Welcome to the web portfolio of Gareth A. F. Edel !
I am an Ms/PhD (ABD) student in the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. My research is on the contested production and practice of knowledges, especially biomedical knowledges, with an emphasis on the intersection of Marginality, Identity, Transnationalism and Development. My work locates these concepts within the traditions of Science and Technology Studies (STS), Sociocultural Theory and the Social Studies of Medicine and the Health Sciences.
I am in the process of completing a dissertation entitled "Navigating Care: Medical Tourism, Travel and Choice in the New Global Biomedicine". I have done research in Manila, Philippines, Chennai, India, and the United States.This work explores Health and Inequality, the idea of choice, and links US culture and society with international study of the increasing global connections within the biological sciences and scientifically informed medicine.
I am from New York City, born into a family of academics, and received my BA from Hampshire College. After college I spent time working in social work education, medical advertising, document processing, and theater. I am an avid doodler, reader, cook, and critical appreciator of popular culture.
Primary Topical Areas:
Medical Tourism, Globalization of Healthcare, Risk/Hope– the management of uncertainty, the social construction of care and choice, Discourse analysis and contemporary social theory.
Other areas of interest:
Classical Social Theory, Theory of practice, Urban Studies (particularly the interplay of expertise on health, poverty and development within the city), Science Fiction Studies and the popularization of science, and Race/ Gender in Biotechnology.
I am in the process of completing a dissertation entitled "Navigating Care: Medical Tourism, Travel and Choice in the New Global Biomedicine". I have done research in Manila, Philippines, Chennai, India, and the United States.This work explores Health and Inequality, the idea of choice, and links US culture and society with international study of the increasing global connections within the biological sciences and scientifically informed medicine.
I am from New York City, born into a family of academics, and received my BA from Hampshire College. After college I spent time working in social work education, medical advertising, document processing, and theater. I am an avid doodler, reader, cook, and critical appreciator of popular culture.
Primary Topical Areas:
Medical Tourism, Globalization of Healthcare, Risk/Hope– the management of uncertainty, the social construction of care and choice, Discourse analysis and contemporary social theory.
Other areas of interest:
Classical Social Theory, Theory of practice, Urban Studies (particularly the interplay of expertise on health, poverty and development within the city), Science Fiction Studies and the popularization of science, and Race/ Gender in Biotechnology.
