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Center on Health, Risk, and Society
Who We Are
The American University Center on Health, Risk, and Society (CHRS) supports a thriving multi-disciplinary community of scholars that conducts research on health and health-related issues using the tools and lens of social science. We augment work done in the public health and medical fields by focusing on the social and structural contexts that produce health and health-related inequities.
Our emphasis on the social and structural dimensions of health and risk builds on the growing recognition that more traditional approaches to health targeting individual behaviors or those that focus on biomedical technologies (such as medicines, vaccines, or clinical practices) have had limited and/or short-term effects and consequently, have not reached those in greatest need. Addressing health and health-related inequities requires understanding health as constituted by social, cultural, economic, political, and historical processes.
What We Do
(C)onvene: CHRS brings together AU faculty and affiliated experts to examine health and health-related issues that span disciplines, methodological approaches and analysis levels to stimulate and sustain multi-disciplinary research.
(H)arness: CHRS ensures AU faculty and affiliated experts have the ٰٱresources to be successful in securing, implementing, and maintaining externally-funded research.
(R)each: CHRS fosters impact and visibility by offering assistance to AU-affiliated faculty in conceptualizing, designing, and disseminating their research agendas, projects, and outputs.
(S)ustain: In these ways and more, CHRS helps sustain a vibrant, multidisciplinary community with a shared commitment to achieving health equity.
Research Areas
CHRSscholars focus on five key areas and their intersections with structural inequities related (but not limited) to race, gender, income, ability and citizenship. Some of the topics which are addressed in these key areas are listed below (these lists are not exhaustive):
- Sex, Sexuality, and Reproduction (e.g., Reproductive politics/health/aging, LGBTQI health, HIV/AIDS)
- Migration, Displacement, and Disruption (e.g., Immigrant/migrant/refugee health, Deportation, Homelessness, Gentrification)
- Violence and the Carceral State (e.g., Surveillance, Mass incarceration, Inter/Intra personal violence, Gun violence)
- Wellbeing and Social Belonging (e.g., Aging and later life course, Intergenerational relationships, Mental health, Substance use)
- Environment, Climate, and Place (e.g., Environmental justice, Food insecurity, Occupational health and safety, Community mobilization)
Dr. Caroline KuoAssociate Professor and Director of the Youth and Family Resilience and Well-Being Lab
Interviewer: Maggie Cox
Throughout my work on HIV in South Africa, sexual violence came up as a theme time and time again. I observed the interconnectedness of health outcomes such as HIV, sexual violence, PTSD, and substance abuse. I became inspired to address the root cause of sexual violence. I recognize the ethical and scientific difficulties of this work, but also acknowledge the importance of prevention.
-Dr. Caroline Kuo
Read Dr. Kuo's interview by Maggie Cox
Why is sexual violence, specifically in South Africa, of interest to you?
Throughout my work on HIV in South Africa, sexual violence came up as a theme time and time again. I observed the interconnectedness of health outcomes such as HIV, sexual violence, PTSD, and substance abuse. I became inspired to address the root cause of sexual violence. I recognize the ethical and scientific difficulties of this work, but also acknowledge the importance of prevention.
Are there any kinds of frameworks or theories of change that can best be applied to this behavior change?
There is a current “toolbox” for sexual violence programs in South Africa that is mostly risk reduction focused. Although these programs are still essential to addressing sexual violence, I hope to expand the toolbox to include preventative measures. My team and I also implemented the correcting misperceived social norms theory into our research. I realized that peer groups are very important to this demographic and the school environment appeared to be the center for this theory, as it was a space where peer influence on young people’s decisions around relationships, sexual health, and violence naturally tended to be.
Can you please share more about the sexual violence poster campaign that actively tackles the perceived norms around sexual violence?
I used combination-level interventions, which include working with structural influences and individual behaviors. There was already a sexual health behavior program, Safe South Africa, implemented in schools. To expand upon Safe South Africa, we created an intervention poster campaign that corrected perceived norms about sexual violence within the school environment. These posters highlighted how most students understood the negative effects of sexual violence but believed their peers were more accepting of violent behaviors. The poster campaign was implemented in life orientation classes, where students discussed how most of their peers shared a comprehensive outlook on sexual violence compared to their initial beliefs. Students learned about safe sex practices like condom use and sexual negotiation strategies in these classes as well. However, addressing social norms does not always result in behavior change. It is also essential to apply changes in health perceptions to educational practices.
What would the differences be in prevention programs targeted at young boys versus young women?
