Kathryn Hicks
Department of Anthropology
The University of Memphis
Memphis TN, 38152
kahicks2@memphis.edu
(901) 678-5472
Research Interests
Biological Anthropology; Political Economy; Stress; Environmental Health; Social Justice.
Education
2008
2002
PhD, Anthropology, Northwestern University
Dissertation: Social Support and Women’s Health in El Alto, Bolivia.
BS, Archaeology, The University of Calgary
Publications
Hicks, K. 2013. Instrumental Social Support and Women’s Body Composition in El Alto,
Bolivia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 152(1): 51-57.
Fabricant, N and K Hicks. 2013. Bolivia’s Next Water War: Historicizing the Struggles over
Access to Water Resources in the 21st Century. Radical History Review. 116: 130-146.
Wilson, WM, J Bulkan, BA Piperata, K Hicks, P Ehlers. 2011. Nutritional Status of Makushi
Amerindian Children and Adolescents of Guyana. Annals of Human Biology. 38(5): 615629.
Manuscripts Accepted for Publication
Hicks, K and WR Leonard. In Press. Developmental Systems and Inequality: Linking
Evolutionary and Political Economic Theory in Biological Anthropology. Current
Anthropology.
Hicks, K. In Press. A Biocultural Perspective on Fictive Kinship in the Andes: Social
Support and Women’s Immune Function in El Alto, Bolivia. Medical Anthropology
Quarterly.
Reports
Hicks, K and K Lambert-Pennington. 2013. An Evaluation of the South Memphis Farmers
Market. Prepared for The Works, Inc. Memphis, TN.
Non-Refereed Publications
Fabricant, N and K Hicks. 2013. Bolivia vs. The Billionaires: Limitations of “Climate Justice
Movement” in International UN Negotiations. NACLA. Spring.
Fabricant, N and K Hicks. 2011. The Water is Ours Damn It! New Regional and Local
Frictions Over Scarce Water. ReVista. XI(1): 48-50.
Hicks, K, N Fabricant and C Revilla. 2010. New Water Wars: Collective Action after
Decentralization in El Alto, Bolivia. Anthropology News, 51(1), 14-15.
Waits, J and K Hicks. 2009. Environmental Justice and the Effect of Industrialization in the
Delta Region of the Southern United States. Business Perspectives, 20(1), 44-47.
Manuscripts in Review
Hicks, K. Neighborhoods as Developmental Systems: A Biocultural Perspective on
Community Development. Submitted to Applied Research in Quality of Life, July 11, 2013.
Hicks, K and K Lambert-Pennington. An Assessment of the Accessibility and Effectiveness
of the South Memphis Farmers Market as a Strategy to Increase Food Access. Revise and
resubmit to Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development.
Hicks, K and Fabricant, N. The Bolivian Climate Justice Movement: Mobilizing Indigeneity
in Multilateral Climate Change Negotiations. Revised and resubmitted to Latin American
Perspectives July 1, 2013.
Hicks, K and Fabricant, N. “Living Well” in El Alto: Bringing Urban Voices into
Conversations about Climate Change on the Bolivian Altiplano. Revise and resubmit to City
and Society.
Conference Abstracts Accepted for Publication
Hicks, K and R Nelson. Poverty and Food Choice: Using Multiple Levels of Analysis in
Ethnographic Studies of Dietary Strategies. To be presented at the 2013 Annual Meetings
of the American Anthropological Association.
Fabricant, N and K Hicks. Extractivism Vs. Protecting Mother Earth: Bolivia's Challenges
With Development and Sustainability. To be presented at the 2013 Annual Meetings of the
American Anthropological Association.
Conference Presentations
Hicks, K and N Fabricant. Between Green Neoliberalism and Ecostate: Implications of
Environmental Governance Regimes for Participatory Ethnography on Climate Change.
Presented at the 2013 annual meetings of the society for applied anthropology.
Rich, S, K Hicks and AK Lambert-Pennington. Expanding Food Access and Community
Engagement: The Challenges of Participatory Methods in Long-Term Community
Development. Presented at the 2013 annual meetings of the society for applied
anthropology.
Hicks, K and Fabricant, N. New Frictions of the 21s Century: Bolivia’s Struggles for Climate
Justice. 2012 Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology, Baltimore, Maryland.
