Robin Root

Professor

Weissman School of Arts and Sciences

Department: Sociology and Anthropology

Areas of expertise:

Email Address: robin.root@baruch.cuny.edu

Education

Ph.D., Anthropology, UCLA

MPH, International Health, Harvard University

B.A., Chinese Studies, University of Pennsylvania

M.A., Chinese Studies, University of Pennsylvania

SemesterCourse PrefixCourse NumberCourse Name
Fall 2023SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Fall 2023ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2023ANT3137Sociology of Health and Illnes
Spring 2023ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2022ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2022SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2022ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Fall 2021SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Fall 2021ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2021ANT3137Sociology of Health and Illnes
Spring 2021ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2020ANT3137Sociology of Health and Illnes
Fall 2020ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2020SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Spring 2020SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2020ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2020ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Fall 2019SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Fall 2019ANT3137Sociology of Health and Illnes
Fall 2019ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2018SOC1005Introductory Sociology
Fall 2018SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Fall 2017SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Fall 2017ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2017ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2017ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2017SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2017SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2016SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Fall 2016ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2016ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2016SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2016ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2015ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2015ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2015ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2015ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2015SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2014SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2014ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Fall 2014ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2014SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2014ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2014ANT5000Independent Study ANT I
Spring 2014SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Fall 2013ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Fall 2013SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2013ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2013ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2013SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2013ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2012SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2012ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Fall 2012ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2012ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2011SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2010SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2010ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Fall 2010ANT1001HHonors-Intro to Cul Anthro
Spring 2010SOC5000Independent Study Sociology I
Spring 2010ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2010ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2010SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2009ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2009ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2009ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2009ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2009ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2009SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2009SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Fall 2008IDC3002HHon Sci & Tech NYC
Spring 2008ANT1001HHonors-Intro to Cul Anthro
Spring 2008ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2008SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2007SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2007ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Fall 2006ANT5000Independent Study ANT I
Fall 2006IDC6001Idc Honors Thesis I
Fall 2006ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2006SOC5000Independent Study Sociology I
Fall 2006IDC3002HHon Sci & Tech NYC
Spring 2006SOC5000Independent Study Sociology I
Spring 2006SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2006ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2006ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2006ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2005ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2005ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2005IDC3002HHon Sci & Tech NYC
Spring 2005ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spring 2005ANT4110Res Mth Socio/Anthro
Spring 2005SOC4110Research Methods Socio/Anthro
Spring 2005ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2004SOC3137Soc Health & Illness
Fall 2004ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Fall 2004ANT1001Intro to Cultural Anthropology

Journal Articles

Root, R. (2023). A Sacred Disease. CrossCurrents, 73(2). 189-215.

Root, R., Van Wyngaard, A., & Whiteside, A. (2017). 'We smoke the same pipe:' Religion and community home-based care for PLWHA in rural Swaziland. Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, online pub doi below. 231-245.

Wyngaard, A., Root, R., & Whiteside, A. (2017). Food insecurity and ART adherence in Swaziland: the case for coordinated faith-based and multi-sectoral action. Development in Practice, 27(5). 599-609.

Root, R., N/A, W., & N/A, V. (2015). Reckoning HIV/AIDS care: A longitudinal study of community home-based caregivers and clients in Swaziland. African Journal of AIDS Research, 1-10.

Root, R., & N/A, W. A. (2013). A qualitative study of community home-based care and antiretroviral adherence in Swaziland. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 16(17978).

Root, R. (2011). Book Review. Journal of Religion in Africa , 41. 124-133.

Root, R., & Wyngaard, A. V. (2011). Free Love: A Case Study of Church-run Home-based Caregivers in a High Vulnerability Setting. Global Public Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, 6(Suppl 2). S174-91.

Root, R. (2009). Situating PLWHA Experiences of HIV-related Stigma in Swaziland. Global Public Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, 5(5). 523-538.

Root, R. (2009). Hazarding Health: Experiences of Body, Work, and Risk Among Factory Women in Malaysia. Health Care for Women International, 30(10). 903-918.

