Current Position

• Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, Western Washington University
• WWU Community Engagement Fellow

Education

• University of New Mexico
  MA (2005), Ethnology & Linguistics
  PhD. (2013), Ethnology & Linguistics

Dissertation: “Sowing Seeds for the Future to Honor Tigua History and Tradition”: Diabetes Prevention Practices at Ysleta del Sur Pueblo
Committee: Dr. Les Field (Chair), Dr. Beverly Singer, Dr. Erin Debenport, Dr. Louise Lamphere, Dr. Nina Wallerstein

• University of Chicago
  BA (1999), Anthropology & Latin American Studies
  MA (2003), Master of Arts Program in the Social Science (focus on Federal Indian Law)

I use mixed-methods research to examine the intersections of identity and chronic disease. I have training in team science, inter/transdisciplinary research, comparative effectiveness research (CER), and community based participatory research (CBPR) in frontier, rural and urban settings.  I am currently working in three areas.  First, I am examining the practice of anthropology, both in the field and the knowledge we produce in teaching and scholarship. Second, I am working in partnership with native peoples to decolonize both the process of research and the way data is used from generation to generation.  Third, I am reevaluating the concept of cultural competency and the training doctor receive after they complete medical school. For a complete list of current projects, please check out my research page and download my Bruna-CV-2017