The Leah M. Ashe Prize for the Anthropology of Medically–Induced Harm
Award Description:
The Award is established by the Society for Medical Anthropology, thanks to a generous gift from Susan Greenhalgh, for excellence in explorations of the limits of healing practices, broadly defined. The Award will be given for the best use of ethnographic methods to explore the limits of health care, conceptualized broadly to include harms and injustices emergent from the healing endeavor, at small (e.g., iatrogenic) or large (e.g., systemic and structural) scales, whether immediate or lingering, intrinsic to treatment or the result of error, negligence, intention, or decision resulting from denial of care. Special consideration will be given to works that illuminate new problems, offer fresh interpretations or address newly emerging problems in health care.
Dedication:
Leah Ashe was a young medical anthropologist who, in an auto-ethnographic article published in Anthropology and Medicine (2021), documented, critically theorized, and protested her experience of devastating hospital-induced injury. She was only 40 years old when she died as a result of those harms, but her brilliant writing and courageous spirit encourage more anthropologists to study the critical issues of iatrogenic harm, systemic failures within health care, and the limits of the healing endeavor.
Eligibility and selection criteria:
Eligibility: Open to an article, book chapter, or film by scholars from the field of medical anthropology. Individuals must be members of the AAA and SMA to receive this prize.
Application process: Eligible works must be nominated by a signed letter of nomination to the Chair of the selection committee. The letter of nomination should speak to the use of ethnographic methods to explore the limits of health care, conceptualized broadly to include harms and injustices emergent from the healing endeavor, at small (e.g., iatrogenic) or large (e.g., systemic and structural) scales, whether immediate or lingering, intrinsic to treatment or the result of error, negligence, intention, or decision resulting from denial of care.
Self-nomination is not permitted, and works submitted without an accompanying letter of nomination cannot be considered. In addition to the letter, please arrange to have a copy of the work (i.e., article, book chapter, or film) sent (or made available) to the Chair of the selection committee in a format that can be shared with all committee members digitally. To be considered, nominations and works must be received by the committee chair, Sean Brotherton, spb9255@nyu.edu. There is a deadline of July 1.