Root, R. (2009). Being Positive in Church: Religious Participation and HIV Disclosure Rationale Among People Living with HIV/AIDS in Rural Swaziland. African Journal of AIDS Research, 8(3). 295–309.

Root, R. (2008). ‘Controlling Ourselves, By Ourselves’: Risk Assemblages on Malaysia’s Assembly Lines. Medical Anthropology: Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, 27(4). 405-434.

Root, R. (2006). AIDS as Occupational Hazard: Racial Mixing and Historical Space in Malaysia’s Multinationals. History and Anthropology, 17(1). 73 – 90.

Root, R. (2006). 'Mixing' as an Ethnoetiology for HIV/AIDS in Malaysia's Multinational Factories. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 20(3). 321-344.

Root, R. (2001). Practices of the pregnant self: compliance with and resistance to prenatal . Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 25(2). 195-223.

Book Chapters

Root, R. (2014). Being HIV Positive: A Phenomenology of HIV Disclosure in Swaziland. In Davis, M., & Manderson, L. (Eds.), Disclosure in Health and Illness (pp. 36-55). London,United Kingdom. Routledge.

Root, R., & Browner, C. (2011). Cultural Context of Reproductive Health. In Van Look, P. F., Heggenhougen, H. K., & Quah, S. R. (Eds.), Sexual and Reproductive Health: A Public Health Perspective (pp. 314-318). San Diego, CA. Academic Press.

Root, R., & Whiteside, A. (2011). Foreword. In Haddad, B. (Ed.), Religion and HIV/AIDS: Charting the Terrain South Africa. University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.

Root, R., & Browner, C. (2008). Cultural Context of Reproductive Health. In Heggenhougen, H. K., & Quah, S. (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Public Health (pp. 44-48). San Diego, CA. Academic Press.

Quelch, J., & Root, R. (2004). Managing the Brand: Bayer AG. In Gourville, J., Quelch, J., & Rangan, V. (Eds.), (pp. 300-317). Hoboken, NJ. Cases in Health Care Marketing.

Quelch, J., & Root, R. (2001). Achieving International Expansion: Hikma Pharmaceuticals. In Gourville, J., Quelch, J., & Rangan, V. (Eds.), Cases in strategic marketing management: business strategies in Muslim countries (pp. 28-39). Hoboken, NJ.

Media Contributions

(2016). Times of Swaziland.

Government Reports or Monographs

Root, R. (1999). The New Quality Standard: Managing Primary Breast Cancer – Screening Through Local Treatment. 1-261.

Presentations

Root, R. (2019, November 25). SYNERGISING ETHICS IN HEALTH-RELATED RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN PARTICIPANTS: PLANNING A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF BREAST CANCER IN MALAYSIA FROM THE UNITED STATES. Harmonizing Research Ethics in a Global Setting. Penang, Malaysia: FERCAP: Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia & Western Pacific Region (blended academic and professional).

Root, R., Arnau, V., & Alan, W. (2016, July 8). HIV/AIDS and Food Insecurity in Swaziland: Impact on ART Adherence. From AIDS Crisis to Opportunity: What the World Can Learn from Swaziland. Swaziland

Root, R., Wyngaard, A. V., & Whiteside, A. (2013, December 31). Structural enablers: Confronting structural drivers of HIV/AIDS in Swaziland through community-home based HIV/AIDS and TB care. 3rd Structural Drivers of HIV/AIDS. Cape Town, South Africa: Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Root, R. (2012, July 31). Double Disclosure: A Phenomenological Approach to the Study of HIV Disclosure in Swaziland. Disclosing Subjects: Bodies, Selves, Intimacies, Politics. London, UK: Monash University.

Root, R. (2011, May 31). Between Death and Dying: Narratives of Suffering in Swaziland. Religion and Globalization. New York: CUNY Graduate Center/Mellon Mid-Career Fellowship.

