005.
2. “Kava’s Nontraditional Contexts: Indigenization of a Medicinal Plant in the US.”
Anthropology Graduate Student Symposium, University of Hawaii at Manoa,
May 2003.
3. “Let the Bugs Bite: the Role of Painful Insect Stings in Native American
Initiation Ordeals.” Anthropology Graduate Student Symposium, University of
Hawaii at Manoa, April 2002.
4. “A Preliminary Examination of Hala (Pandanus tectorius) Selection and
Management for Weaving in Hawaii.” Building Bridges with Traditional
Knowledge International Summit, Honolulu, HI, May 2001.
5. “Imaginary Groups, Real Effects: Theoretical Perspectives on Consumerism and
the Health and Harvest Impacts of St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) Use.”
Society for Ethnobiology Annual Conference, Ann Arbor, MI, March 2000.
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6. “Pharmaceutical Analogies in St. John’s Wort Marketing: A Hypothesis for
Explaining Part of it’s Popularity.” Second Annual Arizona Medical
Anthropology Symposium, Flagstaff, AZ, April 1999.
7. “Working With the Body: A Preliminary Examination of US Herbalism.” Arizona
Medical Anthropology Symposium, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, April
1998.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Associated Students of ASU, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Graduate Research Grant, 1999.
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Dean’s List, 1991-1993, 1994-1995.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
American Anthropological Association
Society for Medical Anthropology
Society for Economic Botany
Society for Ethnobiology
Society for Social Studies of Science
Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania
REFERENCES
Available upon request