Critical Care is the online publication of Medical Anthropology Quarterly. Critical Care provides anthropological insights about current events; creating space for public-facing writing, worldly and speculative interpretations of research, and dissemination of work to broader audiences. Critical Care combines the theoretical legacy of medical anthropology with applied, real-world engagements, providing careful responses to urgent matters demanding our attention.
Our editorial team is always looking for innovative and accessible contributions from medical anthropology and neighboring disciplines. Submissions will be reviewed by the MAQ Digital Editor and Editor, and we will work closely with authors on revisions. Multimedia or text submissions can take the form of:
- reflections on fieldwork in progress
- introduction of emergent methodologies or concepts
- medical anthropological perspectives on current events
- amplifying underrepresented voices in medical anthropology and in biomedicine/tech at large
- reports from events, workshops, conference sessions
We also welcome online series ideas, which can resemble a journal special issue or be a collected group of submissions focused around a common theme or topic. A series can be curated by a contributor or by the digital editor.
Please contact the MAQ Digital Editor, Jessica Robbins-Panko, with submissions and ideas: jessica.robbins@wayne.edu.
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FAQs in the Field: From Boring Objects to Faceless Social Relations
What is the Defense Base Act (DBA)? This question begins the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of a website about a workers’ compensation insurance program. FAQs are lists of questions and answers that offer readers commonly sought information about one or more topics.…
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The Anthropology of “Boring” Things
Stacks of unbillable patient visits. Insurance cards. Medical codes. Telephones. Frequently Asked Questions databases. These objects do not often spike people’s imagination and are easily reduced to being merely “boring.” Often times such “boring” objects like paperwork, tax returns, standards, plugs, and…
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Competing Agendas: Health Insurance Reform and Precision Medicine
When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Christy was suddenly confronted with numerous decisions about what to do next. Among the many decisions she had to make, Christy had to choose between a breast conserving surgery or a more invasive bilateral mastectomy…
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Special Series: Sensorial Engagements with a Toxic World
Curated by Chisato Fukuda, University of Wisconsin-Madison We dwell in an atmosphere of uncertainty. From visible ambient matters like smog to odorless contaminants from radiation, toxic conditions force us to continually adapt to, resist, and make sense of the spaces we inhabit. Bodies are…
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The “Anecdote” Insult, or, Why Health Policy Needs Stories
Sharon asked to be interviewed at a gas station restaurant. It was close to her home so the trip burned minimal gas. And, it had air conditioning. In the middle of a Texas summer she had forgone paying her electric bills in…
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The future of trans- medicine under Trump
On the morning of November 8, I assuaged my Election Day anxieties by working on a small grant application that a mentor had suggested she could put in front of some friendly funders. For months I had been developing a project examining…