Root, R. (2011, January 31). Beyond Clinics: A case study of HIV/AIDS and church run home-based care in rural Swaziland. Invited talk. Durban, South Africa: Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Root, R. (2010, October 31). Human Rights: A Conversation. Panel moderator. New York: CUNY Graduate Center.

Root, R. (2010, July 31). Alternative Activism: Case Study of Church-run Home-based Care in Swaziland. AIDS, Religion, and Social Activism in Africa. Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda: International Research Network on AIDS and Religion.

Root, R. (2010, July 31). Religion and Home-based Care in Swaziland: A Case Study of HIV/AIDS Caregivers in a High Vulnerability Context. Religious Responses to HIV and AIDS Conference: Understanding the Role of Religious Cultures and Institutions in Confronting the Epidemic. New York: Columbia University.

Root, R., & Pfeiffer, J. (2009, December 31). Pentecostalism and Public Health in Southern Africa: Neocolonial Control or Postcolonial Imperative in the Context of HIV/AIDS?. American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA: American Anthropological Association, Society for Medical Anthropology.

Root, R. (2009, December 31). Health and the Productivity of Human Rights Discourses. Committee for Human Rights. Philadelphia, PA: American Anthropological Association.

Root, R. (2008, July 31). Religion and HIV/AIDS in Africa: Setting an Agenda. Religion and HIV/AIDS in Africa. Durban, South Africa: Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Root, R. (2008, March 31). Preaching Risk: Pastors, Pulpits, and HIV in Northern Swaziland. Society for Medical Anthropology. Memphis, TN

Root, R. (2007, September 30). From Condoms to the Koran: Risk Assemblages on Malaysia’s Assembly Lines. HIV/AIDS, Gender, and Sexuality in a Globalized World. Syracuse, NY: Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Syracuse University.

Root, R. (2006, November 30). Churches, Stigma, and HIV/AIDS in Northern Swaziland. American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting. San Jose, CA

Root, R. (2006, September 30). Social Science AIDS Research: Poverty, Churches, and HIV/AIDS in Swaziland. CUNY Honors College Research Seminar, Guest Lecture.

Root, R. (2005, December 31). The Risks in Our Midst: Manufacturing Ill-health and Immorality in the Multinationals of Penang, Malaysia. American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting. Washington, DC

Root, R. (2005, December 31). The Risks in Our Midst: Manufacturing Ill-health and Immorality in the Multinationals of Penang, Malaysia. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting. Washington D.C.

Root, R. (2005, November 30). Being Religious in Malaysia's Multinationals: The Globalization of. Globalization and Religion: Identity and Power. Tehran, Iran: Institute for North American & European Studies at the University of Tehran and the Globalization, Identity Politics, and Social Conflict (GIPSC) Project and the Ferguson Center for African and Asian Studies based at the Open University.

Root, R. (2005, April 30). Considering Care: New Scholarship and Emerging Issues in the Study of Care and Caregiving. Invited Discussant. : Hunter College.

Root, R. (2005, April 30). AIDS as Occupational Hazard: Racial Mixing and Historical Space in Malaysia’s Multinationals. American Ethnological Society/Society for Psychological Anthropology Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA

Root, R. (2004, November 30). From Minah Karan to AIDS: Women in Malaysia Bridge the Risks to Development. Anthropology Program Colloquia. New York, NY: CUNY Graduate Center.

Root, R. (2004, May 31). Knowledge in Action: A Community Care Approach to HIV/AIDS. Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research, Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance (SAHARA). Cape Town, South Africa

Root, R. (2004, May 31). Knowledge in Action: A Community Care Approach to HIV/AIDS. Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research. Cape Town, South Africa: Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance (SAHARA).

Root, R. (2004, February 28). Knowledge-in-Action: A New Partnership for a New Curriculum in HIV/AIDS Research. New York Consortium for Science and Society (Ford Foundation-funded. New York: New York University.

Other Scholarly Works

Root, R., & Whiteside, A. (2011). ‘That’s when life changed:’ The significance of church-run home-based care on perceived wellbeing among HIV-positive individuals in Swaziland.