Fabricant, N and Hicks, K. Show me the Money: Challenges of a Collaborative Project on
Global Warming and Water Scarcity. 2012 Meeting of the Society for Applied
Anthropology, Baltimore Maryland.
Lambert-Pennington, K and Hicks, K. “We Now Take EBT:” Farmers Markets as Food
Access Points in Low-Income Neighborhoods. 2012 Meeting of the Society for Applied
Anthropology, Baltimore, Maryland.
Hicks, K and Lambert-Pennington, K. Anthropology, Engagement and Science:
Understanding the Social and Health Implications of the South Memphis Farmers Market.
2011 Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Montreal, QB, Canada.
Discussant for Session “The Challenge of Community Development in Lagging Regions: The
International Debate,” at The Memphis Conversation on Evolutionary Theory and Quality of
Life: Policy Implications For Building the Just City, November 5-7, The University of
Memphis.
Hicks, K and K Brondo. What’s in the Air?: Uncertainty, Perceived Risk and Environmental
Justice in SW Memphis. 2010 Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New
Orleans, LA. Podium Session: Anthropology of Toxins, Pollution and Neoliberal Policy.
Hicks, K, K Brondo, R Connolly, E Purkrabek. A Par Approach to Environmental Racism:
Environmental Justice and Urban Ecology in Southwest Memphis. 2010 Meeting of the
Society for Applied Anthropology, Mérida, Mexico. Podium Session: Political Ecology,
Resource Management, Health Hazards, and Power.
Fabricant, N and K Hicks. New Wars of the 21st Century: Collective Action in the Wake of
Decentralization in El Alto, Bolivia. 2010 Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology,
Mérida, Mexico. Podium Session: Water, Culture, Power: Global Trends and Local Realities.
Hicks, K and WR Leonard. Political economy as a framework for linking biocultural and
evolutionary approaches in human biology research. 2009 Annual Meeting of the American
Association of Physical Anthropologists. Invited session: Human Natures and Human
Cultures: Integrating Evolutionary Perspectives and Biocultural Approaches.
Hicks, Kathryn and Nicole Fabricant. 2008. Cuban Doctors and the Shifting Politics of
Healthcare in Bolivia, presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American
Anthropological Association, November 19-23, San Francisco, CA.
Hicks, K. 2008. Social support and immune function among urban women in highland
Bolivia, presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association, April 9-10,
Columbus, OH.
Hicks, K. 2008. A Biocultural Perspective on Fictive Kinship: Social Support and Women’s
Health in El Alto, Bolivia, presented at the Northwestern University Latin American and
Caribbean Studies Conference “Indigenous People Mapping New Terrain in Bolivia,” April
28-29, Evanston, IL.
Hicks, K and WR Leonard. 2007. The influence of household composition on the
relationship between social support and health status among women of El Alto, Bolivia,
presented at the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association, March 28-29,
Philadelphia, PA.
Hicks, K, TW McDade, WR Leonard, J Burhop, V Reyes-Garcia, V Vadez, T Huanca, and R
Godoy. 2005. Seasonal variation in C-reactive protein among the Tsimane’ of lowland
Bolivia, presented at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Human Biology Association, April 6-7,
Milwaukee, WI.
Hicks, K, VJ Vitzthum, WR Leonard, J Burhop, M Araoz, L Barragan, V Reyes-Garcia, V
Vadez, T Huanca, R Godoy, and TW McDade. 2004. A comparison of C-reactive protein
levels in adolescents from lowland and highland Bolivia, presented at the 29th Annual
Meeting of the Human Biology Association, April 14-15, Tampa FL.