The intervention was focused on perpetration rates by young men, but all students were surveyed for their perceptions of sexual violence. We found that young men’s perceptions of sexual violence can be influenced by how their peers reinforce norms. Interventions addressing young women’s perpetration rates are similar but must be tailored to consider concepts of womanhood in South Africa. Gender-segregated spaces are also crucial to ensuring open discussions regarding sex.
What are the current projects you are working on?
My research still focuses on addressing violence, HIV, and mental health within South Africa. My team and I are working on a large implementation study where we train HIV clinicians on how to screen, intervene and refer patients with problematic alcohol use. We are also analyzing whether clinicians are able to effectively take up this strategy.
Thurka SangaramoorthyProfessor of Anthropology, American University
Interviewer: Kacia Flynn
[S]ome of my research has also explored people who have decision making power that dictates the social conditions we have, compared to solely exploring the experiences of the marginalized. My work in HIV has revealed that it has a lot to do with institutional power, similar to how migrant work is about how health outcomes are shaped by capitalism and the influence of the state.
-Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy
Read Dr. Sangaramoorthy's interview by Kacia Flynn
Can you share a little about your journey into anthropology and global health?
Reflecting on my journey, my experiences migrating to the United States at a young age marked my perspectives of the United States and the world. In the beginning of my undergraduate career, I was primarily interested in medicine and health, but found that my courses were pulling me toward the social sciences. Specifically, I as learned of the ways that social environments influence health. My post undergrad experience working with individuals impacted by the HIV epidemic before ARTs in Sub-Saharan Africa, inspired me to make an impact through public health. My foundational experiences in academia, program management, and the government have been crucial in shaping my interdisciplinary approach. My own experiences as well as my research and professional endeavors in cultural and medical anthropology continue to inform my perspectives and methodologies.
How does your perspective on power and subjectivity influence your research and work in cultural and medical anthropology?
My research focuses on vulnerable and marginalized communities, but also extends beyond that. There has been a notable shift in research in the field of anthropology, considering that the focus has moved away from examining populations in isolation. For example, some of my research has also explored people who have decision making power that dictates the social conditions we have, compared to solely exploring the experiences of the marginalized. My work in HIV has revealed that it has a lot to do with institutional power, similar to how migrant work is about how health outcomes are shaped by capitalism and the influence of the state. It is important to acknowledge how these social conditions are created, making both analyses [of people in power and the marginalized] essential to a clear understanding of what is happening.
What is your primary discipline and how would you explain the issues that your scholarship and projects aim to understand?
My work is highly interdisciplinary, drawing from cultural and medical anthropology, public health, and global health. My primary focuses are on infectious disease, migrant and refugee health, and environmental-policy related work which examines environmental health disparities. A large portion of my research often examines the health outcomes of populations that are overlooked which encompasses migrants, refugees and Black immigrants living with HIV.
Can you share the nature and scope of your current projects? What does your work in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, look like at the moment?
I originally moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2019 to conduct social science work. There, I initially examined the influence of climate change on food, nutrition, and public health within the region. Today, I am still living and working in Ethiopia through the U.S. Department of State. Since 2019, my work has shifted as I am now a refugee coordinator, coordinating the U.S. refugee response for Sudan and South Sudan. While rapid climate change continuously impacts the work I do here, I primarily deal with issues regarding conflict and displacement within the region. At AU, I am a professor in the Department of Anthropology and also collaborate with colleagues in the School of International Service.
What is your favorite part about the work you do?
My favorite part of my work is talking to people. My work requires me to interact with policy makers in Washington, DC and Addis Ababa. I draw strength from speaking with refugees in Ethiopia and South Sudan. My research is based on my commitment to lived experiences and fostering meaningful relationships. This is not just work, these experiences I work with are very close to my own life. There is a familiarity between my own and their [refugees] experiences. For some, personal and professional lives are very different, but not for me. Experiential learning doesn’t make life easier, but I recognize that my perspective enriches my work in academia and everyday life.
Meet more CHRS faculty affiliates through student interviews
How to Get Involved
CHRS welcomes scholars and learners engaged in, or interested in, social science research on health and health-related issues.
- Faculty Associates and Affiliates
- Student Affiliates
- Visiting Scholars
CHRS partners with other centers, departments, and schools across American University and includes faculty and learners from within the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of International Service, the School of Public Affairs, the School of Education, the School of Communication, and the Washington School of Law. Colleagues from George Washington University, Howard University, Georgetown University, the University of Maryland, the DC Center for AIDS Research, and other academic and research institutions in the DC area are also engaged in the CHRS intellectual community.