Root, R. (2001). Surgical Services Reform: Executive Briefing for Clinical Leaders. Company authorship (consulting group). 1-83.

Quelch, J., & Root, R. (1997). Bayer AG (B). 1-7.

Quelch, J., & Root, R. (1997). Hikma Pharmaceutical. 1-11.

Quelch, J., & Root, R. (1997). Koc Holding: Arcelik White Goods. 1-19.

Quelch, J., & Root, R. (1997). Aladdin, Inc.. 1-19.

Quelch, J., & Root, R. (1997). Bayer AG (A). 1-19.

Research Currently in Progess

Root, R.(n.d.). A Medical Anthropological Study of Breast Cancer in Malaysia (suspended due to COVID, re-initiated in 2023). In Progress.

$12,000 PSC-CUNY/RF Grant: In Malaysia, an upper-middle income country in Southeast Asia, one in 20 women will experience the trauma of a breast cancer diagnosis in her lifetime. The remaining 19 will likely experience fear of such a diagnosis for the better part of their adult lives, and for good reason: breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among Malaysian women. I am seeking an Enhanced Award for a medical anthropological study to investigate the cultural processes that mediate experiences of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer at a leading academic hospital in Malaysia. The study will be the first to contrast an etic survey instrument (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy), based on biomedical constructs, with an emic interview method (Explanatory Model Illness Catalogue), a hallmark method of medical anthropology, to investigate breast cancer. The study will contribute to the fields of medical anthropology, global health, and breast cancer literatures and used to apply for major grants. [I have a Malaysian collaborator, an epidemiologist at the University Sains Malaysia. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, I am unable to travel to the site and collect data currently.]

Root, R.(n.d.). Religious leadership and HIV/AIDS in eSwatini. In Progress.

I have one of the largest oral histories of pastors in Africa, based on field research I have conducted in eSwatini since 2005. I have currently delivered multiple presentations at international conferences on my preliminary findings and published related research in scholarly journals. In concert with my field research with emSwati chiefs, I anticipate a number of publications that utilize anthropological frameworks of resilience embedded in critical medical anthropology's neoliberal critiques of global health agendas to interpret pastors' complex roles, which are both conservative and progressive in western politico-religious terms. The roles that these two groups play in mediating substantial suffering and interpreting foreign donor and global health strategies are little explored and are relevant in several similarly afflicted regions around the world.

Root, R.(n.d.). The Politics of HIV/AIDS Care in Swaziland: Swazi Chiefs and the Provision of Church Run Home-based Care . In Progress.

This study (July 2016) was the sixth phase in a longitudinal medical anthropological project launched in 2005 to explore social aspects of HIV/AIDS in the country with the highest HIV and TB rates in the world: Swaziland. Specifically, I investigated experiences of traditional leaders (chiefs and indvunas) in a region I have been working for the past five years, as these leaders endeavor against enormous odds to alleviate the impact of HIV/AIDS and, for the past two years, extreme famine. As with traditional leaders throughout Africa, chiefs are tasked with legitimizing interventions by international organizations, serving as vital political links to other networks, resolving local conflicts, and facilitating the general quality of life of their subjects. In interviews, I was able to elicit insights on how traditional leaders experience their authority and, by the same token, how contemporary challenges have transformed their perceptions of their roles and their power.