Grants and Contracts
2012
Co-PI (with Connie Binkowits of Health Memphis Common Table) Plough
Foundation Grant ($10 000)
Patient Empowerment Training
2011
Co-PI (with K. Lambert-Pennington) contract with The Works Inc. ($15
000) (Funded by USDA Farmers Market Improvement Grant)
Evaluation of the South Memphis Farmers Market
2009
PI College of Arts and Sciences Supplemental Funding Grant ($500)
Travel to Bolivia
2009
Co-PI (With K. Brondo) Benjamin L. Hooks Faculty Research Grant ($10
000)
Urban Ecology and Environmental Justice in Southwest Memphis
2006/7
Northwestern University Dissertation Year Fellowship
2006
Northwestern University Graduate Research Grant
2006
Northwestern University Graduate Research Fellowship
2006
NU Center for Comparative and International Studies Summer Funding
Grant
2005
NU Center for Comparative and International Studies Summer Funding
Grant
2003
NU Latin American and Caribbean Studies Summer Funding Grant
2002
Northwestern University Graduate Fellowship
Research Fieldwork
2011/2013
Evaluation of the social and nutritional and social impacts of the South
Memphis Farmers Market (2-year contract with The Works, Inc.)
2010/2011
Environmental Justice and Urban Ecology in SW Memphis
Food Access and Chronic Disease in South Memphis
2009/2010
Environmental Justice and Urban Ecology in SW Memphis
Climate Change, Water Scarcity and Health in El Alto, Bolivia (June-July)
2008/2009
Environmental Justice and Urban Ecology in SW Memphis (ongoing)
Climate Change, Water Scarcity and Health in El Alto, Bolivia (July)
Course Instruction
Fall 2013
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; Anth 4/6510 Health, Culture and
Environmental Justice
Spring 2013
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; Anth 4/6111 Human Adaptations;
Anth 7985 Anth Applications
Fall 2012
Professional Development Appointment
Spring 2012
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; Anth 4/6510 Health, Culture and
Environmental Justice; Anth 7985 Anth Applications; Anth 4975 Directed
Individual Reading; Anth 6975 Directed Individual Reading; Anth 4970
Directed Anthropological Internship
Fall 2011
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; INTD 1000 Freshman Seminar C26:
Culture, Biology and Environmental Change; Anth 7985 Anth Applications;
Anth 4/6751 Race and Health Disparities; Anth 4975 Directed Individual
Reading
Spring 2011
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; Anth 4/6510 Health, Culture and
Environmental Justice; Anth 7985 Anth Applications
Fall 2010
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; Anth 4/6111 Human Adaptations
Anth 7985 Anth Applications; Anth 7975 Directed Individual Reading
Spring 2010
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; Anth 4/6992: Special Topics in
Anthropology: Race, Inequality and Health; Anth 7985 Anth Applications
Fall 2009
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; Anth 4/6510 Health, Culture and
Environmental Justices; Anth 7985 Anthropological Applications
Spring 2009
Anth 1100 Biol Anth and Prehistory; Anth 4/6111 Human Adaptations;
Anth 7975 Independent Reading
Fall 2008
Anth 1100 Biological Anthropology and Prehistory (2 sections); Anth
7975 Independent Reading
Service (University of Memphis)
2012/2013
Member of Review Committee for Engaged Scholarship Award
Member of Engaged Scholarship Committee, Networking Subcommittee
Faculty Advisor to Anthropology Club
Member of Committee to Revise Environmental Studies Minor
Table Leader for Great Conversations
2011/2012
Member of Engaged Scholarship Committee
Faculty Advisor to Anthropology Club
Member of Committee to Revise Environmental Studies Minor
Member of Dean’s Committee to Revise Chair Evaluation Procedures
Departmental Representative to Tiger Blue Goes Green
Judge at Student Research Fair
2010/2011
Faculty Advisor to Anthropology Club
Member of Departmental Hiring Committee
Departmental Representative to Tiger Blue Goes Green
Participant in Hooks Institute Program Review Focus Group
Participant in Hooks Institute 2012 Conference Planning
2009/2010
Editor Department of Anthropology Annual Newsletter
Departmental Representative to Annual Sustainability Fair
Member of Committee to Revise Environmental Studies Minor
2008/2009
Editor Department of Anthropology Annual Newsletter
Departmental Representative to Annual Sustainability Fair
Service (National)
2012/2013
Reviewer for Ecological Anthropology manuscript
2011/2012
Member of Program Committee for the 2012 Annual Meetings of the
American Association of Physical Anthropologists
2009/2010
2008/2009
Reviewer for Gender and Health manuscript
Member of Program Committee for the 2011 Annual Meetings of the
American Association of Physical Anthropologists
Member of Program Committee for the 2010 Annual Meetings of the
Human Biology Association