I received my Ph.D. in 2011 from the UCLA Department of Anthropology, where Drs. Elinor Ochs (linguistic anthropology) and Linda Garro (psychological/medical anthropology) served as my co-chairs. At UCLA, I also worked under the direction of Drs. Yunxiang Yan (sociocultural anthropology), Hongyin Tao (Chinese linguistics), and KaKit Hui (medicine). My first faculty appointment was in the UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, where I worked as a researcher with a focus on integrative medicine. In 2015, I joined the faculty of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alabama. At UA, I am active in the core program in biocultural medical anthropology and serve as the department’s linguistic anthropologist. I am also active in the interdepartmental Linguistics and Asian Studies minors.

My research focuses on the intersection of language and embodied experience in relation to culturally situated ideologies of race, class, gender, health and selfhood. Integrating theories and methods from linguistic, psychological, and biocultural medical anthropology, my research emphasizes collaborative engagement and interdisciplinary approaches to advance anthropological understanding of human emotion; intimacy; physical &mental health/wellbeing; and embodied social justice. Since 2020, when I was awarded an NSF CAREER award ($512,000), I have also directed the UA Embodiment, Communication, and Health Open (Co)Lab (ECHO), which meets weekly. More information can be found at the ECHO LAB tab, above.

Curriculum Vitae

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Contact Details

Office Location: 16 Ten Hoor Hall

Address: 
Department of Anthropology
University of Alabama
Box 870210
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487

Email: sonya.pritzker@ua.edu
Phone: 205-348-6554