TitleFunding Agency SponsorStart DateEnd DateAwarded DateTotal FundingStatus
Breast Cancer in Malaysia: A Pilot Medical Anthropological StudyPSC-CUNY 5107/01/202012/31/202204/17/20203500Completed
Breast Cancer in Malaysia: A Pilot Medical Anthropological StudyPSC-CUNY 5007/01/201912/31/202204/15/201911944.25Completed
Food Insecurity and HIV/AIDS in Swaziland: Swazi Chiefs and the Management of Global CrisesPSC-CUNY 4807/01/201706/30/201804/14/20176000Completed
Traditional Chiefs and the Provision of Church Run Home-based Care in SwazilandPSC-CUNY 4607/01/201506/30/201604/17/20155999.74Completed
Sociocultural aspects of HIV/AIDS in SwazilandPSC-CUNY 4507/01/201406/30/201504/15/20141000Completed
The politics of HIV/AIDSPSC-CUNY 4307/01/201206/30/201304/17/20125978Completed
Of Faith and Flocks: Religious Leadership and Home-based Care in SwazilandPSC-CUNY 4107/01/201006/30/20115810.61Completed
At Heaven’s Gate: Religion and HIV/AIDS in SwazilandPSC-CUNY 4007/01/200906/30/20104000Completed
Pastors, Pulpits, and HIV AIDSPSC-CUNY 3907/01/200812/31/20093990Completed
Poverty, Religion, and HIV/AIDS: Revivalist Christianity and The Experience of Stigma in SwazilandPSC-CUNY 3807/01/200706/30/20083990Completed
Breast Cancer in Malaysia: A Pilot Medical Anthropological StudyPSC-CUNY 5407/01/202306/30/202405/15/202312000Funded - In Progress
Release Time Application (Breast Cancer in Malaysia: A Pilot Medical Anthropological Study) PSC CUNY 5307/01/202206/30/202304/15/20224551Funded - In Progress
Honor / AwardOrganization SponsorDate ReceivedDescription
Mellon Mid-Career Career Faculty FellowshipThe Graduate Center, City University of New York2011
Eugene M. Lang Junior Faculty Research Award2008
Steven Polgar PrizeSociety for Medical Anthropology2007The Steven Polgar Prize: awarded by the Society for Medical Anthropology to a professional medical anthropologist for the best paper published in Medical Anthropology Quarterly, the journal of record for the Society for Medical Anthropology.
Whiting Award for Excellence in TeachingBaruch College2007One semester course release time
Eugene M. Lang Junior Faculty Research AwardSPAR2006-09-05The following criteria are considered in evaluating proposals: The quality of the proposed project in terms of its originality and clarity, the significance of its objectives, and prospects for achieving them. The applicant’s prior experience in undertaking and completing such projects. The applicant’s previous and prospective contributions to his/her discipline. The applicant’s abilities as an undergraduate teacher.
Fulbright U.S. Student Program, Malaysia 1994
National Institute of Mental Health AIDS Training GrantNational Institute of Mental Health1992-09-01

College

Committee NamePosition RoleStart DateEnd Date
Executive CommitteeCommittee MemberPresent
Provost’s Fund to Support Faculty Research and Teaching Initiatives ProgramCommittee MemberPresent
WSAS Dean's Executive CommitteeCommittee ChairPresent
Launched Safety Pin Initiative post-presidential election12/31/2017
Provost's Office of Undergraduate Research Faculty Advisory CommitteeCommittee Member12/31/2014
CUNY Institute for Demographic Research Faculty Associate 12/31/2012
Research CommitteeCommittee Member12/31/2012
Baruch Academy – Learning Communities12/31/2008
Honors College Program12/31/2008
Search CommitteeCommittee Member12/31/2008
Committee on Research and TravelCommittee Member12/31/2007
Capstone Course in AnthropologyCommittee Member12/31/2005
School of Public Affairs, Selection CommitteeCommittee Member12/31/2005

University

Committee NamePosition RoleStart DateEnd Date
CourseAssistant Professor9/1/200812/31/2008
Invited Discussant, CUNY Care Colloquium4/1/200512/31/2005
Presented at Anthropology Colloquia11/30/2004

Professional

OrganizationPosition RoleOrganization StateOrganization CountryStart DateEnd DateAudience
Swaziland AIDS Research NetworkOfficer, Other Officer1/1/2012Present
Committee for Human RightsChairperson11/1/200811/30/2010

Public

OrganizationPosition RoleOrganization StateOrganization CountryStart DateEnd DateAudience
Harvard University Interfaculty Program for Health SystemsCommittee Member1/1/200212/31/2004